Education Technology


Bounce Back

Activity Overview

In this activity, students will explore the rebound height of a ball and develop a function that will model the rebound heights for a particular bounce. The model can then be used to predict the height of the ball for any bounce.

Before the Activity

  • Connect the calculator to the CBR 2™
  • Install the TI Connect™ software to analyze data on the computer
  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 57 - 60 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to your class.

    Follow the Activity procedures:

  • Run the Ranger program on the calculator
  • Release the ball beneath the CBR and sketch a Distance - Time plot
  • Record the coordinates of the vertex and use lists to generate a scatter plot of the height data
  • Write the equations of linear and exponential functions that best fit the data, and then graph them
  • Using each model, predict the maximum possible rebound height of the ball
  • After the Activity

    Students will complete the Data 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