Recently I was approached via email by a company I had never heard of, Education.com
I searched their site a bit and it looked cool but I felt that my boys had outgrown their ideas. I let Kat (the representative I was speaking with) know that. “Cool site,”I told her, “But not really geared for the ages of my boys.”
Kat. Was. On. It.
She immediately came back with this brilliant idea to do with your kids/my boys. Bonus? Baseball/Softball season is about to begin.
I didn’t know what Education.com had to offer but I am so impressed with Kat that I agreed to send out in this post with what she sent me. All I get from this is this fun activity I look forward to having my boys try…..when the polar vortex of winter finally leaves Michigan.
Check this fun baseball activity out!
Tell me…
What do you think of this activity?
Have you heard of Education.com before?
What did you like about Education.com? (the printable worksheets and online games really grabbed my eye.)
For all my friends who homeschool, as well as Cohagen Chronicles who loves baseball more than anyone I know, this post is especially for you!
Thank you, Kat, for reaching out to me!
Check out more on this project HERE
Baseball Bat Materials
Grade Level: 5th – 8th; Type: Physics
Ever wonder whether an aluminum or wooden baseball bat can make the ball travel farther? What about bats made of other materials? This hands-on science activity will let your middle schoolers test the impact of different materials on one of their favorite sports, while developing their knowledge of physics. Experiment with using a variety of bats and record your results to see which type of material makes a baseball travel the longest distance.
Start off with a list of questions you want to answer in your experiment:
1) What angles help a ball travel further?
2) Do stronger materials necessarily make objects travel further?
3) What materials are used in modern baseball bats?
4) What materials have been used in the past?
5) What types of materials have been developed recently that are used in sports equipment?
What You Need:
1) A baseball
2) An aluminum baseball bat
3) A wooden baseball bat (if you can find wooden bats of different types of wood, use as many different ones as are available)
4) A stick or piece of lumber (possibly more than one if you can find different woods)
5) A metal rod, such as a piece of rebar
6) A plastic tube or bat7) A golf club
8) A tee that is used in tee-ball (this will eliminate the variable of the pitcher, which would invalidate the results of your experiment)
9) Safety goggles
10) Work gloves to help protect your hands
11) A tape measure
If you do not have sporting equipment of your own, you can borrow some from your school’s physical education department or a local sports team.
What You Do:
1) Go out to a large open space and put on the gloves and safety goggles.
2) Place the ball on the tee.
3) Hit the ball with one of the bats.
4) Wait until the ball stops.5) Measure the distance that the ball travelled, using a tape measure.
6) Record the material of the bat and the distance the ball travelled on a chart such as the one below.
7) Repeat steps 2-6 two more times with the same bat. Try to hit the ball with the same strength as you did the first time.
8) Average the results for the first type of bat by adding the three distances and dividing by three.
9) Record the average for the first type of bat on the chart.
10) Repeat steps 2-9 for each type of bat you are using.
Find out more HERE.
Thanks again, Kat at Education.com, for contacting me!
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