Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids

What are the forces behind ballistics? Why do rocks and rockets soar through the air in an arch?

The game is on the line. Suddenly, you hear the crack of a bat and the roar of crowd. Where will the ball land? How far will it travel? Is it a home run?

You might think that hitting a home run or nailing a three-pointer is just luck, but there are many forces at work that determine if you've made a game-winning shot or the final out. If you've ever kicked a ball, thrown a rock, or even played Angry Birds, you've experimented with the forces behind ballistics.

In Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids, one of four titles in the Technology for Today set, kids ages 10 to 15 learn why projectiles follow the paths they do and what factors influence those paths. Readers who are fascinated with potato cannons, slingshots, and rocketry will love taking that next step and applying what they learn about the laws of physics to the science of figuring out where to aim.

Math is the language you use to understand the science of ballistics. In this book, readers will learn about the forces that act on the projectiles and how to calculate those forces to make educated predictions about where their homemade rockets and other projectiles will land. 25 Safe, hands-on STEAM activities using materials that are easy to acquire are a terrific way to foster real-life learning about ballistics. Kids will perform Galileo's famous test for gravity, create clinometers to measure height and distance, and build a machine that can throw curve balls.

Essential questions that promote critical examination of the science, primary sources, online videos, and science-minded engineering activities let readers have a blast learning about the physics of ballistics!

Nomad Press books integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

Matthew Brenden Wood is a math and science teacher with a passion for STEAM education. He is also an avid amateur astronomer and astrophotographer and the author of The Science of Science Fiction; Planetary Science: Explore New Frontiers; and The Space Race: How the Cold War Put Humans on the Moon. Wood holds a bachelor's degree in astronomy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.