More Sport Science!

Bazemore, Suzanne. Soccer : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Biskup, Agnieszka. Football : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Biskup, Agnieszka. Hockey : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Bonnet, Robert L. Home run! : science projects with baseball and softball. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, Inc., c2010
Dreier, David Louis. Baseball : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Gardner, Robert, 1929-. Health science projects about sports performance. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2002
Gardner, Robert, 1929-. Science projects about the physics of sports. Springfield, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2000
Gardner, Robert, 1929-. Slam dunk! : science projects with basketball. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2010
Goff, John Eric, 1970-. Gold medal physics : the science of sports. Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010
Goodstein, Madeline P. Goal! : science projects with soccer. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2010
Goodstein, Madeline P. Wheels! : science projects with bicycles, skateboards, and skates. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2010
Levine, Shar, 1953-. Sports science. New York : Sterling Pub., c2006
Mercer, Bobby, 1961-. The leaping, sliding, sprinting, riding science book : 50 super sports science activities. New York : Lark Books, c2006
Rowe, Julian. Sports. Crystal Lake, Ill. : Rigby Interactive Library, 1997
Slade, Suzanne. Basketball : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Sohn, Emily. Skateboarding : how it works. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010
Why a curveball curves : the incredible science of sports. New York : Hearst Books, c2008
Wiese, Jim, 1948-. Sports science : 40 goal-scoring, high-flying, medal-winning experiments for kids. New York : J. Wiley, c2002

Don't Blink or You'll Miss It!

You didn’t think we were done with science did you? Think science and sports are worlds apart? Think again!
Some sports require fast reaction times: baseball, sprinting, tennis, volleyball and fencing to name a few. How fast is your reaction time? Below is a way to measure it.

Materials:
Ruler
Friend to help you

What to do:
Have your helper hold the ruler by the 12 inch (30 cm) end so that it hangs down vertically toward the ground.
Place your thumb and index finger on either side of the ruler at the 0-inch mark. Don’t squeeze the ruler—it should be able to move freely through your fingers.
Tell your friend to let go of the ruler when s/he is ready and pinch your fingers together to catch it.
Read on the ruler the distance it fell. Use the table below to determine your reaction time.

DISTANCE – REACTION TIME CONVERSION TABLE
Distance Time
2 in (~5 cm) 0.10 sec (100 ms)
4 in (~10 cm) 0.14 sec (140 ms)
6 in (~15 cm) 0.17 sec (170 ms)
8 in (~20 cm) 0.20 sec (200 ms)
10 in (~25.5 cm) 0.23 sec (230 ms)
12 in (~30.5 cm) 0.25 sec (250 ms)***

This one is all about realizing how amazing your body is. Your senses have to realize what is happening, communicate with your brain and tell your hand to grab the ruler.

Want some more science? Introduce a few variables: which of your hands is fastest, which person in your family is fastest? Try it blindfolded and have the helper make a noise as s/he drops the ruler. Collect these results. What things do you notice about your data? Keep practicing and see if you can improve your time!

***Remember milliseconds are one thousandths of a second so 1000 milliseconds (ms) = 1 second. That means 250 ms = 0.25 seconds; 100 ms = 0.100 seconds. See you’re a lot faster than you thought!

Another Great Science Fair!

Wow, 2011 held another great Science Fair for Fernwood Elementary!

Great job all of you Fernwood Students, what a wonderful group of experiments were performed, recorded and shared!

Thanks to Amy Oliver for all her hard work in making this happen!

What did you learn from your experiment? Leave a comment to share with others about what you learned.

Need a Little Help for the Science Fair?

*****Want a little more personal help? Come to the science workshops Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Fernwood library during lunch recess starting March 21st.

We’d love to see you!*****

2011 Science Fair Documents are here!

Have you thought of what question you want to try to answer for the Science Fair this year?

Our Science Fair is coming on Friday, April 15th!

Read about our Science Fair Guidelines, get your registration document, and check out some good questions to get you started thinking about what you are interested in doing for the Science Fair.

Science Fair Registration document: (These will be due back to school by Tuesday 29 March 2011)

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5rlgHJl1FKtOTJhNWQwYjEtZWU3MC00ZjY0LWFlMDgtMjgzZjI4ZWYxMjA3&hl=en&authkey=CJOEmtELcom/viewer?

Science Fair Questions:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5rlgHJl1FKtZjZmZDQ3NzgtMDgwNi00NmI1LThlNTUtMWZlMzNhZTYxNGMz&hl=en

Science Fair Guidelines:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5rlgHJl1FKtOWM0YmNiNmYtZjc1Yi00MTA1LTliYTctZjUxNTkyOGNiNGVl&hl=en&authkey=CNbvlu8L

Remember, the most important thing to do is have fun!

Here are some websites to help you see what fun ways you can explore your world through science:

Fun experiments http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/homeexpts.html

Fun facts http://www.hightechscience.org/funfacts.htm

Fun with Bill Nye http://www.billnye.com/

Fun science games http://www.gamequarium.com/science.htm

Fun science song "Put it to the Test" by They Might Be Giants http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kf51FpBuXQ

Fun Science video: YouTube video Mythbuster's Mentos + Diet Coke experiment

(10 second ad before video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbJELjLgZg&feature=related

Other fun ways to experience science

Visit the Burke Museum for one of their fun hands on learning days:






Dino Days March 5th 9-4 http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/events/index.php http://vimeo.com/10292552 and several other events throughout the year.

Watch the Robotics Competition at QWest Field on March 18th and 19th
http://www.firstwa.org/

Visit the UW Engineering Department's Discovery Days in April
http://www.engr.washington.edu/alumcomm/openhouse.html

Plant some Sunflowers and help scientists track the bee population http://www.greatsunflower.org/









Play a game or let your home computer help science:













Fold It, a game that helps scientists analyze the structure of protiens

http://fold.it/portal/info/science#whygame or use your computer to help when you aren't using it with Rosetta@Home http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/







Free Rice, fun quizzes on science, math, geography and vocabulary that also help donate food to World Food Programme to help fight hunger.


http://www.freerice.com/category


Have your computer help with the search for Extraterrestrial life when you aren't using it with








Seti@Home http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/















Learn about Watson, the IBM computer that won on Jeopardy!


http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/what-is-watson/index.html

The Key Drop

Gravity pulls all things together, but do they always make impact? Try this and amaze your friends.
Materials:
Key ring full of keys
Long shoelace
Pencil

What You Do:
Remove one key from the key ring. Tie it to one end of the shoelace, and tie the key ring (with the other keys still on it) to the other end.
Drape the string over the pencil—held parallel to the floor. The key ring should hang down about 1 inch below the pencil. Hold the key in your other hand.
Let go of the key. What happens? Do it again, watching the path of the key very carefully. Wow!

What’s going on? The key to this trick is energy. There are two different types of energy at work. Energy of motion is kinetic energy. Stored energy is called potential energy. When both the key ring and the key are stationary, they have potential energy. The key ring has more potential energy than the key because it has more mass. When you let go of the single key, it falls a long distance, building up momentum and speed as it travels, so it has a lot of kinetic energy. The key actually has more kinetic energy than the key ring and winds itself around the pencil. After a couple of turns around the pencil, the friction is so great that the key ring stops falling.

The science fair is quickly approaching! Look for registration slips to come home mid-March. Workshops begin on 21 March during lunch recesses Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Want to help? We’d love to have you; contact Amy Oliver at amyroliver@gmail.com.