Disney World School Science Project Ideas?

[MKBurn15]

Every year in school we are required to do a Science Project. Every year, my science project is terrible because I never care about my topic. I do care about Disney though, so can anyone help me relate Disney world into my Science Project? Then maybe I will know something about my topic!

My only idea so far has been something about statistics, so if anyone knows how to build on that, it would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[cloudboy]

Well, if it is something you have to do research on it might be hard to do something Disney if you can't get there easilly.

A couple of ideas just to get your brain spinning -

This about ride technology - Mission Space and the centrifuge could be an interesting study. Or perhaps Linear Motors like they use in the TTA.

There's always the good old standy of geometry and engineering. Examine Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome idea (Spaceship Earth).

Lighting could be really cool. Think about some of the special effects they have done with lightin, and study how you can do the same. A few ideas - colored light on different colored surfaces will appear totally different. If you really want to get into this, look up color temperature and the effects of it on GE/Sylvanias website. You can get some cheap fiber optic systems now, I guess. They could be used in an experiment.

Disney uses a lot of sound - did you ever go to those 3 dimensional sound booths at the Studios? Sound is an element people don't think much about.

Maybe you just need to think like an imagineer. Pick a topic that you learned about that interest you. And design a ride around it. Physics is a great area to look at for this - go to the bookstore, and look in the science setion. Find one of those books like get a grip on physics or something - definitely NOT abig book and not one that looks all boring. I bet as soon as you start reading it you will think of all sorts of ways to use it in a ride.

If I think of anything more I will let you know.

 

[MKBurn15]

Originally posted by cloudboy
Well, if it is something you have to do research on it might be hard to do something Disney if you can't get there easilly.

A couple of ideas just to get your brain spinning -

This about ride technology - Mission Space and the centrifuge could be an interesting study. Or perhaps Linear Motors like they use in the TTA.

There's always the good old standy of geometry and engineering. Examine Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome idea (Spaceship Earth).

Lighting could be really cool. Think about some of the special effects they have done with lightin, and study how you can do the same. A few ideas - colored light on different colored surfaces will appear totally different. If you really want to get into this, look up color temperature and the effects of it on GE/Sylvanias website. You can get some cheap fiber optic systems now, I guess. They could be used in an experiment.

Disney uses a lot of sound - did you ever go to those 3 dimensional sound booths at the Studios? Sound is an element people don't think much about.

Maybe you just need to think like an imagineer. Pick a topic that you learned about that interest you. And design a ride around it. Physics is a great area to look at for this - go to the bookstore, and look in the science setion. Find one of those books like get a grip on physics or something - definitely NOT abig book and not one that looks all boring. I bet as soon as you start reading it you will think of all sorts of ways to use it in a ride.

If I think of anything more I will let you know.

Wow. THanks! Maybe I could try something about engineering in rides?

 

[cloudboy]

I know - compare conventional roller coasters to simulated roller coasters - the different physical forces in each. See what turns out to be the same and what turns out to be different. If you can find something on Mission Space, you can compare what an astronaut would actually feel compared to what they can generate for forces in the ride.

Hint - you can't actually generate weightlessness in a simulator ride. it is very hard to make a wieghtless fall last - so it has to be simulated.

 

[FigmentJedi]

The effects of Beverly...... ON FIRE!

 

[MKBurn15]

Originally posted by cloudboy
I know - compare conventional roller coasters to simulated roller coasters - the different physical forces in each. See what turns out to be the same and what turns out to be different. If you can find something on Mission Space, you can compare what an astronaut would actually feel compared to what they can generate for forces in the ride.

Hint - you can't actually generate weightlessness in a simulator ride. it is very hard to make a wieghtless fall last - so it has to be simulated.

That sounds like a great idea. Can you simplify it a little? I don't understand.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by MKBurn15
That sounds like a great idea. Can you simplify it a little? I don't understand.

He means...in a real rollercoaster...the "weightlessness" you feel is because you're traveling (down) at the same (or faster) than the speed of gravity. In a simulator...you don't necessarily "fall" so you can't create the same effect in the same manner.

(and...btw...did you mean Statics...or really Statistics?...because they are 2 completely different things)

 

[cloudboy]

Thanks WDWFreak - that is exactly what I meant. This also applies to corners, too. On a real roller coaster, when you go into a corner you have sveral different forces acting on you - if it is a banked corner you lean to the side - you also have the effect of inertia, which when going around a corner pushes you to the side as you body wants to go straight still. On a banked turn this presses you down into the seat.

In a simulator, they can simulated the corner by tilting the simulator a little, but they can also do a little uplift, which gives you the sensation of being pushed into the seat.

Mission Space works a little different - by spinning you around, it is actually generating gravity. It pushes you to the outside of the circle. If you tilt the car you are in, you can chage where that apparent gravity (inertia) is - if you are lying flat with your head pointed to the center, the inertia acts towards your feet. If you tilt yourself so that you are on your back with your feet towards the center, the inertia pushes you what appear to be up.

 

[MKBurn15]

Thanks cloudboy and WDWFreak. Are there books about this? It sounds really interesting already. It sounds like you guys know a lot about this stuff. Thanks so much. I won't fail my project this year!

 

[WDWFREAK53]

If you are unaware of what Inertia is:

Let me try to clear it up.

Inertia is Isaac Newton's first law of motion (I think it was the first). It states that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object that is in motion will remain in motion unless it is interrupted by an outside force that is not the same as the object it is being applied to.

Example:

Test Track: The crash test dummies remain in motion after the crash unless an outside force (the seatbelt) interrupts their motion. If there wasn't a seatbelt...the dummies would fly until they hit something that stopped them (the steering wheel, the windsheild, etc...(the windshield may not be strong enough to hold them and this is why the dummy would fly through it).

Tomorrowland Indy Speedway: If a car is stopped on the track...and a driver slams into this "motionless" vehicle...the force applied to the vehicle will cause it to move forward.

Hope it helps and good luck!
(I did a science project on gravity back in the 7th grade :lol: )

 

[cloudboy]

There are some books out there that may be able to help.I know that there was a Roller Coaster book that had alot of infor about roller coaster physics, but I have not seen it for a while. I would check out some of the science books - there are a couple that give some pretty good illustrations of physics - it seems a lot of people use the roller coaster example. Unfortunately I don't know of any titles.

 

[MKBurn15]

Originally posted by WDWFREAK53
If you are unaware of what Inertia is:

Let me try to clear it up.

Inertia is Isaac Newton's first law of motion (I think it was the first). It states that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object that is in motion will remain in motion unless it is interrupted by an outside force that is not the same as the object it is being applied to.

Example:

Test Track: The crash test dummies remain in motion after the crash unless an outside force (the seatbelt) interrupts their motion. If there wasn't a seatbelt...the dummies would fly until they hit something that stopped them (the steering wheel, the windsheild, etc...(the windshield may not be strong enough to hold them and this is why the dummy would fly through it).

Tomorrowland Indy Speedway: If a car is stopped on the track...and a driver slams into this "motionless" vehicle...the force applied to the vehicle will cause it to move forward.

Hope it helps and good luck!
(I did a science project on gravity back in the 7th grade :lol: )

I thought inertia was the tendency of an object to resist motion. Is that basically the same thing as Newton's Law?

This has been a lot of help. Thanks.

Maybe I should choose a few rides as examples. For Roller Coasters I could say like Space Mountain or Rockin Roller Coaster or something. For simulator I would use Star Tours and maybe something else?

 

[Not For Sale]

MKBurn-I think that's friction you're thinking. I'm not sure though.

 

[MKBurn15]

Mr. Science Book Says:

Inertia: The tendency of a moving object to continue in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place.

Friction: A force that one surgace exerts on another when the two rub against each other.

So WDWfreak was right.

 

[MKBurn15]

I'm having lotsa trouble finding stuff on the internet. Guess I'll have to find a book later . Does anyone have an idea for an actual controlled experiment? (Manipulating/Responding Variables) Could the simulator/coaster thing pass as one do you think?

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by MKBurn15
I'm having lotsa trouble finding stuff on the internet. Guess I'll have to find a book later . Does anyone have an idea for an actual controlled experiment? (Manipulating/Responding Variables) Could the simulator/coaster thing pass as one do you think?

Buy this...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...reamscape/102-5893170-4227351?v=glance&s=toys

and then make a simple simulator...but in your presentation show how you could "simulate" the same forces that the rollercoaster is providing.


Also...show what forces are applied to the "rider" in the rollercoaster...or...you could go a completely different route and just describe and show people how different types of coasters work...for example...the one in the "toy" I posted is gravity...but other's use LIM (Rock N Rollercoaster)...and other's use different means (Incredible Hulk...not LIM...but does the job).

 

[MKBurn15]

Originally posted by WDWFREAK53
Buy this...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...reamscape/102-5893170-4227351?v=glance&s=toys

and then make a simple simulator...but in your presentation show how you could "simulate" the same forces that the rollercoaster is providing.


Also...show what forces are applied to the "rider" in the rollercoaster...or...you could go a completely different route and just describe and show people how different types of coasters work...for example...the one in the "toy" I posted is gravity...but other's use LIM (Rock N Rollercoaster)...and other's use different means (Incredible Hulk...not LIM...but does the job).

LIM?

 

[MKBurn15]

I don't really understand how to make a simple simulator either. On the computer? Do I need a special program?

 

[cloudboy]

LIM stands for Linear Induction Motor. It is a way of accelerating a roller coaster - instead of draggin it up a hill by chain and then letting gravity pull it down again, it uses basically a series of magnets to accellerate it up a hill.

I believe he was talking about making a scale model of a simulator - a box with the legs that support it to show how it moves.

Here are some tips to help you think about how you would approach the project.

first, what do you want to show? Litterally come up with a sentence or two (not much more than that) that summarizes what your experiment will hopefully prove. Spend some time on this, read about the subject first, and then formulate it.

Second, figure out what facts you are going to have to provide, and what examples you want to provide, that will prove your statement from the first first step.

Third, think of what you can build that will show this, or what you can make. It doesn't HAVE to be a model, but I bet in this case it would not only help your message and make a better presentation, it will also help you understand it better yourself.

I don't want to give you all the answers - that's what doing a project is all about. Try doing a search on google and Yahoo about roller coasters and physics, how roller coasters work, and roller coaster science projects. That should get you started. And I would definitely take WDWFreaks advice and try making a model of a simulator ride - don't get fancy with it, just look at some of the pictures and figure out how it works. It will help you figure out how the different movements are simulated.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by cloudboy
LIM stands for Linear Induction Motor. It is a way of accelerating a roller coaster - instead of draggin it up a hill by chain and then letting gravity pull it down again, it uses basically a series of magnets to accellerate it up a hill.


I don't want to give you all the answers - that's what doing a project is all about. Try doing a search on google and Yahoo about roller coasters and physics, how roller coasters work, and roller coaster science projects. That should get you started. And I would definitely take WDWFreaks advice and try making a model of a simulator ride - don't get fancy with it, just look at some of the pictures and figure out how it works. It will help you figure out how the different movements are simulated.

(TTA also uses LIM...if you look on the "track" you'll see black rectangles between the "rails"...those are magnets...the ride vehicles also have magnets (each magnet has a negative and a positive side...if you hold a positive to a positive or a negative to a negative...they will repel each other...).

(Magnetism might be a more "define" area to concentrate on...discuss it...describe it..."teach it" then have a basic "LIM" setup on a track)

Yep, not gonna give you all the answers...that's your job...but I think cloudboy and I have provided more than a few options and ideas.