Chapter 11 – Sports on the Moon |
| Activity Summaries |
Physics Principles |
Activity 1: What Is a Sport?
Students apply their knowledge of sports to identify attributes that define an activity as a sport. From this they begin to consider how
differences between the Earth and the moon can affect sports.
| - Physical Properties of Matter on
Earth and in Space
- Effect of Forces on Motion
|
Activity 2: Free Fall on the Moon
Students compare free fall of different objects, then calculate acceleration due to gravity on the moon using measurements obtained from a slow- motion video of an astronaut in space dropping objects.
| - Acceleration Due to Gravity
- Relationship of Gravity to
Free Fall
|
Activity 3: Mass, Weight, and Gravity
Using a simulation that allows comparison of mass, students investigate the ratio of gravity on the Earth to that on the moon and determine force necessary to move objects on the moon.
| - Gravity and Mass on the Earth
and Moon
- Inertial and Gravitational Mass
- Newton’s Laws of Motion
|
Activity 4: Projectile Motion on the Moon
Beginning with scale drawings, students calculate distances
projected objects would travel on the moon.
| - Gravity and Mass on the Earth
and Moon
- Effect of Gravity on the Trajectory
of Projectiles
|
Activity 5: Jumping on the Moon
Students measure horizontal and vertical distances of different types of jumping then analyze the force and motion involved in each. Applying what they know about gravity on the moon, they predict distances they could jump on the moon.
| - Gravity and Mass on the Earth
and Moon
- Effect of Force and Gravity on
Horizontal and Vertical Motion
|
Activity 6: Golf on the Moon
Using a variety of balls, students measure the height each bounces when dropped and when projected by a collision. They use this data to infer the speed of a golf ball when hit on Earth and on the moon.
| - Collisions
- Coefficient of Restitution
- Momentum
- Projectile Motion
|
Activity 7: Friction on the Moon
Students investigate the force necessary to overcome friction between objects and the surface on which they are moving. They then relate this to gravity and predict force needed to overcome friction against sliding motions on the moon.
| - Frictional Force
- Gravity and Mass on the Earth
and Moon
- Effect of Gravity on Friction
|
Activity 8: Bounding on the Moon
Using cylinders of different lengths and weights, students explore pendulum motion. They then compare the motion of the pendulums to the swinging motion of human legs when walking.
| - Period of Pendulum Motion
- Effect of Gravity on Pendulum Motion
|
Activity 9: "Airy" Indoor Sports on the Moon
Badminton and Wiffle® balls are used by students to investigate how
air resistance affects motion. They then apply what they know about
the ratio of gravity on Earth to that on the moon to predict air resistance on the moon. |
- Air Resistance
- Free Fall
- Projectile Motion
|