1. Are the objective and introduction written in an engaging way? Yes No     If 'No' please explain. characters left 2. Is the difficulty level accurate? Yes No     If 'No' please explain. characters left 3. Were the materials easily obtained? Yes No     If 'No' please explain. characters left 4. Was the procedure clear? Yes No      If 'No' please explain. characters left 5. Were all safety measures included? Yes No      If 'No' please explain. characters left 6. Did you obtain clear, unambiguous results? Yes No     If 'No' please explain. characters left 7. How much time did you spend on the project? Choose One... A day or less Several days About one week A couple weeks Several weeks to months 8. How much did the project cost? Choose One... Less than $20 $20 - $50 $50 - $100 $100 - $150 $150+ Optional:  Do you have any suggestions to improve this project? characters left Optional:  Attach a picture of your project (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG only) Optional:  Caption for picture characters left Thank you for your feedback! * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. Abstract For example, think of hitting a baseball, heading a soccer ball into the net, or hitting a tennis ball with a racquet. Where the ball goes depends on...what? You can set up a simple model to start your investigation. You'll need a marble, a flat piece of wood, a flat piece of cardboard, a pencil, a ruler, a protractor, and a level surface. Lay down the cardboard down on a level surface and set up the flat piece of wood at one edge. The wood will act like a wall, and you're going to roll the marble at it from different angles to see how the marble bounces off. On the cardboard, mark the starting point, the point where the marble strikes the wood, and a point along the marble's path as it rolls away from the wood. Use the pencil and ruler to connect the incoming and outgoing trajectories of the marble to the point where the marble bounced off the wood. Draw a line perpendicular to this point, and measure the angle between the perpendicular line and the incoming and outgoing trajectories. Do this for at least 10 trials at each of several different angles. What is the relationship between the two angles? Now apply what you learned to a real-life sports situation (like heading a soccer ball or hitting a baseball). In the real-life situation, the ball is no longer hitting a stationary target and bouncing off, it's hitting something that is moving. That makes it harder to measure the angles; just remember that what is important is measuring the angles at the point of impact. For a more advanced project, you may also want to consider how the spin of the ball can change its trajectory. You could choose to concentrate only on the spin imparted by the kick, the bat or the racquet, or you may want to get really complicated and consider the spin of the incoming ball as well. (Idea from Wiese, 2002, pp. 31–34. For more advanced explanations, including the effects of spin, see the Bibliography for a book on the particular sport which interests you.) Bibliography Wiese, Jim. Sports Science: 40 Goal-Scoring, High-Flying, Medal-Winning Experiments for Kids. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Shop for Supplies at Science Buddies Online Store Science Buddies has compiled some suggestions for harder to find items in our Amazon store. The store does not include every item for every project, but it does include items that we feel work for the projects on our website. If you have comments or would like us to add items to the store, please contact us at scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org. Variations For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Physics Project Ideas. Last edit date: 2007-02-02 22:37:13

I Did This Project! Tell us about your experience with this science project. What was the most important thing you learned? characters left What problems did you encounter? (Enter "none" if you had none.) characters left Can you suggest any improvements or ideas? (Enter "no" if you have none.) characters left How do you rate this project? Poor OK Good Very Good Excellent Optional:  Attach a picture of your project (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG only) Optional:  Caption for picture characters left Thank you for your feedback! Related Links Science Fair Project Guide Project Summary Difficulty  6  Time required Short (several days) Share this Project Idea! Donate to Science Buddies Sponsor Physics Interest Area Honorary Sponsor, Kenneth Hess Science Buddies' "Volunteer of the Decade" Internet Safety Tips Get educated about online safety with help from Symantec. symantec.com/norton/familyresources Motorola Solutions Foundation sponsors Summer Science Camp Resource Summer Science Camp Resource

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	Physicist Physicists have a big goal in mind—to understand the nature of the entire universe and everything in it! To reach that goal, they observe and measure natural events seen on Earth and in the universe, and then develop theories, using mathematics, to explain why those phenomena occur. Physicists take on the challenge of explaining events that happen on the grandest scale imaginable to those that happen at the level of the smallest atomic particles. Their theories are then applied to human-scale projects to bring people new technologies, like computers, lasers, and fusion energy.			Mathematician Mathematicians are part of an ancient tradition of searching for patterns, conjecturing, and figuring out truths based on rigorous deduction. Some mathematicians focus on purely theoretical problems, with no obvious or immediate applications, except to advance our understanding of mathematics, while others focus on applied mathematics, where they try to solve problems in economics, business, science, physics, or engineering.

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