9781422274811

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 | SOCCER

STEM CONNECTING SPORTS AND

STEM IN SOCCER

JACQUELINE HAVELKA

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ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4337-4 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4329-9 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7481-1

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

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CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | SOCCER

CHAPTER 1 FORCES THAT ACT ON A SOCCER BALL .....................9 CHAPTER 2 THE PHYSICS OF KICKING A SOCCER BALL ..............19 CHAPTER 3 GOALIE SCIENCE .........................................................27 CHAPTER 4 THE STATS ....................................................................39 CHAPTER 5 TRAINING AND FITNESS .............................................45 CHAPTER 6 NUTRITION ...................................................................53 CHAPTER 7 HIGH-TECH SOCCER ...................................................67 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 soccer. > Newton’s First Law: An object at rest stays at rest. To move, an external force must act on it. A soccer ball resting on the penalty spot will stay there until the shooter kicks it. 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 soccer. Let’s take a look at the STEM concepts behind some of soccer’s greatest plays. We’ll explore all the concepts like force, inertia, and acceleration, which are important to the game of soccer.

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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. WORDS TO UNDERSTAND 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! circumference: the enclosing boundary of a curved geometric figure, especially a circle; the distance around a spherical object FIFA: FIFA, or the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Intern tional Federation of Association Footb ll), is the organization that s rves Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for mo careful attention to the evidence presented there. as the international governing body for soccer inertia: an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force

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 | SOCCER 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

FORCES THAT ACT ON A SOCCER BALL

Soccer is a complex sport, but you probably never thought of soccer as having complex physics. Many different forces affect a soccer ball. Think about the F=ma equation— force is equal to mass times acceleration . This means that the more the ball weighs, the harder it is to kick. Soccer balls range in size from 1 to 5, as measured by the ball’s circumference . The largest ball is size 5 and is used by all leagues for players age twelve or over, including high

school teams, college teams, semiprofessional teams, and in the professional ranks of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ). A size 5 ball is about twenty- eight inches in circumference and weighs between fourteen and sixteen ounces (420 to 450 grams), or about a pound. (As a side note, the ball is weighed before each match but can actually weigh more during

A soccer ball will stay at rest until acted on by a kicker.

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the match if it absorbs dirt and moisture.) The ball’s inflatable bladder, lining, leather cover, and stitching all affect its weight. Newton’s Laws and Soccer Newton’s law of inertia states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless an unbalanced force (in this case, the kicker) acts on it. Therefore, the F=ma equation applies in this case, and the force of the kick is the major force acting on the ball. The value of m is the mass of the soccer ball, and F is the amount of force the kicking or throwing player uses. Acceleration ( a ) is produced when a force acts on a mass. It is now easy to see why FIFA wants to control the mass of the ball, right? Eventually, of course, the

soccer ball does stop, hopefully in the goal. Newton’s law of motion comes into play here: An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted on by an unbalanced force. Gravity, drag, and friction are also forces that act on the soccer ball. Gravity pulls

the ball down toward the ground as the ball is in flight. Friction is the force that acts on the ball as it moves over the playing surface, such as grass or a hard artificial surface. Friction occurs as two surfaces (the ball and the field) make contact with each other. As the soccer ball rubs against the ground, a resistance in movement occurs to help slow the ball down. Drag is the force of the air pushing on the ball as it travels in flight. Think of drag as air friction. The air around the ball helps slow it down.

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The Magnus Effect Can a player do anything to reduce the forces on the ball? Soccer players know this trick—kicking the ball off center. When a ball is kicked off center, the ball will begin to spin, and the direction as well as the speed of the spin determines how much the ball will curve as it flies through the air. It is the same principle that occurs in baseball when the pitcher throws a curve ball. This effect is known as the Magnus effect. German physicist Gustav Magnus first described the spinning effect in 1852 when he was trying to determine why spinning bullets deflected to one side or the other. What are the physics behind the Magnus effect? The off-center kick initiates the spin, and as the ball goes through the air, the drag (friction between the ball and the air) causes the air to react to the spin direction. The ball is moving forward at the same time it is spinning, and the spin makes the air flow faster on one side of the ball. Let’s say the soccer player kicks the ball to the right of the center; this will cause the ball to spin counterclockwise.

Players try to use the Magnus effect to their advantage when taking free kicks.

CHAPTER 1 : FORCES THAT ACT ON A SOCCER BALL

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The Magnus forces act left so the ball curves to the left. When the ball is kicked left of center, the ball spins clockwise, and the Magnus force causes the ball to curve to the right. A ball kicked directly on center will travel in a particular straight trajectory. A ball kicked to the left or the right can result in a Magnus effect that lands the ball several feet from that original trajectory. This maneuver is commonly known as “bending the ball.” It is an effective strategy that soccer players use when attempting to score goals because it is much harder for the goalie to predict what the ball’s Can a player’s corner kick result in a goal? See the Magnus effect in action! 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!

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path will be. Interestingly, initially in the kick, the ball will go straight without spinning because it is traveling very quickly and therefore has less air resistance. As

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 encourag deeper research and analysis.

the ball slows down, the airflow will cause it to begin bending. You’ll notice that the slower the ball goes, the more it will spin or curl. Soccer players have other moves, too, like putting a backspin on the ball. This means air will move faster at the top of the ball than at the bottom, causing the ball to rise more and therefore travel further. Series Glossary Of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the re der’s ability to read and comprehend higher-l vel bo ks and articles in this field.

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A corner kick into the net demonstrates the Magnus effect at its finest, but just how is this done? How does a player Bend It Like Beckham , as the famous movie title exhorts? Many players are very good at kicking the ball off center; that provides the bend or curve to the right or left. But players usually struggle with kicking the ball in precisely the right direction with the power needed to propel the ball where it needs to land—in the net. This type of corner kick is called an Olympic goal, or gól Olímpico . It was so named after a 1924 friendly soccer match between reigning Olympic champion Argentina and archrival Uruguay.

David Beckham is a former English soccer star who was famous for his ability to make the ball bend in midair.

Argentine striker Cesareo Onzari fired a corner kick that spun directly into the goal, and the play was forever dubbed gól Olímpico . Nearly 100 years later, very few players have managed the kick during a match. In 2012, US Women’s National team star Megan Rapinoe scored one by accident, meaning to place the ball a few yards in front of the goal so that her teammate could score. The kick curved left and actually went through the legs of an opposing team member, and then it bounced by Canada’s goalie and right into the net. That same year, French star Thierry Henry scored an Olympic goal in an MLS match. And in 2018, another Argentine, Angel di Maria, scored one for his French club side, Paris Saint-Germain.

CHAPTER 1 : FORCES THAT ACT ON A SOCCER BALL

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

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weav additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples inclu coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much FIFA’s Miss n t Stop Match Fixing

In 2012, FIFA launc e the FIFA In egrity I itiative, a z ro- tolerance policy against match fixi g. The initiative focuses on intelligence-gathering and detection of potential match manipulation. FIFA uses state-of-the-art software technology and analytics to monitor FIFA ma ch s worldwid . The software identifies irregular activity in the sports-betting market. That irregular activity usually is an indication of match manipulation. An expert in-hous team helps FIFA with this a alysis. Thes experts monitor sports bets, detect fraud, and monitor hacking attempts at 211 worldwide FIFA-affiliated clubs and teams. If you’ve ever tried to kick this typ of g al, or if you watch th above video link, when you see the physics involved it is easy to understand why you rarely see Olympic goals. Only players with the utmost confidence and technical ability would even attempt such a shot. Much of the difficulty lies in plane geometry and in line of sight. The corner of the field is in the same plane as the goal, so the player is literally trying to hit a target he or she cannot see. In a professional match, the chances that no other player will touch the ball are slim to none. Finally, players know that the environment affects the flight path; factors like altitude, wind speed, and even humidity play a role. For all these reasons, and because players get only one shot, fans don’t see Olympic goals because the risk of missing the shot is simply too high. Instead, the player typically places the ball in front of the goal. If a player were to attempt this kind of kick, the only way to succeed is to create major spin on the ball. American soccer great Brandi Chastain says you make the ball turn the way you want to depending on how your foot contacts the ball during the kick. She says that if a player shoots from the left corner, the

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

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

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

14 CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | SOCCER

trick is to kick about two inches below the ball’s midline on the ball’s right side. This foot placement gives the ball loft as well as a wicked counterclockwise spin around the ball’s vertical axis. If you kick it correctly, you should feel the force in the big knobby bone of your big toe (called the first metatarsal).

Air moves over the ball as it is in flight. There is air moving counterclockwise, or with the spin, and air moving clockwise, flowing against the ball. For the air moving with the spin, a thin layer of turbulence creates drag on the air to deflect the air back behind itself. Newton’s Third Law dictates that this air will deflect the ball in the opposite direction but with equal force, and that creates the bend.

To score an Olympic goal, this player would have to curve the ball directly into the net off this corner kick.

The Magnus effect applies to other sports like golf and baseball, but it can also apply to much bigger objects. For instance, did you know that the Magnus effect is used to propel sea tankers? Amazingly, these ships have ten-story-tall metal cylinders that spin to create the Magnus effect to move the ship forward. Ball Surface If you’ve looked at a soccer ball up close, you know it is traditionally designed from hexagonal-shaped panels that are stitched together. Why are soccer balls built this way? Wouldn’t it be easier to have a ball with a smooth surface?

CHAPTER 1 : FORCES THAT ACT ON A SOCCER BALL

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A much smaller ball for a different sport is designed in the same way. Golf balls have a dimpled surface because the dimpling actually increases the air resistance to make a much more pronounced spinning effect. A dimpled soccer ball has the same principle. One thing that golf balls and soccer balls have in common is that in both cases, contact with the ball, whether from a golf club or a soccer player’s foot, is very, very brief. However, that contact establishes several important factors, including velocity, spin rate, and launch angle. After the kick, gravity and aerodynamics control the ball, and that is why the design of the surface of the soccer ball is so important. If a soccer ball were

smooth, it would travel only about half as far as a soccer ball with the hexagonal surface (some golf balls are made with the same hexagonal dimples as a soccer ball). Any object traveling through the air has drag and lift forces exerted on it. Drag is a force that directly opposes motion, whereas lift is a force that

The raised hexagonal pattern on a soccer ball helps it counter the force of drag as it travels through the air.

acts perpendicular to the motion of the ball. In a soccer ball, lift is directed upward. As the ball rotates in the air, the amount and direction of lift and drag vary. The indentations in the soccer ball create a thin layer of air (called a boundary layer) that clings to the surface of the ball and decreases drag. As a soccer ball spins, the air pressure on the bottom of the ball is higher than on the top, and, therefore, the ball lifts in the air.

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