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Walt Davis - Warren County Career Center, Warren County Joint Vocational District
Assistance from:
General Industry & Career
Interested in Theme Park design? A Senior Show Designer for Walt Disney Imagaineering (the Theme Park design arm of the Walt Disney Co.) talks about his work.
Themed Attraction Design 101: by Nate Naversen is a step-by-step overview of themed attraction & park design, including "Defining Terms" and "Attention to Details, What's the Difference?" and what designers do every day.
Theme parks: From concept to concrete is an article in the Naples Daily News that talks about the development of a Universal Studios' second Florida theme park.
Design a Theme Park is an actual lesson for students, which also gives you an idea of everything that needs to be considered when doing this type of design.
Check out this very long list of theme park manufacturers and designers, and visit their websites to find out more about what they do.
The University of Nevada features a great list of links to Amusement and Theme Parks.
Not to be outdone, Lycos has a great directory of theme and amusement park links.
Park Design: Map Your Fun
NEW! The USGS Learning Web is a new, rich resource for students and teachers from the U.S. Geological Survey which provides online activities and references in natural science.
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) The space shuttle Endeavour is completing its mission to create the world's most accurate topographical maps. Take a look at this site, which includes samples of the extraordinary images being produced. The German Remote Sensing Data Center features images in standard and high resolution as well as related information.
"How to Draw Contour Maps" is at this site, which is named in honor of the philosopher of science Rudolf Carnap. It shows step-by-step how to draw contour maps and explains their purpose.
"Discovering Topographic Maps" gives the rules for contour lines and shows how to construct a topo.
The Mathematics of Mapmaking will help students study the mathematics of maps by utilizing various online resources. The lesson is designed so that students can work independently with guidance when needed from the teacher.
"Map Making the Ups and Downs" includes activities that help students learn to read and interpret topographic maps.
"Orienteering Map Symbols" are symbols which are found on topographic maps.
"How to Read Topographical Maps" from a professor of geography in Phoenix, Arizona. The site features examples of topographic maps and the symbols most likely to appear on topos.
The Department of Interior's U.S. Geological Survey site gives information on cartography, the art of maps. Click on "maps" on their home page to get to a page that features information on working with maps and topographical symbols, as well as resources for teachers and students.
"A Teacher's Lesson" shows students grades 5-8 how to read a topographical map.
Queues: Time to Ride
In what must be the biggest site ever, you'll find over 8,000 conversions at Online Conversion. Conversions are organized by type (temperature, length, cooking, etc.), and each conversion page includes lots of options.
If your classwork or homework includes designing a queue, check out: I've Been Waiting in this Line Forever! discusses various methods of improving queuing systems,
Funk & Wagnalls provides a handy chart for weights and measurements along with a bit of history on taking measurements.
Converting between different measured units? Take a look at WebMath.
Carts & Treats
Devens Learning Center has a page of activities involving Perimeter, Area, Volume.
While this page has a name that isn't very polite (Math for Morons Like Us) it does have a great diagrams and information and links that could help clear up any problems students might have with finding the area or volume of solids.
Cambro Manufacturing Company web site. At the bottom of this page (just scroll down) you can find a great drawing of the "interior" of a push cart.
Take a look at pushcarts in detail at Push-Cart International to get an idea of sizes, shapes, and placement of the various items that make up a vending cart.
Roller Coasters
The Annenburg/CPB Project Exhibits Collection features this page on Roller Coaster physics. Students can read about how a roller coaster works, and can access a link to design their own roller coaster.
"Energy Transformation on a Roller Coaster" explains the tradeoff between kinetic and potential energy and, through animation and shows you how the energy transformation works!
On a Roll shows you how roller coaster designers use math every day in their work. This is a great site for teachers who want to expand on math activities in this arena.
Everything you'd ever want to know about roller coasters can be found at Imagination Enterprises.
"HOW THINGS WORK: The Physics of Everyday Life" explains in detail how energy works in getting a roller coaster to work. This site is based on the book by Louis A. Bloomfield, Professor of Physics, The University of Virginia.
Design and Test Your Own Roller Coaster is for students who are interested in actually building a physical model of a roller coaster, this site provides several possibilities, along with activities for physical coaster models.
The Physics Classroom is a great site for the advanced student, or one who wants to expand knowledge about physics, as well as potential and kinetic energy. Pictures and diagrams show several different ways of expressing or understanding these theories.
Lesson Bank has a lesson on the Effects of Height on Potential Energy.
Go Figure, Flying Carpets on Wheels: Fun and Physics with Roller Coasters is designed to work with a video, the principles explained on this page and on the link to "roller coaster physics" can enhance classroom activities.
Glenbrook South Year-End Projects has the Physics of Roller Coasters, a wonderful list of resources on roller coasters, physics and math