The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye
Teacher Resource Guide
Grades 6-8
“A Look ‘A-Round’ Florida”
Arrival and Entry
Please allow ample time for parking and
obtaining tickets. To book a FREE education
workshop with your trip, please contact our
call center at 866-228-6444. Workshops must
be booked in advance.
Safety
To have the best adventure possible, please
abide by all safety precautions posted and
given by our staff. If you have any questions
during your experience, please speak to any
member of our team.
Additional Information
For information on the Coca-Cola Orlando
Eye and our FREE education workshops,
visit our website: www.officialorlandoeye.com
Directions
We are conveniently located at I-Drive 360.
Please use our east entrance found on Universal
Boulevard.
8401 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
Contents:
Introduction
1
Observation Wheel Comparison
2-3
“A Look A-Round Florida”
Student Activities
4-8
Sample Responses
9
Relevant Standards
10
Educational Objectives:
Students will be able to…
•
Contrast the differences between a
Ferris wheel and an Observation
wheel.
•
Identify types of Florida landforms
they can see from the Coca-Cola
Orlando Eye
•
Discuss Formation processes behind
topographic features
•
Analyze human impacts on Florida
landforms and ecology
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The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye
History of the Observation Wheel
200 B.C. - The large, circular wheels used to lift water for irrigation
may have inspired the earliest designs of wheels used for
amusement rides.
1620 A.D. - Peter Murphy visited a small town celebration in
Turkey. One of the rides included two vertical wheels (about 20 feet
across) that were held off the ground by a large post on each side.
The ride was called a "pleasure wheel."
1728 - In England, small hand-turned wheels were called "upsand-downs" and had four passenger seats.
1848 - Antonio Maguino established a pleasure wheel to draw
crowds to his rural park and picnic grounds in Walton Spring,
Georgia. The wheel was made of wood and powered by two men.
1860 - A French pleasure wheel existed that could carry 16
passengers. Men would climb a ladder to the top and turn it by
hand!
1893 - The race for larger wheels culminated when American
bridge builder and engineer, George Washington Gale Ferris,
began building a 250 foot wheel for the 1893 Colombian
Exposition in Chicago. Designed like a bicycle wheel, with a stiff
steel outer rim hung from the center axle by steel spokes under
tension, the wheel could carry as many as 1,440 passengers at a
time in 36 enclosed cars. The giant wheel opened on June 21,
1893, and drew more than 1.4 million paying customers during the
19 weeks it was in operation.
2014 - Since the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel, there have
been nine world’s tallest-ever Ferris wheels. The current record
holder is the 500 foot High Roller in Las Vegas, Nevada, which
opened to the public in March 2014.
2015 - The Orlando Eye opens to the public, providing
breathtaking views of Central Florida. At 400 feet in height, it is the
tallest observation wheel on the East Coast of the U.S.A.
2016 – The Orlando Eye becomes The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye
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The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye
Reinventing the Wheel
What is the difference between a Ferris Wheel and an Observation Wheel?
The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, as well as the London Eye, are considered Observation Wheels,
and differ from Ferris Wheels in the following ways:
Ferris Wheel:
•
•
•
Feature free-swing passenger
gondolas or carriages
suspended from the rim
Supported by two towers on
each side of the axles
View can sometimes be
obstructed by the wheel itself
Ferris Wheel:
Observation Wheel:
•
•
•
Feature enclosed passenger
capsules designed to remain
stable throughout the rotation
Supported by an A-frame
support
Offers a 360° unobstructed
view
The Coca-Cola
Orlando Eye:
Can you observe any other differences?
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A Look “A-Round” Florida
Florida’s Amazing Landscapes
More than just a day at the beach…
When people think about Florida, they generally picture our
world-class resorts, swaying palms, white sands, all under a
tropical sun. What most don’t realize is that Florida actually
has a wide variety of unique and vibrant landscapes. From
grasslands to wetlands, cypress groves to sandy shores,
Florida is so much more than just a day at the beach.
As you ride the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, you will be able to
see these landscapes from a new perspective, and get a big
picture of many of the natural wonders that Florida has to
offer, and even glimpse the slow and powerful forces that
shape them.
What do you know?
Use your prior knowledge about Florida landscapes to answer the following
questions.
1. Other than the ones mentioned in the text above, what kinds of natural
landforms have you heard of?
2. What forces are you aware of that shape natural landscapes in Florida?
3. How do you think Florida’s landscape has changed in the past 50 years?
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Relevant Standards: SC.6.E.6.1; SC.6.E.6.2; SC.7.E.6.6
A Look “A-Round” Florida
Florida’s Amazing Landscapes
•
Anthropogenic: something that is the result of the
influence of human beings on nature
•
Coastline: area where the land meets the ocean
•
Deforestation: the permanent destruction of forests
in order to make land available for other uses, such
as farms, ranches, or urban use
•
Deposition: the geological process in which
sediments, soil, and rocks are added to a landform or
land mass
•
Erosion: the action of surface processes, like wind or
water flow, that remove soil, rock, or dissolved
material from one location to another
•
Hill: a naturally raised area of land that is lower than
a mountain
•
Lake: a large body of water surrounded by land
•
Limestone: a sedimentary rock created from the
remains of tiny sea creatures
•
Pollution: the presence or introduction of a harmful
or poisonous thing into the environment
•
River: moving body of water that flows in one
direction
•
Topography: the physical or natural features of an
area or land
•
Urbanization: the process of city growth
•
Wetland: An area of land that is saturated with water
enough of the time to support water-loving plants
Relevant Standards: SC.6.E.6.2; SC.7.E.6.6; SS.8.G.5.2
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A Look “A-Round” Florida
Florida’s Amazing Landscapes
Where am I?
Draw a line to match images of Florida landforms visible
from the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye to their description on
the right. Then, give an example of where that landform
type occurs in Florida (does not have to be the one
pictured). The first one has been completed for you.
Coastline
Example: Cape Canaveral, FL
Wetland
Example: ______________________
River
Example: ______________________
Hill
Example: ______________________
Lake
Example: ______________________
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Relevant Standards: SC.6.E.6.2
A Look “A-Round” Florida
Florida’s Amazing Landscapes
A Land of Lakes
Did you know that there are more than 7,000 natural lakes in Florida? These lakes
come in many shapes and sizes, from huge Lake Okeechobee to Lake Eola in the
center of Downtown Orlando. Most are formed when water dissolves the soft
limestone that makes up most of Florida’s bedrock, creating an open sinkhole or
reservoir. This fills with water from rain or groundwater, like that in the Florida
aquifer.
1. What is the name of a lake that you can see from the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye?
(Hint: Use the in-capsule iPad)
2. Draw a picture of a lake that you can see from the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye :
3. How is the way that humans create lakes different from the way they form
naturally?
4. Which do you think would cause more erosion: a small lake or a small river?
Explain your reasoning.
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Relevant Standards: SC.6.E.6.1; SC.6.E.6.2; SC.7.E.6.6
A Look “A-Round” Florida
Florida’s Amazing Landscapes
What makes a wetland?
True to their name, wetlands are exactly that – “wet lands.”
However, to be considered a wetland, the ground does not
always have to be saturated with water. Wetlands must be
wet for at least part of the year and produce aquatic or
water-loving plants like cattails, mosses, or lily pads. They
come in many different forms, including swamps, bogs,
marshes, pine warrens, and sawgrass meadows.
Wetlands are incredibly important ecosystems, and are
sometimes compared to rainforests in their diversity. They
are home to thousands of different species of crustaceans,
fish, plants, mollusks, and birds. In addition, they act as
natural water filters. Between 80-90% of suspended solids
and toxins in the water is filtered out by the stems and roots
of wetland plants as it travels through. Though they may
look, and sometimes smell, a little strange, wetlands actually
keep our water clean and healthy!
Great blue heron –
a common wetland
inhabitant
1. How is a wetland different from a lake?
2. What is the largest wetland in Florida?
3. Since Florida became a state, humans have destroyed more than 44% of the state’s
wetlands to create farmland and cities. How do you think this impacts Florida’s wildlife
and ecosystems?
4. Think about it: What is one way that you can
help Florida wetlands?
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Relevant Standards: SC.6.E.6.2; SC.7.E.6.6; SS.8.G.5.2
Sample Responses:
Page 3:
Accept any reasonable answers
Page 4:
1. Accept any reasonable answers. Examples: lakes, rivers, deltas, mountains, etc.
2. Accept any reasonable answers. Examples: erosion, hurricanes, floods, wind,
dissolution, etc.
3. Accept any reasonable answer, should discuss expanded urbanization in some way
Page 6:
Accept any reasonable examples for each landform
Coastline
Wetland
River
Hill
Lake
Page 7:
1. Accept any reasonable answers. Examples: Big Sand Lake, Lake Eola, etc.
3. Humans create lakes by digging them out using machinery or by blocking waterways
(dams). Natural lakes are made by erosion or the dissolution of rocks, such as
limestone
4. A small river because it has a stronger current to carry sediments away from their
original location.
Page 8:
1. A lake is a large area of water. A wetland doesn’t need to be covered in water year
round and is rich in aquatic plant life.
2. The Everglades
3. Accept any reasonable answers. Example: The destruction of wetlands can increase
the amount of particulates and chemicals found in freshwater and lower species
diversity by causing habitat destruction.
4. Accept any reasonable answers. Example: Picking up litter, recycling, writing to
politicians, etc.
9|Page
Relevant Sunshine
State Standards:
SIXTH GRADE Relevant standards include:
• (SC.6.E.6.1) Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth’s surface is guilt up
and torn down by physical and chemical weathering, erosion, and deposition
• (SC.6.E.6.2) Recognize that there are a variety of different landforms on Earth's
surface such as coastlines, dunes, rivers, mountains, glaciers, deltas, and lakes and
relate these landforms as they apply to Florida
SEVENTH GRADE Relevant standards include:
•
(SC.7.E.6.6) Identify the impact that humans have had on Earth, such as
deforestation, urbanization, desertification, erosion, air and water quality, changing
the flow of water.
EIGHTH GRADE Relevant standards include:
•
(SS.8.G.5.2) Describe the impact of human modifications on the physical environment
and ecosystems of the United States throughout history.
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