Projectile Science

Product Description

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

The game is on the line. Suddenly, you hear the crack of a bat and the roar of the crowd. Where will the ball land? How far will it travel? Is it a home run?

You might think hitting a home run or nailing a three-pointer is just luck, but many forces determine if you’ve made a game-winning shot or the final out. If you’ve ever kicked a ball, thrown a rock, or even played Angry Birds, you’ve experimented with the forces behind ballistics.

In Projectile Science kids ages 10 to 15 learn why projectiles follow the paths they do and what factors influence those paths. Readers fascinated with potato cannons, slingshots, and rocketry will love taking the next step and applying what they learn about the laws of physics to aim accurately.

Maths is the language used to understand the science of ballistics. In this book, readers will learn about the forces acting on projectiles and how to calculate those forces to make educated predictions about where their homemade rockets and other projectiles will land. Safe, hands-on STEM activities using easily accessible materials foster real-life learning about ballistics. Kids will perform Galileo’s famous gravity test, create clinometers to measure height and distance, and build a machine that can throw curveballs.

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!