THE THRILL SEEKER’S GUIDE TO EDUCATION

If you’ve been searching for the fastest, the biggest, and the most enlightening educational experience around, your quest is over!

Kentucky Kingdom provides a unique outdoor environment for multidisciplinary educational programs.

“Educational?” you ask. How can a theme park replace the classroom? As you loop through the air on or gallop around on the Bella Musica , you should start to see the patterns.

Whether in park operations, the color schemes used, the selection of rides, the location of walkways, and in so many other areas, specific patterns have been developed and used.

You and your students will be experiencing those patterns but now, fasten your seatbelt and get ready for an exhilarating “ride” through Kingdom.

Acknowledgments: wishes to thank the dedicated teachers and staff of Jefferson County Public Schools who have contributed to our Education in Motion program. Special thanks to Lee Ann Nickerson, Alexis Rich, Dotty Turnbull, and Kristen Wingfeld. © Kentucky Kingdom, LLLP 2016

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USING THE WORKBOOK FOR TEACHERS

We are happy to provide you with a guide D. Assign students to lab groups of to interesting experiments and projects to six to ten and request that each group enhance your “Education in Motion” trip be able to account for its members at to Kentucky Kingdom. Use as many as all times. In a larger group like this, no you deem suitable for your students and one will feel pressured to ride, anyone of course, feel free to alter them to fit your wanting to ride will likely have a students’ needs. partner to ride with, and non-riders will be able to ask the others how they A. The intent of this workbook is to liked the ride. You’ll also need less show students that learning about equipment. science and math at a theme park adds an extra dimension - going on E. You may want to give your rides becomes more interesting and students the option to choose a ride exciting! that’s not covered in the workbook and to show how that ride could be B. You may want to do a sample used to illustrate physics concepts. page from the workbook in class, using made-up data, a day or so F. When checking your students’ before your field trip. Students will answers, remember that all entries have a chance to get familiar with the are based on actual student workbook and get a sense of how to measurements and observations. use the pages most efficiently. Human reaction times vary and ride speeds depend to some extent on the C. Choose a series of concepts and ambient temperature and time of day. a minimum number (3 or 4) of rides you would like students to investigate. G. Many teachers have found it Since the time spent standing in line useful to request that their students is directly proportional to the turn in the workbook at the end of the popularity of a ride, suggest to your day. This ensures that enough students that they plan to use less calculations are done at the park for dramatic rides for a good portion of the students to connect those their required work. calculated results with the rides they have just experienced.

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USING THE WORKBOOK FOR STUDENTS

GETTING READY! ride, write down the information you gather, Before your visit to Kentucky Kingdom, you may and don’t lose it! need to collect materials and equipment and bring them with you to the park. Some of the 7. Your teacher will give you your admission activities require that lab or vocabulary work be ticket. We recommend that everyone in your done at school before you come to the park. group gather at a specific place (suggest the Completing these tasks before your trip will allow fountain at the entrance) before leaving the you to make better use of your time at Kentucky park. Great opportunity to take a class photo! Kingdom and should add to your enjoyment of 8. Check with your teacher about lunch the day. arrangements. 9. Make sure you understand the arrangements REMEMBER: for returning home before you get off your bus to enter the park. Make sure you can 1. You are going to Kentucky Kingdom to recognize your bus! demonstrate your understanding of math, physics, and science by gathering data and EQUIPMENT YOU MAY NEED TO applying basic concepts to different rides and BRING TO THE PARK: situations. 2. You will need to record the data you collect.  Calculator. You are expected to explain your answers. If  Stopwatch. There are many inexpensive you feel a question may have more than one ones available and often students have a meaning, state your interpretation of the watch with a stopwatch mode. Accuracy to question and then answer it. one-tenth of a second is sufficient. 3. You are expected to obey all park rules and  Pens and pencils. any directions given by the park’s staff. Do  Colored pencils, crayons, or markers. not endanger your safety or that of others.  Yardstick or measuring tape. 4. Objects dropped from rides can hurt people.  Paper (plain, graph, and/or drawing). You are not allowed to bring loose objects, such as sunglasses, cell phones, cameras, etc., on the rides. 5. It is not required that you ride any of the rides. Yet we hope you will want to get some first-hand experience by riding at least some of them! 6. It’s a good idea to plan ahead! Review the list of any equipment or supplies you will need to bring with you to the park. Determine the data to be collected before going on the

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SPEAKING THE

LANGUAGE OF PHYSICS Kinetic Energy - The energy of motion. The faster you go, the To name and describe your observations, you more kinetic energy you have. An object cannot up must be able to speak the language of physics. unless it gets energy from something that pushes or pulls it through some distance. Roller coasters get kinetic energy from gravitational potential energy. Try to use each of these words at least twice while riding or watching the rides. A moving object cannot slow down unless its kinetic energy is changed into some other kind of energy. In roller coasters, Acceleration - How fast speed and/or direction change. kinetic energy changes into gravitational potential energy and Action Force - One of the pair of forces described in Newton’s into heat. The total of the kinetic energy and gravitational third law. potential energy in a coaster tends to remain the same. Brakes change kinetic energy into heat. Air Resistance - Force of air pushing against a moving object. Law of Conservation of Energy - The statement that energy Apparent Weightlessness - The feeling of weightlessness cannot be created or destroyed; it may be transformed from that one has when falling toward the earth. (True one form to another, but the total amount of energy never weightlessness, however, requires that an object be far out in changes. space, where gravitational forces are negligible.) Mass - A kind of moving inertia that tends to keep moving Centripetal Force - A push or pull that makes an object move objects going in the same direction. Momentum is the mass of in a curved path. Its direction is toward the center of the object’s a body multiplied by its velocity. Momentum (mass x velocity) curved path. tends to remain the same. Elapsed Time - The time that has passed, or elapsed, since Momentum - The product of the mass and the velocity of an the beginning of the time measurement. object. Has direction as well as size. Elastic Collision - A collision in which colliding objects Parabola - The shape of the curved path of a ball as it is tossed rebound without lasting deformation or the generation of heat. from one person to another. hills have this Energy - The property of an object or system that enables it to shape. do work; measured in joules. Potential Energy - Energy that is stored and held in readiness Equilibrium - A state of balance between opposing forces or by an object by virtue of its position. With its energy in this effects. stored state, it has the potential for doing work. Force - Any sort of push or pull. Power - The rate at which work is done, which equals the Free Fall - Motion under the influence of the gravitational force amount of work done divided by the amount of time during only. which the work is done. This is measured in watts. Friction - A force from surrounding material that pushes or Reaction Force - The force that is equal in strength and pulls on objects when you try to move them. Friction causes opposite in direction to the action force and that acts on roller coasters to slow down. Friction usually results from the whatever is exerting the action force. rubbing of one surface against another and produces heat as Revolutions - Motion in which an object turns about an axis a result. Air resistance is one kind of friction. outside the object. Gravitational Potential Energy - The amount of energy of an Rotation - The spinning motion that occurs when an object object in a position above the surface of the earth. The higher moves about an axis that is located within the object. an object is, the greater the gravitational potential energy it has Rotational Speed - The number of rotations or revolutions per relative to the earth’s surface. unit of time, often measured per second or minute. G-Force - One inglr equals the gravitational pull at the surface Rotational Velocity - Rotational speed, together with a of the earth. A g-force of 2 g’s means a force acting on an direction of rotation or revolution. object that is equal to two times the object’s weight. (Acceleration of gravity - 9.8 m/s 2 (-10 m/s 2) or (-32 f/s 2). Speed - How fast something is moving (i.e., the distance moved per unit of time). Inertia - The tendency of matter to remain at rest or move at a constant speed in a straight line. Velocity - The speed of an object in a particular direction. Jerk - Rate of change of acceleration, named because you Weight - The force on a body of matter due to the gravitational notice this as a feeling of being jerked in the direction of the attraction of another body. (That other body is often the earth.) change.

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RIDE SPECIFICATIONS

LIGHTNING RUN ROLLER SKATER Opening Date: 2014 Opening Date: 1994 Height: 100 feet Height: 28 feet Length: 2,500 feet Length: 679 feet Top Speed: 55 mph Designer/Manufacturer: International Designer/Manufacturer: Rider Requirements: Minimum of 56” tall to ride alone; 36” Rider Requirements: Minimum of 48” tall tall and up may ride with a supervising companion* Ride Capacity: 2 trains, 20 passengers per Ride Capacity: 8 cars, 2 passengers per car

FEARFALL T3 Opening Date: 2014 Opening Date: 2015 Tower Height: 131 feet Height: 98 feet Lift Speed: 0.7 mph (upward) Length: 2,170 feet Drop Speed: 47 mph (downward) Top Speed: 60+ mph Designer/Manufacturer: A.R.M. Inc. Designer/Manufacturer: Vekoma International Rider Requirements: Minimum of 48” tall; maximum of 300 Rider Requirements: Minimum of 52” tall pounds Ride Capacity: 2 trains, 14 passengers per train Ride Capacity: 12 passengers BELLA MUSICA CAROUSEL Opening Date: 2015 Opening Date: 1994 Height: 40 feet Height: 30 feet Ride Speed: 12 rpm Diameter: 52 feet, 6 inches Designer/Manufacturer: HUSS Maschinenfabrik Designer/Manufacturer: Wood Design Amusement Rides Rider Requirements: Minimum of 54” tall; maximum of 300 Rider Requirements: Minimum of 36” tall to ride alone; pounds under 36” tall may ride with a supervising companion*; Ride Capacity: 20 gondolas, 2 passengers per gondola over 250 pounds must ride in gondola Ride Capacity: 66 seats CYCLOS Opening Date: 2015 MILE HIGH FALLS Height: 60 feet Opening Date: 1994 Rotation Speed: 12 rpm Height: 85 feet Manufacturer: Trough Length: Approximately 880 feet Rider Requirements: Minimum of 42” tall; maximum of 300 Top Speed: 48 mph pounds Designer/Manufacturer: O.D. Hopkins Ride Capacity: 16 Rider Requirements: Minimum of 42” tall to ride alone; 36” tall and up may ride with a supervising companion* SKYCATCHER Ride Capacity: 2 boats, 20 passengers per boat Opening Date: 2015 Height: 130 feet THUNDER RUN Rotation Speed: 10 rpm Opening Date: 1990 Manufacturer: A.R.M. Inc. Height: 89 feet Rider Requirements: Minimum of 48” tall; maximum of 340 Length: 2,850 feet pounds per swing/300 pounds per passenger Top Speed: 53 mph Ride Capacity: 12 swings with 2 passengers per swing Designer/Manufacturer: Dinn Corp. Rider Requirements: Minimum of 48” tall Ride Capacity: 1 train, 20 passengers per train

*Supervising companion meets all rider requirements,ALL LEVELS is at least 14 years old, and able to make sure child follows safety instructions. FUN STUFF ABOUT RIDES! The first roller coasters were ice slides serving as wintertime amusements in Russian villages and towns, particularly St. Petersburg, during the 15th and 16th centuries. In the late 19th century, LaMarcus Adna Thompson became known as “The Father of the Gravity Ride.” Although he did not invent the roller coaster, he built the Switchback Railway at in Brooklyn, New York, which opened on June 13, 1884. Mr. Thompson took a great interest in roller coasters and developed and patented many features of the modern coaster.

ROLLER SKATER The Roller Skater is a family roller coaster introduced at Kentucky Kingdom in 1994, the fourth coaster to be introduced at the park over a period of only five years. Manufactured by Vekoma International of the , it’s a coaster that people of all ages can enjoy.

The Roller Skater has a 28-foot hill and its track is 679 feet long. Its unusual location over a small ravine was chosen to maximize its thrill factor. Themed by Kentucky Kingdom Construction Inc., the coaster’s bright primary colors were chosen both for their visual impact and their similarity to the colors so often found in a child’s toy box.

THUNDER RUN Thunder Run, with its six tons of nails, 30,000 bolts, and 250,000 board feet of track, was designed by Curtis Summers and George Fetterman and manufactured in 1990 by the Dinn Corporation, which also constructed ’s “Mean Streak,” “Timber Wolf” at , and Over ’s “Georgia Cyclone.” Thunder Run consistently ranks among the top ten wooden coasters in nationwide polls.

LIGHTNING RUN Ranked among the top 25 steel coasters in the world, Lightning Run begins with a breathtaking 100-foot, 80-degree drop and ends with three gravity-defying camelback hills. This ten-story coaster thrills riders with negative airtime, an ultra- smooth ride, and nonstop twists and turns. Lightning Run is the first steel coaster of its kind. Manufactured by Chance Rides, it is the only Hyper GT-X coaster operating in the world.

T3 - TERROR TO THE 3rd POWER Kentucky Kingdom’s T3 (“Terror to the Third Power”), a suspended looping coaster designed and manufactured by Vekoma International of the Netherlands, offers high-tech thrills. Riders are suspended from an inverted track and make several complete 360- degree loops.

Although the concept for a suspended coaster, with the train hanging beneath the track and swinging its riders from side to side while negotiating steep drops and sharp turns, has existed since the early 1980’s, the coaster itself was not built and introduced at a theme park until 1992. The original design called for upside-down inversions, but this idea never made it past the design phase. The coaster’s side-to-side swinging action made inversions infeasible because of the possibility that the train could fall back when inverted if it negotiated a full 360-degree loop too slowly.

In 1992, a Swiss coaster design team took the concept of the suspended coaster one step further. In the new twist they developed, the train hangs from the track and yet hugs it rigidly, enabling it to maneuver through full 360-degree loops. T3 is the third generation of this type of ride. Rather than the four-across seating that had been standard on this type of coaster, T3 seats only two across, providing more thrills for its riders, who sit in chairs similar to chair lifts, with their feet dangling.

T3 was the very first of the new generation of suspended looping coasters to debut in . The ride features a 98-foot , a ten-story drop, and five full inversions along its track length of 2,170 feet. Two trains with seven coaches are able to operate simultaneously, allowing well over 1,000 guests per hour to enjoy the ride.

GIANT WHEEL

The 15-story Giant Wheel boasts 10,290 light bulbs. Each of its 40 gondolas carries 6 riders, or 1,050 pounds, for a total capacity of 42,000 pounds.

The Giant Wheel is, of course, an example of a . When the promoters of ’s 1893 World Exposition were searching for an engineering marvel to rival the Eiffel Tower, which was built for the 1889 Paris World’s , George Ferris, a civil engineer and bridge builder, proposed a 264-foot-tall pleasure wheel. Towering above the , the completed wheel had 36 gondolas, each 24 feet long, and carried up to 2,160 passengers on a ride consisting of two complete revolutions lasting 20 minutes apiece. George Ferris is the only amusement ride designer whose ride bears his name.

FEARFALL

FearFALL, manufactured by A.R.M. Inc., rises to a height of 128 feet and treats its riders to a 2.5-second, 60-foot free fall, reaching a top speed of close to 50 miles per hour.

FearFALL is the second generation of the free fall ride and Kentucky Kingdom was the first park in the world to get this prototype. Passengers sit in open-air cars, their feet dangling, and are pulled to the top of the tower in a mere sixty seconds. Following a brief pause at the top, riders experience a breathtaking free-falling plunge back down to ground level.

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BELLA MUSICA

Kentucky Kingdom’s Bella Musica Carousel, made in Holland and designed as a celebration of the world’s most classic , is a one-of–a-kind ride. Each wooden figure on the carousel is hand carved, a process that takes about 100 hours per figure, and the carousel horses have real horsehair tails. The figures duplicate the designs of famous artisans from various countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, and Holland. All of the glass pieces on the ride are hand-cut and the floor boards are made from the unusual Bangkirai wood. Bella Musica is 52-1/2 feet wide and 30 feet high and weighs more than 24 tons.

SKYCATCHER

This tall and graceful ride, manufactured by A.R.M. Inc., gives riders a terrific view of Kentucky Kingdom, Bay, and the Louisville skyline from swings 130 feet in the air. It can carry up to 24 riders at a time.

CYCLOS

Cyclos is the ultimate summertime twist! Riders sit on a huge rotating disc attached to a swinging pendulum. The pendulum begins with small swings back and forth, but gradually swings its riders higher and higher, ultimately taking them through a full 360- degree loop. Manufactured by Zamperla, this hair-raising ride towers 60 feet tall and carries 16 passengers at a time.

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Giant Wheel Fifteen stories Climbing, soaring, floating Gondola sailing through the air Ferris Wheel

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