Learning at the amusement park.

elitchesgardensWe took a trip to Elitch Gardens in Denver today. It is an amusement park and water park all in one. It’s a ton of fun and really not the first place you think of when looking for lessons and learning.

We definitely focused on the fun and the family time during our visit. The girls spent the first half of the day in the water park and then we wrapped up on the rides. In all the running, riding, splashing and shouting, we stole a few moments to do some quick learning.

My daughters loved the wave pool. They asked lots of questions about where the waves come from and how they are generated. Sometimes the water is still and other times, you are riding waves. We had to look up how wave pools work when we got home. According to How Stuff Works, small wave pools use wind to generate waves, while the larger ones use large amounts of water to push the water across the pool.

I have to admit, that while I stood there watching my daughters play, I too wondered how the waves seemed to come out of nowhere.

We also learned how important it is for the rides to work and how important water is on the water slides. We had stood in a beastly line working our way up a twisting staircase dragging an inner-tube. As we reached the top and it became our turn, the ride was shut down. They let one person ride their tube down the bowl to “see how bad it is.” They said a pump on one side had shut down and the water was not running properly. The water park test human “dummy” almost spilled out of his tube, because there wasn’t enough water. A serious bummer, but I was glad they shut the ride down before we stuck on the side of the bowl and dumped out.

After getting spending more than enough time out in the sun, we moved onto the amusement park. An amusement park is a physics lesson in itself. You don’t have to look long to find physics in action. You are surrounded by force and motion, friction, and machinery. How do the rides work? How do they keep you safe? How do you stay in your chair on the Sea Dragon?

We watched riders on some of the larger, more dangerous rides like the Tower of Terror and the free fall rides. How does the ride work with the rider’s weight vs gravity?

We also watched a water ride where the boat sails down a huge ramp and makes a tremendous splash at the bottom. How does the boat hit the water just right to make such a splash? Do you think the splash would be bigger or smaller with an empty boat?

We ended the day with a small but important lesson in sun protection. I have a sunburn on my back. Ouch! But my daughter’s both are fine. They were wearing UV protective swimwear and I was wearing sunscreen. Which works better in protecting you all day? Here kiddos, look at my back to see the effects of sun on skin.