On Thursday March 10, high school students in Southern California, including SMCHS’ STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) class, took a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm to experience physics in a more exciting way. During Physics Day, the park was open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to give students from the STEM class an entire day to explore the park and measure the velocities, heights and times of various roller coasters.

Knott’s Berry Farm holds Physics Day every year around the beginning of March in order for students to learn more about physics in action.

“We chose to go to Knott’s instead of doing some boring lab because you can see the real life applications of physics that people use every day for things such as amusement parks,” said Physics teacher Isaac Huerta. “It really is conducive to roller coasters, gravity, and acceleration.”

Students had the chance to go on some of Knott’s Berry Farm’s classic rides like Boomerang, Xcelerator, and Supreme Scream. However, many classes including the STEM class had to do research during the actual ride. The physics classes documented the velocities and heights of the roller coasters and applied their previous knowledge of circular motion to solve for unknown variables like time and momentum.

“It was honestly an enriching experience,” said junior Sean Carroll, “It was kind of interesting to see how you’re able to tie in physics into a fun environment.”

Many students, in both Physics and Pre-cal classes, used an app on their phone to track the acceleration and force of gravity for their roller coaster project. Because of the research that was needed, students were able to experience what was really happening on the ride.

“The day was a hands on learning experience for the kids when having their monitors to see what’s really happening,” said Huerta. “You get that feeling in your stomach when you’re accelerating but when you’re actually quantifying it, you can say ‘Look it! That’s how fast we were actually going. That’s how many g’s we were pulling!'”

As the students were running around Knott’s trying to get to the front of the lines, Huerta, along with Pre-calculus teacher Doris Gatfield were able to sit back and witness the excitement of Physics Day.

“It was pretty rewarding, seeing all the kids experiencing learning in a more unique way, ” Huerta said. “I think physics is kind of a tough subject so to see them out there, having fun and enjoying it while still doing physics, it’s definitely enjoyable.”