Introduction:    You are a member of the Thrill Riders Club, which spends each summer traveling to different amusement parks to ride the most thrilling roller coasters.  Your group has been charged with finding the three most thrilling rides.

Task:  From internet resources, you will study the roller coasters at ten major US amusement parks.  Based on this data, you will recommend the three most thrilling rides.

Resources:

   Roller Coaster Indexes:

• http://www.coasterimage.com/roller-coaster-pictures.htm
• http://www.thepointol.com/cponle/rcindex/index.html
• http://www.coasterimage.com/_updatables/coasterlist.htm

Process:

1. Find sites which describe the roller coasters at major amusement parks.
2. Select ten rides to study.
3. Obtain data for at least five variables related to each coaster, such as height, length, and speed.
4. Present data in a table and also in a graph format with each ride graphed in a different color.
5. Select the three most thrilling rides.
6. Design a brochure to pass out to the class.  This document should explain your definition of most thrilling, and justify why you chose these three rides as most thrilling.

Conclusion:

In this activity, you will use the internet as a data source for a problem solving activity.  You will be connecting real-world entertainment data to analysis and representation.  You will use your reasoning skills to reach a conclusion based on the data, and will communicate your conclusions in a brochure format.

 

Example Coaster Speed Graph