Space Stations - Follow the Bouncing Ball!
Overview
Children predict whether a ball on Earth or a ball on the Moon bounces higher when dropped (or thrown at the floor) and why. They simulate the experiment by dropping high- and regular-bounce balls from their shoulder height.
Activity Time
5 minutes
Intended Audience
- Families or other mixed-age groups, including children as young as 4 years old with assistance from an older child, teen, or adult
- School-aged children ages 5–7 and 8–9
- Tweens up to about age 13
Type of Program
Facilitated hands-on experience
Station, presented in combination with related activities
Passive program
Demonstration by facilitator
What's the Point?
- Astronauts — and kids! — need to rest, relax, and have fun.
- Astronauts experienced less gravity on the Moon, so dropping a ball on the Moon would cause it to bounce much higher than on Earth.
Materials
For the facilitator:
- Follow the Bouncing Ball Facilitator Background Information
- Explore! Health in Space Discussion Guide
For Each Group of 1–3 Children
- 1 high-bounce ball
- 1 jacks ball or other low-bounce ball
- 1 permanent marker
- Follow the Bouncing Ball Children's Guide
Not all high-bounce balls actually are. Test them to make sure! You may substitute other pairs of balls for high-bounce and jacks balls, as long as they bounce at noticeably different heights.
Preparation
- Review the Follow the Bouncing Ball Facilitator Background Information and Explore! Health in Space Discussion Guide.
- With a permanent marker, label the low-bounce ball "Earth" and the high-bounce ball "Moon."
- Provide the balls and Follow the Bouncing Ball Children's Guide in a bag or bin, or place them at a table so that participants can access them.
Activity
1. Share ideas and knowledge.
- Introduce yourself. Help the children learn each other’s names (if they don’t know each other already).
- Use the Explore! Health in Space Discussion Guide to draw participants into the activity and frame the activity with the main message: Astronauts — and kids! — need to rest, relax, and have fun.
- Encourage the participants to first predict which ball would bounce higher: a ball dropped on the Earth or on the Moon.
2. Test how a ball bounces on the Moon compared with on the Earth. Explain that the Earth ball will simulate how a ball bounces on Earth and the other will simulate how a ball bounces on the Moon. Invite each participant to drop (or gently throw) the “Earth” and “Moon” balls from shoulder height and observe what happens.
3. Compare observations and connect them to the “real world.” Prompt the children to use their experiences bouncing the balls to decide whether Olympic athletes would be able to jump higher or not as high on the Moon as on Earth.
4. Conclude. Summarize that the Moon ball bounced higher and for longer than the Earth ball. This simulates Earth’s greater force of gravity pulling on the ball more than the Moon’s smaller force of gravity. The Moon’s smaller force of gravity offers opportunities for fun!
(These steps are also described in the Children's Guide.)
Extension
How Much Would you Weigh on Distant Planets?
Use movies of astronauts walking on the Moon, throwing a discus, jumping, and more from “Activity I - Exploration: Is there any gravity on the Moon?” as conversation-starters about whether or not there is gravity on the Moon.
