Bouncing soccer balls

Bouncing soccer balls

Pencil and paper
Overview
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
This task is about conducting a fair test.
Anaru was a helper at his school's soccer tournament. To find a ball to use in the tournament, he had to decide which make of soccer ball would bounce the best. Anaru did a small experiment. He tested five different types of ball by getting different people from his class to drop a make of soccer ball from above their head. Below are the results of Anaru's experiment.
Make of soccer ball How high the ball bounced (measured in metres)
Shooter 1.6 m, 1.8 m, 1.6 m
Topflight 2.0 m
Goalgetter 2.1 m, 2.2 m, 2.2 m, 2.3 m
Striker 1.4 m, 1.3 m
Demon 2.3 m

a)
i)

Which make of soccer ball do you think Anaru should use for the soccer tournament?
 
____________________
  ii) Why did you choose this make?

 
 
 
 
 
b)
One of the other players said that Anaru's experiment wasn't a 'fair test'. 
Give two ways that Anaru's test wasn't a 'fair test'.
 
 
i)
 
 
 
ii)
 
 
Anaru did another experiment which looked at the weight of some other soccer balls and how high they bounced. Below are the results of this experiment.

Make of ball Weight of ball (grams) Average height of how high the ball bounced (metres)
Gamebreaker 450 g 1.2 m
Sharpshooter 410 g 1.5 m
Swift 430 g 1.3 m
 
c)
 
Write a general sentence about the weight of a soccer ball and how high it bounces.
 
 
 
 
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Physical World
Keywords: 
physical inquiry, energy, tables, fair testing
Description of task: 
Students are provided with information and data on different makes of soccer balls. Students answer questions on fair testing, and write conclusions from the given data.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss 
  • fair testing is one way of carrying out science investigations and
  • noticing patterns in interpreting data
 

Capability: Critique evidence
This resource provides opportunities to discuss the questions you need to ask to check whether data is reliable.
 
Science capabilities: 
Critique evidence, Gather and interpret data
Answers/responses: 
  Y7 (03/02)
a) Any 1 of:

  • Goalgetter: because it bounced highest.
  • Goalgetter: because it bounced higher than the other brands most of the time.
  • Demon: because it bounced highest.
  • None: because it wasn't a fair test.
  easy
b) Any 2 of:

  • Because some soccer balls were bounced only once (or reverse of).
  • Because different people dropped the soccer balls/the heights the balls dropped from might have been different
  • The soccer balls may not have been dropped on the same surface.
 2 correct – very difficult

1 correct – moderate
c) The lighter (the weight) the soccer ball the higher it bounced, or reverse of. difficult