Bouncing Balls

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Bouncing Balls
A Predicting Activity
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Bouncing Balls

• This activity provides experience in making
  predictions.
• It also provides experience in dealing with
• observation
• charting and graphing (communication skills)
• operational definitions
• and using numbers

3
Bouncing Balls

• Be sure to have read the materials on the Science
  Processes.
• Complete each slide before moving on to the next.
• Answer all questions posed throughout the
  activity.

4
Materials Needed

• Three balls with good bouncing ability (pictured
  are a ping pong ball, a racquet ball, and a
  tennis ball.)
• Two meter sticks.
• Tape.
• Writing materials.

5
Step 1

• Tape the meter sticks to the wall with the 0
  end resting on the floor.

6
Design Table 1 (Your table should look something
like the one below.)
Step 2
Click here for some music while you make your
Table.
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Step 3

• Select the first ball and drop it from each of
  the drop heights listed on your table.
• You need to operationally define drop ht in terms
  of the part of the ball that is held at each
  distance from the floor. Center of the ball? Top?
  Bottom?

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Step 4

• Drop the ball and record the bounce ht on your
  table.
• You will need to observe carefully to get an
  accurate bounce ht.
• Repeat this step until you have 3 accurate
  observations for each of the drop hts. Average
  them for your recorded bounce ht.
• Repeat this step for each ball.

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Design Table 2
Step 5

• Based upon the data from Table 1 what predictions
  would you make about the bounce heights of the
  three balls if the drop heights were changed?
• In Table 2 (next slide) the drop heights have
  been changed plus the bounce height columns have
  been split to allow you to make predictions
  before dropping the balls from the new heights.
• For each ball at each new drop ht. make a
  prediction about its bounce and record it. Then
  test your prediction by observing the bounce when
  dropped from the new height. Note! Do this one
  cell at a time. Make one prediction then test it
  before making your next prediction.
• Test your predictions by using the same procedure
  as in Table 1 including 3 observations for each
  drop height .

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Table 2 Predicted/Observed Bounce Hts.
Click here for some funky table-making music.
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Step 6

• Post answers on the discussion board to the
  following questions
• 1. Did your ability to predict the bounce heights
  get better with practice? Why?
• 2. Were any of the balls, or heights, easier to
  predict than others? Develop and list inferences
  to account for the differences.
• 3. Observations of natural events are sometimes
  difficult to make (scientists refer to this as
  measurement error ). What procedure(s) did
  we use to try to correct for measurement error?
• 4. Can you identify how we used the process
  skills of Communication?

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This activity is completed! So relax for a moment
or two.