Fastballs, Free Throws and Physics

Students create a slide show, video, or animation to show how physics concepts apply to their favorite sport.

Engage

Complete your Physical Science unit on Force and Motion. Review Newton’s Laws of Motion as well as essential terminology for explaining them such as friction (including sliding, rolling, fluid, and static), gravity, acceleration, inertia, momentum, velocity, force, projectile motion, and frame of reference.

Discuss as a class how force or motion concepts apply to a sport, initiating the discussion with a question like "Where do you see projectile motion in football?"

Have students choose their favorite sport and illustrate how it aligns with Newton's Laws of force and motion. Students should begin brainstorming ideas and identifying key language they will use to describe their ideas.

Create

Students can use a storyboard to clearly define and describe the physics terms they are illustrating, thoroughly sketch out what they will show for each term, and even write out the text or narration they will include for each segment.

Storyboard Template

Have students start a new project and create a slide show using images or video of themselves playing their sports. Students should combine images, add text labels and voice narration to explain the terms and laws of motion.

Blank Canvas

Share

Have each student present his or her project to the class. While viewing, ask students to take notes so they can provide warm (what they liked about the work) and cool (what the author could do to improve it) feedback.

Post the files to a classroom website, so all students can use them for review or extended studies.

Next Generation Science Standards

MS-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

MS-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.