Key Learning Area
Science
Bounce ball bounce
Year levels
Prep to Year 2
This activity begins with a discussion of different types of balls used in a range
of sports. Students observe the balls and sort them according to various criteria.
A class chart is developed to organise and record the data about the different balls
observed. Students describe how the oval-shaped ball behaves in different situations
in Australian football.
Simple experiments are carried out where students test the effect that shape has on
the way a ball behaves in different situations. Students make statements that support
their observations.
Time required
2 sessions of 45 minutes each
Materials
•
Worksheet: Round and oval-shaped balls
•
Balls from the following sports: cricket, basketball, netball, Australian football,
rugby league, soccer, squash, tennis, and field hockey
•
Flat mat such as a rounders plate
•
Cones or other suitable markers to mark out an area for students to complete
their tests
•
Paper for a large chart, or a whiteboard and markers
•
Card for names of sports that relate to the balls collected
•
Images and Bounce Ball Bounce video in Resources section on the
AFL CD-ROM
Preparation
•
Collect a range of balls from the school’s physical education storeroom or
arrange to borrow balls from the local secondary college.
•
Prepare a chart for use in the sessions.
•
Photocopy Worksheet: Round and oval-shaped balls, one per student.
•
Prepare cards with names of sports that relate to the balls collected.
•
Take a photograph of each ball in the collection and print one copy of each
ready for use in the chart. (Optional)
•
Collect cones to mark out the area used for testing.
© 2008 Australian Football League
Bounce ball bounce
Activity overview
Activity steps
Session 1
2. Arrange students in a large circle with a range of balls in the middle. Include balls
from the following sports: cricket, basketball, netball, Australian football, rugby
league, soccer, squash, tennis and field hockey. Ask students to observe and feel
the balls.
3. Introduce the idea of sorting the balls based on what they have in common or
how they are alike. Arrange two hoops in the middle of the circle. In one hoop
place two larger balls such as the netball and the basketball. Ask students to
predict what grouping you are using to sort the balls. Add further balls to the
hoops, such as the soccer ball and the Australian football ball. Once the students
establish that the grouping is big and small, complete the rest of the sorting.
4. As a class, sort the balls according to properties such as:
•
shape: round/not round
•
weight: heavy/not heavy
•
texture: smooth/not smooth
•
air-filled/not air-filled
•
bounces easily/doesn’t bounce easily.
5. Show the names on the card of each of the sports that relate to the balls you
have used for observation. Ask students to match the name of the sport with
the type of ball.
6. Use a chart to organise the information gathered. Draw a picture of the ball
in the left-hand column or add a digital photograph of the ball taken prior
to the session.
Example
Type of ball
Size
Shape
Weight
Texture
Inside
Australian
football ball
Large
Oval (not
round)
Heavy
Smooth
Air
Tennis ball
Small
Round
Light
Fluffy
Air
Soccer ball
Large
Round
Heavy
Smooth
Air
© 2008 Australian Football League
Bounce ball bounce
1. Ask students how balls used in a variety of sports are different. Write a list of their
ideas on a whiteboard. Attributes such as size, shape and weight may be among
the examples mentioned.
•
Large balls are easier to catch.
•
Large round balls bounce.
•
Small balls are easier to throw or hit with a bat/racquet.
8. Focus on the Australian football ball. Ask students, Does it make any difference
that the ball is an oval shape? Ask students to describe what they know about
how the ball is used in Australian football. They may identify kicking the ball,
hand-passing, marking (catching the ball) and bouncing the ball by the umpire.
How does the shape influence the way it is used in these situations?
9. List student ideas to follow up in the next session. You may expect ideas such as:
•
When you kick a football its shape makes it bounce in different directions.
•
Footballs are not round. You have to bounce a football in a special way.
10. Optional: Students observe the range of footballs that are available for young
people to use; for example, plastic, rubber, soft toy versions, miniature
promotional footballs. Students compare these balls with the traditional leather
football. They give reasons why the balls were made from different materials.
You may expect students to explain that, for example, rubber footballs are softer,
easier to kick and good for starting to learn how to play football.
Discuss how young people in the past may not have had footballs made from
different materials.
Session 2
1. Review the list developed in the previous session that describes their ideas on
how the shape of the ball affects how it is used in the game. Ask students to
explain their ideas.
2. Explain to students that they are going to experiment with two balls to see if
there is a difference that shape makes to the way a ball moves. Review the chart
and select one ball that is round and one ball that is oval. Encourage students
to understand that you are choosing balls that are alike except that their shape
is different. Explain the need for a fair test where only one part of your test is
changed – in this case the shape of the ball.
Type of ball
Size
Shape
Weight
Texture
Inside
Australian
football ball
Large
Oval (not
round)
Heavy
Smooth
Air
Soccer ball
Large
Round
Heavy
Smooth
Air
© 2008 Australian Football League
Bounce ball bounce
7. Review the information gathered. Ask students what they know about the sports
and why the balls are different. You would expect students’ responses may
include ideas such as:
3. Discuss as a class how to set up a test that will provide evidence that there
is a difference in the way the different shaped balls behave when rolled,
bounced, kicked or thrown. Students record their ideas on Worksheet: Round
and oval-shaped balls.
Note: For younger students, the teacher may do this as a shared activity.
5. Provide Prep students with appropriate support and guidance to work with a
partner to roll the two balls along the ground. It may be useful to provide each
group with a flat mat such as a rounders plate to aim for. Explain the importance
of giving each ball the same-sized push. Encourage students to predict what they
think will happen. Ask students to carefully observe how each ball moves after
it is pushed. Ask students to mark the distance each ball rolls using appropriate
equal informal units such as footsteps (one in front of the other).
6. Scaffold the learning for students at Years 1–2. Some students may be able to try
their own tests. Explain the need to keep the test fair. With appropriate direction,
students may decide to:
•
roll each ball using the same-sized push
•
drop each ball from the same height
•
kick each ball along the ground with the same-sized push (kick)
•
set up a ramp using a timber board and a chair and release each ball from
the same height to roll down the ramp.
7. Encourage students to consider in their test whether it makes a difference which
way the ball is dropped, ie pointy end down, rolled pointy end (end over end) or
kicked pointy end facing down.
8. Provide students with exploration time to become familiar with the way each ball
rolls and how to ensure the push is the same in each case. Encourage students
to make a prediction before they carry out their test, observe what they find out
and explain what happened.
9. As a class, share ideas and write statements to describe the effect shape has
on how a ball behaves in different situations. Encourage students to link their
evidence to their ideas; for example, round balls can be rolled in a straight line,
oval balls don’t roll in a straight line and round balls roll further. Discuss the
difficulty of making sure each push is the same. Explain that if the pushes are
of different sizes the data collected is not reliable.
10. Record and report the experiments incorporating Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT). For example, use a digital camera to record
the experiment results, then present them as a PowerPoint™ presentation.
11. Conclude the session by asking how Australian football players would need
to train to get used to playing with an oval ball.
© 2008 Australian Football League
Bounce ball bounce
4. Carry out the test on a flat, hard surface such as a basketball court. Provide
marked areas using cones to establish an area for each pair to work and test
the balls.
Assessment ideas
Assess students’ writing and the drawings they completed as part of their worksheet.
Do they describe the difference the shape of the ball makes when they are bouncing,
rolling, kicking or catching? Do they make a prediction? Have they recorded
observations in sufficient detail? Do they attempt an explanation?
•
Students write and draw a page for a class book that describes what
happened in their experiments.
•
Students could develop a new game for a particular type of ball, based
on its properties.
© 2008 Australian Football League
Bounce ball bounce
Optional extension
Worksheet: Round and oval-shaped balls
Draw or write what your test will be.
Predict
(What you think will
happen)
Observe
(What happened)
Explain
(Why did it happen?)
I found out that ______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Bounce ball bounce
Name: ______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
© 2008 Australian Football League