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A theme park based on Newtonian physics. Why hasn't this been done before?!
Imagine a theme park with roller coasters like the mobius (the ride with one side). Bumper cars on a track with different surfaces with different frictional properties. Launch rocket where you can see the hydraulics at work. A giant rocking-boat-style ride run on a Foucault pendulum. Games where you try and shoot a target that is dropped when you pull the trigger. Or games where you get 5 minutes to answer some heinous physics question. Every ride has 1 or more learning spots where you can learn about what's making the thing fun. And of course you can break a few records with the largest air cannon, or the furthest speak to each other via concave disk thingy. You are greeted upon entering the park by an enormous and elaborate Rube Goldberg-inspired perpetual motion fountain. Really the possibilities are endless.
Here's why it would work:
You have two types of amusement park attendees: Families (who attend disneyland, world etc.) and teenyboppers (who attend all the others). Who rocks the theme park world I ask? Yeah you might think continuing the teenybopper tradition might be the way to go, but if you can get families all the better. And here's a truth if I ever knowed one - nerds never grow up. I can so easily imagine nerd moms and dads bringing their nerd kids if it's marketed right. And careers are getting more and more science/math oriented, which means more parents who are (and aren't ashamed to admit it) into this stuff. They flock to science museums already, don't they?
In addition to ageless nerds (we all have some nerd in us), how easy is it for schools to justify a "field trip" here? It's education, right? They could come twice a year! If you can justify a once-a-year trip to 6 flags, this would not be difficult.
Getting rides and exhibits sponsored by tech companies who wouldn't mind smart kids seeing their brands at an impressionable age would be a snap. Google would pay for something. Apple would pony up something. A little imagination and many sponsorship opportunities would arise.
Lastly, there's a sea change in the air for math and sciences to come out of sucksville. Both on the student side and on the teacher side. Therefore the timing is important. Get on this somebody smart!
A theme park based on Newtonian physics. Why hasn't this been done before?!
Imagine a theme park with roller coasters like the mobius (the ride with one side). Bumper cars on a track with different surfaces with different frictional properties. Launch rocket where you can see the hydraulics at work. A giant rocking-boat-style ride run on a Foucault pendulum. Games where you try and shoot a target that is dropped when you pull the trigger. Or games where you get 5 minutes to answer some heinous physics question. Every ride has 1 or more learning spots where you can learn about what's making the thing fun. And of course you can break a few records with the largest air cannon, or the furthest speak to each other via concave disk thingy. You are greeted upon entering the park by an enormous and elaborate Rube Goldberg-inspired perpetual motion fountain. Really the possibilities are endless.
Here's why it would work:
You have two types of amusement park attendees: Families (who attend disneyland, world etc.) and teenyboppers (who attend all the others). Who rocks the theme park world I ask? Yeah you might think continuing the teenybopper tradition might be the way to go, but if you can get families all the better. And here's a truth if I ever knowed one - nerds never grow up. I can so easily imagine nerd moms and dads bringing their nerd kids if it's marketed right. And careers are getting more and more science/math oriented, which means more parents who are (and aren't ashamed to admit it) into this stuff. They flock to science museums already, don't they?
In addition to ageless nerds (we all have some nerd in us), how easy is it for schools to justify a "field trip" here? It's education, right? They could come twice a year! If you can justify a once-a-year trip to 6 flags, this would not be difficult.
Getting rides and exhibits sponsored by tech companies who wouldn't mind smart kids seeing their brands at an impressionable age would be a snap. Google would pay for something. Apple would pony up something. A little imagination and many sponsorship opportunities would arise.
Lastly, there's a sea change in the air for math and sciences to come out of sucksville. Both on the student side and on the teacher side. Therefore the timing is important. Get on this somebody smart!
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