PREPARE YOURSELF
✓ Ask if the park has educational resources for school trips.
✓ Print out a map of the park and make copies for students.
PREPARE YOUR STUDENTS
✓ Conduct a lesson prior to the trip that assesses students’ prior knowledge of the location and gives students some background information. This might include visiting the park’s website, reviewing a map of the park, or discussing students’ previous experiences at the park.
OBJECTIVES
Students determine the purpose of ride restrictions by collecting numerical data and representing the data in graphs.
MATERIALS
Park maps, Poster paper, Pencil, Note paper, Clipboard
KEY VOCABULARY/CONCEPTS:
Bar graph Circle graph Data
Step 1: Explain to students that we will be traveling throughout the amusement park to collect data about the different rides in order to determine if the park is a good place to bring smaller children. We want to know the percentage of rides with height requirements and what those height requirements are.
Step 2: Place students into 4 groups. Each group will be responsible for collecting data while in the park and then representing the data in a graph.
Step 3: Explain that students will record the height requirements for all rides (to be represented in a bar graph) and the number of rides with a height requirement (to be represented in a circle graph).
Step 4: After the trip, model how to chart data in a bar graph and circle graph. For a review and interactive practice visit Math Games.
Step 5: In groups, students create their graphs on chart paper. Have them share their findings.
Step 6: Students answer the following questions:
What similarities did you notice about the rides with height requirements?
What is the purpose of height requirements?
Is this park a good place to take smaller children? Why or why not?