Graphs relevant to physical education include:
- Trajectories of Human Motion & Sports Equipment
- Position
- Velocity
- Acceleration
- Direct Measurement of Physical Variables
- Force
- Acceleration
- Altitude
- Biophysics Data
- Joint Angles
- Breathing
- Heart Rate
- Electrical Activity of Heart & Muscles
How can these data be used in class? One example is found in the blog article Comparing Graphs of 24 Sports Balls Bouncing, Rolling, & Flying. This article describes how to use a set of three free YouTube videos from Schottenbauer Publishing along with a book of graphs, Bounce, Roll, & Fly: The Science of Balls: Sampler Edition, to compare the performance of 24 popular sports balls.
Discussion Questions
- How many times does the baseball bounce?
- From what height is the baseball dropped?
- Write one or more equations describing the motion of the ball.
- What is the potential energy of the baseball in the beginning? At the peak of each bounce? In the end of the graph?
- What is the maximum velocity of the ball? The maximum momentum?
Additional sample graphs and discussion questions pertaining to physical education are available on the following free blogs:
- Athletic Training
- Summer Sports
- Winter Sports
Over 5,000 sports graphs are available in science lab manuals from Schottenbauer Publishing. Additional information is available on the blog Sport Science Education. Books can be purchased online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and other internet retailers, and wholesale through CreateSpace.
