Physics 1 Students Take on Rollercoaster Design

Rollercoaster+designed+and+created+by+Sooim+Kang%2C+Genevieve+Hulsof%2C+Alaina+Perila

Rollercoaster designed and created by Sooim Kang, Genevieve Hulsof, Alaina Perila

Students enrolled in AP Physics I created roller coasters that reflected on what they learned this semester and presented them May 18. The students created various themed structures that a marble could easily maneuver through.

“My favorite part was decorating our design,” junior Genevieve Hulshof said. “I really enjoyed the project, and thought it was a good way to review.”

The classes had a week to prepare, plan and build the roller coaster. While some may find this difficult, Hulshof didn’t find it as challenging.

“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but it required [that] we looked at it in a simplistic way,” Hulshof said.

Many found the project as a good way to review before finals started. According to junior Sneha Kannan, she was glad she did the project because it tested everybody’s knowledge.

“Being able to create a project that allowed you to build and plan a roller coaster with a group of friends was an interesting way to assess what you knew,” Kannan said.

The coaters were presented last Friday in the school’s library. Each group had a chance to present their rollercoasters to the class, with each hour having winners for categories including most creative, fastest, and longest roller coaster design.

“It was fairly fun, at times stressful, because of the amount of work everyone was putting in to get a good grade,” Kannan said.