Summary
Overview
Give your students a chance to practice their engineering skills in this fun sports-themed activity! Your motivation: You want to play a game in which you use something to hit a ball (hockey, mini golf, whiffle ball, etc.)... but you don't have any equipment. The students will need to use recycled materials (and some creativity) to build their own!Learning Objectives
- Use the engineering design process to build a tool that you can use to hit a ball into a goal.
- Understand how to use one object to push another and change its speed and direction.
NGSS Alignment
This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:- K-PS2-2. Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.
- K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
| Science & Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts | |||
| Science & Engineering Practices | Analyzing and Interpreting Data.
Analyze data from tests of an object or tool to determine if it works as intended. |
Disciplinary Core Ideas | PS2.A: Forces and Motion.
Pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of its motion and can start or stop it.
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems. A situation that people want to change or create can be approached as a problem to be solved through engineering. |
Crosscutting Concepts | Structure and Function.
The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s). |
Materials
- Assorted recyclable materials for construction, such as:
- Cardboard tubes
- Plastic bottles
- Corrugated cardboard
- Paper or plastic cups
- Egg cartons
- Duct tape, masking tape, or painter's tape
- Scissors
- Lightweight foam or plastic balls
- Arts and crafts supplies for decorating
- Open floor space with chairs or desks to use as "goals"
Background Information for Teachers
This section contains a quick review for teachers of the science and concepts covered in this lesson.People play many different sports, most of which use something like a bat, racquet, club, or stick to hit a ball or a puck (Figure 1). For example, in some sports, players hit a ball that is still (golf); in some, two people hit a ball back and forth (tennis); and in others, two teams compete to hit a ball into a goal (field hockey). In general, these objects are used to change the speed or direction of the ball by pushing it or hitting it. However, depending on the sport, they have different sizes and shapes. For example, a tennis racquet is short, wide, and held with one hand, while a baseball bat is long, skinny, and held with two hands.
Figure 1. Different types of sports equipment used to hit balls or pucks.
In this lesson, you will guide your students through the engineering design process as they design and build their own sports equipment, which they will use to hit a ball. Engineers solve real-world problems by designing and building new things or improving existing ones. Your students will think like engineers as they first discuss what problem they need to solve. Then, they will make sketches of their designs, and build and test them.
For more information about how pushes and pulls can change the motion of an object, and about the engineering design process, see the Additional Background section.
