Projectile Science
Teacher Resources

Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids

Illustrated by Tom Casteel
You might think that nailing a three-pointer is just luck, but there are many forces at work that determine if you’ve made a game-winning shot. In Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids, readers ages 10 to 15 learn why projectiles follow the paths they do. Young learners who are fascinated with potato cannons, slingshots, and rocketry will love taking that next step and applying what they learn about the laws of physics to the science of figuring out where to aim. In this book, readers learn about the forces that act on the projectiles and how to calculate those forces to make educated predictions about where their homemade rockets and other projectiles will land.
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Reviews

“Accurately aimed at its intended audience and complete with vivid and informative graphics, Projectile Science is an extremely readable yet factually accurate account of mechanics and its applications to projectiles.”

—Ramamurti Shankar, John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics, Yale University

“Packed with interesting facts; sure to engage its audience.”

—Nino Polizzi, BSEE, engineering instructor, Samueli Academy

“An interesting way to make classical motion concepts relevant to young readers.”

—Vince Huegele, committee chairman, National Association of Rocketry Education University School

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Detailed Book Description

What are the forces behind projectiles? Why do rocks and rockets soar through the air in an arch?

The game is on the line. You crouch, you shoot—will the ball go in the basket?

You might think that nailing a three-pointer is just luck, but there are many forces at work that determine if you’ve made a game-winning shot. In Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities with Kids, readers ages 10 to 15 learn why projectiles follow the paths they do. Young learners who are fascinated with potato cannons, slingshots, and rocketry will love taking that next step and applying what they learn about the laws of physics to the science of figuring out where to aim. In this book, readers learn about the forces that act on the projectiles and how to calculate those forces to make educated predictions about where their homemade rockets and other projectiles will land.

Essential questions that promote critical examination of the science, primary sources, online videos, and science-minded engineering activities let readers have a blast learning about the physics of ballistics!

Try these hands-on science and engineering projects!

  • Perform Galileo's famous test for gravity
  • Create clinometers to measure height and distance
  • Build a machine that can throw curve balls
Available In:
Hardcover, $22.95
9781619306769
Paperback, $17.95
9781619306783
Includes: Table of Contents | Timeline | Maps | Glossary | Resources | Index | Metric Conversions Chart
Specs: 8 x 10 size | 4-color interior | 128 pages
Subject: Science
Content Focus: Engineering & Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Timeline . . . iv

Introduction
The Science of Projectiles

Chapter 1
What Goes Up: The Laws of Motion

Chapter 2
Projectile Motion: Tracking Trajectories

Chapter 3
Slingshots, Catapults and Canons: Mechanical Energy

Chapter 4
Curveballs and Spirals: Air Resistance

Chapter 5
When What Goes Up Doesn’t Come Down: Rockets

Glossary
Metric Conversions Resources
Essential Questions
Index