Lesson: Tennis, Anyone?
Posted on July 13th, 2012 by Mary Lord
In this lesson, students in grades 3 to 12 explore how engineers incorporate the latest materials and manufacturing techniques to improve the performance of sports equipment by constructing a functional racquet out of everyday materials that can volley against another team’s racquet at least six times.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5 | Comment »
Tags: Class Activities, Design, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Olympics, Sports, Sports Engineering, tennis
From Lady Gaga’s glowing, LED-encrusted gown to lightweight body armor and high-tech sports apparel, engineered fabrics are turning up well beyond the fashion world. ASEE’s Prism magazine highlights some innovative examples.
What does basketball have in common with engineering? Plenty, if you’re Rhodes Scholar Reed Doucette, a former University of Southern California stand-out player and student now pursuing a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Oxford.
From long-shot “Cinderella” teams to “field goal” averages and “bracketology,” the NCAA’s annual “March Madness” men’s Division 1 college basketball championship has a host of pet terms and traditions. Here’s a guide to this year’s Big Dance.
In this video, Sport Science takes a deeper look into concussions caused from helmet to helmet collisions. It exams the different factors involved and offers statistics on concussions and collisions in the NFL.
This video from Riddell shows how their protective football helmets are made. The video takes a step-by-step approach and explains how the gear is tested and assembled.
In this lesson, students in grades 6-8 learn the basic engineering issues related to helmet design, specifically the physics of collisions and the biomechanics considerations of design. Students then identify and solve design challenges, create a poster representation of their solutions, and present them to their peers. Finally, students will learn about the dangers of not wearing a helmet in certain sports.
A team of research engineers at golf equipment company PING has created a set of custom-fitted golf clubs for a man who has been a quadruple amputee since 2005. The researchers developed “a workable prototype” for Mesa, Arizona’s Jeff Lewis and worked with a prosthetist to develop a set of unique clubs. 
To accompany the 10-part video series “Science of NFL Football,” Lessonopoly has created activities and lesson plans that get students thinking about the science and engineering behind foward passes, touch-downs and powerful field goal kicks.
