Madeline Goodstein - Ace Your Sports Science Project

DISCOVERING THE SCIENCE OF SPORTS!

What does physics have to do with your favorite sport? Discover the science behind sportsthe Magnus effect, topspin and backspin, center of gravity, and more! Learn about the scientific method with the great physics experiments in this book. Many experiments include ideas you can use for a science fair project.

About the Authors

ROBERT GARDNER is an award-winning author of science books for young people. He is a retired high school teacher of physics, chemistry, and physical science. MADELINE GOODSTEIN, PhD, is a retired professor of chemistry from Central Connecticut State University. She is the author of many science project books, including titles in the Score! Sports Science Projects series by Enslow Publishers, Inc. BARBARA GARDNER CONKLIN is a special education teacher and author.

When you hear the word science, do you think of a person in a white lab coat surrounded by beakers of bubbling liquids, specialized lab equipment, and computers? What exactly is science? Maybe you think science is only a subject you learn in school. Science is much more than that.

Science is the study of the things that are all around you, every day. No matter where you are or what you are doing, scientific principles are at work. You dont need special materials or equipment or even a white lab coat to be a scientist. Materials commonly found in your home, at school, or at a local store will allow you to become a scientist and pursue an area of interest. Even your sports equipment can help you learn science. By making careful observations and asking questions about how things work, you can begin to design experiments to investigate a variety of questions. You can do science. You probably already have but just didnt know it!

Perhaps you are reading this book because you are looking for an idea for a science fair project for school and you are interested in sports. Maybe you want to learn to play a new sport or become better at a sport you already play. This book will provide an opportunity for you to learn about a variety of sports. It will also teach you about how to stretch, warm up, and get in shape. There is a lot to know about exercise, fitness, and training. A good place to start is to test your physical condition, balance, flexibility, strength, and endurance. You can do this in Chapter 1. The rest of the chapters include experiments about baseball, basketball, football, golf, hockey, soccer, and tennis. Learning about the science behind catching, kicking, hitting, or shooting can help you improve your skills. Whether you play sports yourself or simply enjoy being a spectator, there is sure to be something to catch your interest. You will learn scientific principles that will help you increase your understanding of and interest in sports.

All scientists look at the world and try to understand how things work. They make careful observations and conduct research about a question. Different areas of science use different approaches. Depending on the phenomenon being investigated, one method is likely to be more appropriate than another. Designing a new medication for heart disease, studying the spread of an invasive plant species such as purple loosestrife, and finding evidence that there was once water on Mars all require different methods.

Despite the differences, however, all scientists use a similar general approach to do experiments. It is called the scientific method. In most experiments, some or all of the following steps are used: making observations, formulating a question, making a hypothesis (an answer to the question) and a prediction (an if-then statement), designing and conducting an experiment, analyzing results and drawing conclusions, and accepting or rejecting the hypothesis. Scientists then share their findings with others by writing articles that are published in journals. Afterand only aftera hypothesis has repeatedly been supported by experiments can it be considered a theory.

You might be wondering how to get an experiment started. When you observe something in the world, you may become curious and come up with a question. Your question can be answered by a well-designed investigation. Your question may also arise from an earlier experiment or from background reading. Once you have a question, you should make a hypothesis. Your hypothesis is a possible answer to the question (what you think will happen). Once you have a hypothesis, it is time to design an experiment.

In some cases, it is appropriate to do a controlled experiment. This means there are two groups treated exactly the same except for the single factor that you are testing. That factor is often called a variable. For example, if you want to investigate whether exercise affects heart rate, two groups may be used. One group is called the control group, and the other is called the experimental group. The two groups of people should be treated exactly the same. The people in the control group will sit quietly for five minutes while the people in the experimental group will jog in place for five minutes. The variable is exerciseit is the thing that changes, and it is the only difference between the two groups.

During the experiment, you will collect data. For example, you will measure heart rate after the period of five minutes of either rest or exercise. You might also record the breathing rate for each person and the color of each persons face. By comparing the data collected from the control group with the data collected from the experimental group, you will draw conclusions. Since the two groups were treated exactly alike except for exercising, an increase in heart rate of the people in the experimental group would allow you to conclude with confidence that increased heart rate is a result of the one thing that was different: exercise.

Two other terms that are often used in scientific experiments are dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable here is heart rate, because it is the one you measure as an outcome. It may depend upon exercise. Exercise is the independent variable. It is the thing that the experimenter intentionally changes. After the data is collected, it is analyzed to see whether the hypothesis was supported or rejected. Often, the results of one experiment will lead you to a related question, or they may send you off in a different direction. Whatever the results, there is something to be learned from all scientific experiments.

Many of the experiments in this book may be appropriate for science fair projects. Experiments marked with a symbol () include a section called Science Fair Project Ideas. The ideas in this section provide suggestions to help you develop your own original science fair project. However, judges at such fairs do not reward projects or experiments that are simply copied from a book. For example, a model of the layers of a baseball would probably not impress judges unless it was done in a novel or creative way. On the other hand, a carefully performed experiment to find out whether the angle at which a baseball is thrown affects the time it takes to reach home plate would probably receive careful consideration.

Science fair judges tend to reward creative thought and imagination. However, it is difficult to be creative or imaginative unless you are really interested in your project. If you decide to do a project, be sure to choose a topic that appeals to you. Consider, too, your own ability and the cost of materials. Dont pursue a project that you cant afford.