Activity Detail
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That's the Way the Ball Bounces: Height and Time for a Bouncing Ball
 


Activity Overview

In this activity, students' will record the motion of a bouncing ball using a motion detector. They will then model a bounce using both the general and vertex forms of the parabola.

Before the Activity

  • Connect the motion detector to the DIG/SONIC port of the CBL 2™ or the DIG/SONIC 1 port of the Vernier LabPro®
  • Connect the CBL 2 or LabPro to the calculator using the Unit-to-Unit cable
  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 103 - 110 from the attached PDF file for your class

    		•

    		During the Activity

    		Distribute the pages to your class.

    Follow the Activity procedures:
  • Drop the ball so that it bounces straight up and down beneath the motion detector and collect distance versus time data
  • Examine the distance versus time parabolic graph and record the coordinates of the vertex in the Data Sheet
  • Perform a quadratic regression on the data and determine the parameters of the regression curve

    		After the Activity

    		Students' will complete the Student Data Collection and Analysis Sheet and answer questions listed in it.

    Review student results
  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary

    		Other Downloads




    view standards alignment
    view textbook alignment

    Subject Area:
    Math : Algebra I : Quadratic Functions

    Author:
    Texas Instruments

    Level:
    9-12

    Activity Time:
    60 Minutes

    Device:
    TI-73 Explorer™, TI-83 Plus Family, TI-84 Plus Family

    Apps:
    DataMate, EasyData™

    Software:
    TI Connect™

    Accessories:
    CBL™/CBL 2™, CBR™/CBR 2™, TI Connectivity Cable, Unit-to-Unit link cables, Vernier LabPro®

    Other:
    This is Activity 11 from the EXPLORATIONS Book: Real-World Math Made Easy.

    The following material is required for this activity:

  • Bouncing ball


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