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2 baseballs, tennis balls, and/or golf balls

freezer

Student Handout

In this activity, students will get to learn about the science of baseball while taking part in a mini-lab with a frozen baseball and a regular baseball. Students will have to define thermal energy and kinetic energy as well as make a hypothesis to which ball they think is going to bounce the highest. This activity also includes a website that the students can explore to learn more about the science of baseball.

Exploratorium - The Science of Baseball

1. Before you begin this activity, you may want to have already put the baseballs in the freezer the day before so that they are ready.
2. Have students get into groups of 2-3 students
3. Have each student get a frozen baseball and a room temperature baseball.
4. Have one student stand on a chair with both balls in their hands. The other partner is on the ground to see which ball bounces the highest.
5. On the count of three, have the students in the chairs drop the balls. The students on the ground will write down on the worksheet which ball bounced the highest.
6. Have the partners switch, one on the chair and one on the ground. Have the student in the chair drop the balls again and the students who is standing will record which ball bounced the highest.
7. Students or the teacher should return the balls to the freezer.
8. Students should answer the questions on the worksheet. Also, make sure they record the answers that their partners wrote down
9. If you wish, you can have students go to the website that is at the top of their worksheet to help them with the questions or you can have them go to the website to explore the other interactives that relate baseball to science.

The teacher will grade the worksheet according to their grading scale. Students should be graded on whether or not they made a valid hypothesis before the experiments, and whether or not they answered the questions correct.

Adapted from The Sporting Life, an Exploratorium "Accidental Scientist" book published by Henry Holt & Co., Inc., ©1997, and from "That's the Way the Ball Bounces" by Paul Doherty.

See the original activity posted at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/bouncing_balls.html

The Science of Hockey is the first in a series of "Sports Science" resources developed by the Exploratorium. This site takes you inside the game: you'll hear from NHL players and coaches from the San Jose Sharks, as well as leading physicists and chemists.