9781422274781

CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS STEM in Auto Racing STEM in Baseball & Softball STEM in Basketball STEM in Extreme Sports STEM in Football

STEM in Gymnastics STEM in Ice Hockey STEM in Soccer STEM in Track & Field

CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | FOOTBALL

STEM CONNECTING SPORTS AND

STEM IN FOOTBALL

JACQUELINE HAVELKA

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First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4334-3 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4329-9 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7478-1

Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

Developed and Produced by National Highlights Inc. Editor: Andrew Luke Interior and cover design: Annalisa Gumbrecht, Studio Gumbrecht Production: Michelle Luke

CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | FOOTBALL QR CODES AND LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY CONTENT You may gain access to certain third-party content (“Third-Party Sites”) by scanning and using the QR Codes that appear in this publication (the “QR Codes”). We do not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on such Third-Party Sites linked to by us via the QR Codes included in this publication, and we assume no responsibility for any materials you may access using the QR Codes. Your use of the QR Codes may be subject to terms, limitations, or restrictions set forth in the applicable terms of use or otherwise established by the owners of the Third-Party Sites. Our linking to such Third- Party Sites via the QR Codes does not imply an endorsement or sponsorship of such Third-Party Sites or the information, products, or services offered on or through the Third-Party Sites, nor does it imply an endorsement or sponsorship of this publication by the owners of such Third-Party Sites.

CHAPTER 1 THROWING ....................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 TACKLING .....................................................................19 CHAPTER 3 CATCHING A FOOTBALL .............................................29 CHAPTER 4 THE STATS ....................................................................39 CHAPTER 5 THE EQUIPMENT . ........................................................47 CHAPTER 6 TRAINING, FITNESS, & NUTRITION . ...........................53 CHAPTER 7 NEXT-GEN TECH ..........................................................65 Series Glossary of Key Terms..............................................................76 Further Reading & Internet Resources................................................77 Index...................................................................................................78 Author Biography & Credits................................................................80 TABLE OF CONTENTS

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more!

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.

Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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INTRODUCTION

Macaroni and cheese. Texting and emojis. STEM and sports. What? STEM . . . and sports? Yes! These are things that naturally fit together. When people talk about STEM classes and sports, they are usually viewed as opposite things, right? You’re either sitting in class learning science and math, or you’re out on the field participating in sports. But STEM and sports do go together. STEM is education in four specific areas—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM curriculum is integrated for real-world learning. Think of a class taking a field trip to an amusement park. Students learn the principles of physics. For example, Newton’s laws of physics apply to football. > Newton’s First Law: An object at rest stays at rest. To move, an external force must act on it. A football resting on the tee will stay there until the kicker kicks it or until the wind blows it off the tee. This defines the law of inertia. > Newton’s Second Law of Motion defines the F=ma equation. This law says that the force of an object is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration. The harder the quarterback throws the ball, the more force it has. > Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, after the touchdown, the harder you spike the ball into the ground, the higher up into the air it will go. There’s lots of science in football. Let’s take a look at the STEM concepts behind some of football’s greatest plays. We’ll explore important football concepts like force, inertia, and acceleration.

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will incr the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving togeth additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing th with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! acceleration: an increase of speed inertia: matter retains its state of rest or its path of velocity long a straight line unless an external fo ce acts upon it mass: a collection of particles that forms one body parabola: a pla e curve generated by a point moving so that its distance from a fixed point is equal to its distance from a fixed lin e WORDS TO UNDERSTAND Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for mo careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and a

CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | FOOTBALL Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read an comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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1

CHAPTER

THROWING

Motion. Strength. Inertia . Velocity. Force. Aaggh! What does it all mean? Let’s explore the physics of football, like how players use physics to move the ball down the field, including how a quarterback throws the perfect spiral pass. Motion vs. Strength Motion or strength—that is the question. Although these two things are different, they are related by Newton’s Second Law of Motion—the F=ma equation. Force is about being able to transfer energy into something, like a football. Strength is a measure of how much force can be placed on an object.

In the case of a football being thrown, the mass of the football remains the same. The same size football is used throughout the entire game. The only thing that can change is the acceleration . If the quarterback increases the speed at which he throws

The quarterback controls the acceleration of a thrown football.

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills.

the ball, there will be greater acceleration, and that translates to greater force, or more energy transferred into the football. The acceleration caused by gravity is constant, so the only thing that can change acceleration in this case is the strength the quarterback uses to throw the football.

The NFL and the National Science Foundation jointly produced this 10-part video series, the Science of NFL Football . This one is all about parabolas. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectiv s by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational co t nt to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, sp eches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.

Here’s another way to look at the equation. Football players are really careful about how much body mass they have. Depending on the position they play, too little or too much mass can affect their performance. For linemen, having a lot of mass is a good thing because it directly impacts the force they’re able to use in plays. For receivers, having too much mass is not such a good thing, because it directly affects the acceleration they use to run down the field. Ball Placement I f you’re a football fan, you can probably easily recall the greatest catch you’ve ever seen. Maybe it was a great play right at the end of the game to win it. It seemed like time stopped as the fans watched the ball float through the air. Then, the ball lands in the hands of the receiver—and the crowd goes wild! Let’s examine the science behind ball placement for amazing plays like that one. Recall Newton’s First Law: an object will continue on its path unless an external force acts upon it. When Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary c n ains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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the quarterback throws the football, it follows a path called a parabola . If we didn’t have gravity, the football would follow a straight line. When the quarterback releases the ball, the force causes it to travel up. The ball reaches the top of the parabola—the peak height—but gravity then pulls the ball downward as it travels in a vertical direction.

Because of Earth’s gravity, any object that is thrown or launched—a ball, an arrow, or even a missile—travels in a parabolic path. This is also

Several scientific principles are at work behind a completed pass.

referred to as projectile motion. The quarterback controls three factors of the throw: > The speed (velocity) at which he throws the ball > The angle of the throw > The rotation of the football

The speed of the throw will determine how long the ball will remain in the air and how far it will go. When throwing a football, the quarterback has to have arm strength to make the ball go farther and faster. When the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand, it moves with a speed that is determined by the force placed on the ball, and that comes from arm strength. The angle of the throw also matters. Remember your x-, y-, and z-axes from physics. The ball will move vertically and horizontally and will go a certain height in the air. The angle at which the quarterback throws the ball has an impact on the path the ball

CHAPTER 1 : THROWING

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travels along these three axes. The angle directly determines how far the ball will go along the vertical axis and horizontal axis. Balls thrown in a straight line are quick and direct. When thrown with tremendous force, these balls can travel long distances.

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions wil the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. On the other hand, balls thrown with little force but at a high angle have lots of hang time in the air but don’t travel long distances down the field. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowl gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving to additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providi with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include ne coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Meet Leland Melvin, Former NFL Player and NASA Astronaut Leland Melvin has always loved science. H graduated wi h a degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond in Virginia, where he also played football. The Detroit Lions selected Melvin in the 1986 NFL college draft. Later in 1998, he was selected for another really cool group—he became a NASA astronaut. Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text fo careful attention to the evidence presented there. The angle at which a ball is thrown is a critical element behind the success of a pass.

Melvin finally got his chance to go into space in 2008 aboard the STS-122 Atlantis Shuttle mission, the tw nty-fourth shuttl to visit the International Space Station. The main objective of STS-122 was to deliver and install the Columbus scientific laboratory module, built by the European Space Agency. Melvin’s NFL training likely came in handy during the three spacewalks it took to install the lab. Two years later, in October 2010, Melvin was named as associate administrator for the Office of Education, overseeing NASA’s education programs to inspire a new generation about science and technology. He retired from NASA in February 2014.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connecte chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research a

Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminol used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to rea comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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The Science of Spirals Footballs are typically thrown through the air in one of two ways—end over end or a spiral. The end-over-end plays are usually not planned—sometimes these throws happen on botched plays where the ball is deflected or as a desperate attempt to save a play. Spirals are different. Who doesn’t love a great spiral football throw? We all do, right? Did you know that a really great spiral throw can make an astonishing 600 turns per minute? That’s the same rate that a CD spins in a CD player! It’s amazing! It was mentioned in the previous section that the quarterback controls three factors: > The speed (velocity) at which he throws the ball > The angle of the throw > The rotation of the football The rotation that the

quarterback places on the ball has a direct influence on how the ball will slow down on its path. Certainly the ball is affected by gravity—as the ball travels across the field, gravity pulls the ball in a downward motion. However, the ball is also affected by air drag (resistance). A tightly thrown spiral has less air drag, so the ball will not slow down quite as much. Spiraled balls simply stay in the air longer.

Footballs typically fly in two patterns: end-over-end, or in a spiral.

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If you’ve ever tried to throw a spiral, you know it is not easy. Good quarterbacks use a flipping motion that puts a spin on the ball. Footballs thrown without the spiral don’t travel any significant distance. The forces of gravity and air drag are just too strong. Do spiral throws go higher? Or farther? No, they don’t, even though most people think they do. Let’s look at the physics.

The spiral pattern minimizes the forces of gravity and drag that are working to bring a thrown ball down to earth.

Think of a physics experiment where you have a spring-loaded ball launcher. The launcher would allow you to launch the ball—not spinning—into the air at a particular height. If you modified the launcher to make the ball spin, would the ball go higher? Actually, the spinning ball will not go as high. The spin requires some of the energy of the ball’s motion. When that energy is taken up by the spin, it is not available for motion, so spinning balls reach lower heights than non-spinning balls. As soon as the quarterback throws the ball, the total energy is set as the ball starts in motion. That energy can’t change, but it can take different forms. When a football is thrown, there is linear kinetic energy, meaning how far down the field or how high the ball travels

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: in the air. There is also rotational energy created by the ball spinning around its center axis. The ball is also interacting with the Earth’s gravity, o the gravitational ne gy also is a f ctor. When a ball is spiraled, the linear kinetic energy is converted to rotational energy, meaning less energy to go higher. Sports Careers in STEM A hundred years ago, the first football helmets weren’t really helmets at all. Instea , they were le ther caps, offering li tle to no protection. STEM plays a big part in the design of today’s modern football helmets. A lot of engineering goes into creating the helmets to reduce the possibility of a player suffering a concussion. The National Football League (NFL) is very concerned about repeated concussions that lead to a serious brain disease called chronic tr umatic enceph lo athy (CTE). A Journ l of the American Medical Association study researched two hundred former football players and found that brain scans showed evidence of CTE in nearly all players. CTE is the reason why improved helmet design is needed. For example, today’s helmets have built-in accelerometers, a component that measures motion and velocity. All smart phones have accelerometers, and so do helmets, thanks to STEM. The accelerometers are built into the chin strap of the helmet to measure the force of the impact, as well as direction, to better help team doctors identify head injuries that might occur during the game. A great demonstration of this energy transfer is to watch a football bouncing down the field. If it is bouncing end over end, watch all the bounces. Are the later bounces higher than the first bounces? They probably are—as the ball is losing

Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitio the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build k gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weavi additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, pr with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples inclu coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the t careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry con chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper resea

Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains ter used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability t comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

CHAPTER 1 : THROWING

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rotation, that energy is transferred into linear energy, meaning the last few bounces are higher. A spiral throw has angular momentum, meaning once it starts spinning, it will stay in that same orientation unless another force, like a defensive player tipping the ball, acts on it. The shape of the football means that it will travel aerodynamically, and unless the ball is tipped or another force acts on it, the air resistance forces are consistent. This means the ball holds a constant orientation, so it is much easier for both the quarterback and the receiver to predict the flight path for accurate throwing and catching. By comparison, a ball thrown end over end does not have angular momentum and is constantly changing shape as it tumbles through the air, so the air resistance forces are constantly changing as well. Non-spiral passes appear to flutter around in the air, right? These passes usually end up in a very

The linear kinetic energy in a thrown ball determines how high or far it will go.

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