Dad Builds Backyard Roller Coaster for 3-Year-old Son

Who needs to go to Six Flags when you can have your own private roller coaster in your back yard?

The Dad of the Year award goes to Scott Brazelton for building a miniature roller coaster for his 3-year-old son Wyatt.

The Navy pilot spent several weeks building the 140-foot long ride out of PVC pipe and lumber in the backyard of their home in Whidbey Island, Washington.

Scott had originally been reading up on do-it-yourself online plans explaining how to build a tree house – but then he found instructions on something far more interesting: building mini rollercoasters.

“I studied engineering in college a little bit,” Brazelton told the Whidbey Times. “I wouldn’t say it’s any special ability on my part. It’s very convenient nowadays to go online and pretty much learn how to do anything. You can tile a house or you can do something as crazy as this.”

Comprehension

Who is Scott Brazelton?
What’s the name of his son?
What did he do that tagged him as ‘The Dad of the Year’?
Who did he do it for?
What are the materials that he used to build the roller coaster?
What did he study in college?
What does he consider convenient nowadays

Discussion

What do you think about this article?
What was the last thing you’ve searched online?
Do you think that using the internet is convenient? Why?
Are you creative?
Have you ever tried creating something you’ve seen on the internet?
If there is something you can make for someone, to whom will it be and why?
What was your best childhood memory with your father? Talk about it.
When you’ve become a parent what will you create for your child? Why?

Vocabulary

Private- Concerning one person exclusively
Roller-coaster- Elevated railway in an amusement park
Miniature- A copy that reproduces a person or thing in greatly reduced size
Lumber- The wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material
Do-it-yourself- Done by yourself
Instruction- A message describing how something is to be done
Engineering- The discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems
College- An institution of higher education created to educate and grant degrees; often a part of a university