Early Enrichment #17: Energy and a Roller Coaster

This week, the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, celebrated its 60th birthday!

They planned a huge celebration full of musicians, artists, and sneak peeks

Checkout behind the scenes of Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Celebration

Can you imagine how much work has gone into making the happiest place on earth? Especially when designing all of fun rides? Like this one:

Roller coasters take a lot of planning, and there are people that have jobs to create new rides. Isn’t that awesome? You could have a job designing roller coasters when you grow up!

Before you can design a roller coaster, you will need to know a little bit more about the different types of energy required. Click here to see how the two types of energy help a roller coaster move. (may require flash, for additional resource: click here).

What two types of energy are there in a roller coaster?

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Try and design your own roller coaster on a piece of paper. If you can, mark down where there will be Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy. Share your designs with your EY Coordinator!

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