The use of data loggers on the extreme rides at theme parks provides students with the means to gather real data. This is a rich and meaningful data source because the students have  experienced the forces and acceleration first hand on the rides. These are easily identified and measured using the graphs produced from the data.

 

The Technology, Maths and Science Centre of Excellence (TMSCE) first used electronic dataloggers on these rides at Dreamworld on the Queensland Gold Coast in 2003. Since then many students from schools across the state have undertaken similar activities by arranging to borrow the equipment from the TMSCE.

 

Texas Instruments calculators and dataloggers combined with Vernier sensors are attached directly to the students using vests available from Verniers.

 

This site contains examples of a few rides. A more comprehensive collection of video clips, and data sets and worksheets is available by contacting the TMSCE .