Wild (Chutes) & Wonderful Physics
TAYLORS FALLS - What do snow tubing and physics have in common? If you have to ask, you’ve clearly never gone on the Taylors Falls Wild Chutes Snow Tubing “Science of Snow Tubing” field trip.
More and more middleand high-school science teachers are catching on that this is may be the most physics fun since Newton was hit in the head by an (edible) apple.
Wild Mountain Group Sales representative Carrie Molner says that the slopes of Wild Mountain make the subtleties of physics come alive for science students.
As an added plus, most of the preparatory work for science teachers has been done.
“We provide all of the tools as well as the student workbooks and the teacher’s workbook online,” Molner told The Citizen during an interview at the Hugo Health Fair last weekend.
The field trip is available to groups of 50 students or more, although Molner says that if smaller groups are flexible, they can be combined with other small groups to make up the difference.
A new twist on the success of physics field trips to the roller coasters at the Mall of America and Valley Fair, Wild Chutes has a cold-weather advantage: students can participate in a fun, outside winter excursion from early December through mid-March, when getting outside in large groups can be challenging.
Students divide off into teams of 4 to 10 before arriving and, aft er a brief orientation in the Wild Chutes Snow Tubing chalet, circulate between 7 study zones. Those zones are labeled: average speed, instantaneous speed, force of friction, coeffi cient of friction, potential energy, kinetic energy, and work & power.
Newton would be proud.
At each zone, students take field measurements using materials provided by the Wild Chutes team> It takes about 1-1/2 hours to move through the study zones.
After the data is accumulated, it’s time for a little practical application on the slopes before returning to the classroom to analyze that data.
At Wild Chutes, rope tows are out and conveyor lift s are definitely in: students simply stand and ride a moving walkway up the slope. At the top, they have the choice of a dozen chutes to experience the eff ects of that coeffi cient of friction while converting potential energy to kinetic energy on the way down.
For the more adventuresome, there is one “double-wide” chute reserved for chains of people.
And yes, this “bowling alley” has bumpers; Wild Chutes builds up snow walls to keep everybody on track. With the “longest runout in the Midwest,” Molner says, it’s plenty safe and a load of fun.
Plus, she added, “they’re getting out of class, they’re getting fresh air, they’re getting exercise, and they’re engaging in teamwork.”
As the brochure says, Math + Science + Fresh Air = Fun, and we believe it, but there is one thing missing: Chaperones.
Each school group is expected to provide 7 of them. Chaperones oversee the data collection zones, receiving simple instructions at the beginning of the day from the Wild Chutes team.
Interest is building in this hands-on activity, and a number of schools have made it a yearly opportunity for students, among them Forest Lake Area High School, which will be participating this year for the third time.
The cost for the program, off ered Monday through Friday beginning Dec. 12, is $12 per student with one complimentary pass for 20 paid; however, special rates of $10 per student for first-time school bookings are available for program reservations made through Nov. 15.
Interested instructors or parents may check out the program or get directions at www.wildmountain.com or call 651-465-6315.
Families are welcome on weekends: the best rates are available on Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m., when there is unlimited tubing for $10 per person.
Wild Mountain opened for skiing on Oct. 28.