Field Events: How Far Could You Jump or Throw on Other Planets?
This activity combines sports, mathematics and physics, and will give your students a personal understanding of the gravitational forces that exist on other planets.
The Activity
Have your students attempt several field events, such as long jump, high jump and shot put. They should record their best performance on the handout provided on the next page.
When they get back into the classroom, have them calculate what their performances would be if they were in the gravity conditions that exist on other planets. They can then compare these performances with the world records on earth.
Your students can use the handout provided on the pdf version of this article (download at the bottom of this page) to calculate their altered-gravity performances. Simply have them divide their earth performance by the “gravity factors” on each planet.
References:
1. Measurement Activity, How Far Could You Jump on Other Planets,The National Science Center
www.nscdiscovery.org
2. L.F. “Bud” Turner & Susan Lilliman Turner, P.E. Teacher's Skill by Skill Activities Program, Parker Publishing Company, 1989.
3. The Science Spot, Gravity Exploration
www.sciencespot.net/Media/gravlab.pdf
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