9781422274828

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 | TRACK & FIELD

STEM CONNECTING SPORTS AND

STEM IN TRACK & FIELD

JACQUELINE HAVELKA

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First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4338-1 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4329-9 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7482-8

Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

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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CHAPTER 1 RUNNING .......................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 THROWING ..................................................................17 CHAPTER 3 JUMPING ......................................................................27 CHAPTER 4 POLE VAULTING ...........................................................35 CHAPTER 5 TIMING AND MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY ...........43 CHAPTER 6 PARALYMPICS AND PHYSICS .......................................53 CHAPTER 7 THE SCIENCE OF NUTRITION ....................................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! When one thinks about STEM classes and sports, they seem like opposites, right? You’re either in the classroom learning, or you’re on the playing field. But STEM and sports really do go together. STEM is education in four specific areas—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Rather than being taught as separate subjects, STEM curriculum is integrated together for real-world learning. When a science class visits an amusement park, the students learn the principles of physics, use math to make calculations, and learn about the engineering and technology used to construct roller coasters and other rides. Track and field is a sport that requires athletic strength, speed, and agility, but it is also a sport that exemplifies science and energy. Newton’s laws of physics definitely apply to track and field events. > Newton’s First Law: An object at rest stays at rest. In order to move, an external force must act on 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. > Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Track athletes have incredible speed, and athletes who participate in field events make some amazing gravity-defying moves, but you might be surprised to find out there is lots of science behind these events. Let’s take a look at the STEM concepts in track and field. We’ll explore concepts, like force, inertia, acceleration, and projectile motion, all important to the sport.

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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! arc length: the distance along the circumference of a circle horizo tal motion: the mov ment of a pr jectil across a plane parallel to the horizon based on the force cting on it starting blocks: a device for bracing the feet of a runner at the beginning of a sprint race Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for mo careful attention to the evidence presented there.

CONNECTING STEM AND SPORTS | TRACK & FIELD Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and a

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1

CHAPTER

RUNNING

Introduction In Olympic sprinting events, speed is absolutely the name of the game. Milliseconds count and can mean the difference between a gold or silver medal—or no medal at all. How do runners generate and maintain speed during these events? Take a guess: Physics is involved.

Sprinters use both horizontal motion and vertical motion. Techniques they use can either work for or against them, so how do runners gain a competitive edge? The first opportunity is at the starting blocks . Athletes crouch down into the kneeling position in the starting blocks before each sprint event. Have you ever wondered why this position is even necessary? It is because this position helps the athlete generate force in

The starting blocks are designed to give sprinters a stable base to push off from. They were once actual wooden blocks, but now are made of metal and are equipped with sensors and a loudspeaker.

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the horizontal direction, and that translates into horizontal motion to propel the runner forward. The athlete must have an ideal contact with the starting blocks so that foot position is optimized to get the best start and generate maximum force coming off the blocks. The athlete also needs to generate a bit of vertical speed to “fly” or “leap” off the blocks. Horizontal Motion World-class sprinters run at about thirty miles per hour, so it is fair to look at the sprinter as a projectile. When we do this, we can then look at the physics of projectile motion. Think of the sprinter as a cannonball. All projectiles have both vertical and horizontal motion. The runner moves horizontally while also moving up and down. Sprinters try to minimize their vertical motion so that horizontal motion is maximized. In the video, watch as the runners keep their upper bodies very still and use their legs to propel forward with horizontal motion. Newton’s Third Law explains this: an

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.

Watch this amazing slow-motion video of a runner leaving the starting blocks. 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!

object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

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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Objects have a natural tendency to not change their state of motion. This is called inertia, and Newton’s Third Law is also known as the law of inertia. In this discussion, the unbalanced force Newton refers to is gravity. If the runner had no gravity and no friction from contact with the track, he or she could run forever. Going back to the cannonball model, if you shot a cannonball straight out of a cannon, the cannonball would keep going in horizontal motion if there were no gravity. If you dropped the cannonball straight down off a cliff (free fall with no horizontal motion and only vertical motion), it would drop straight to the ground. Horizontal motion is the distance the runner travels. Dividing that distance by the runner’s time gives the velocity, or speed.

v = d t —

Sprinters use powerful horizontal force to overcome gravity and propel themselves forward.

Gravity is acting on the runner to slow him or her down.

Think of gravity as an invisible force pulling the runner’s shoes back to the track. Only the runner’s tremendous horizontal force and motion can overcome it.

CHAPTER 1 : RUNNING

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

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives b additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR c with additional educational content to supplement the text. Example coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and

STEM Careers Have you heard about at science? It is a really hot field! A a data scientist, you can do sp rts analy ics. If the thought of compiling lots of track race data or analyzing video footage to look at athlete performance appeals to you, consider this field. Many sports teams ar r cog izing he valu of analytic for improving athletic performa ce. Y u coul end up solving problems, doing data modeling, or even programming machine learning and artificial intelligence! What skills do you need? Definitely math—there’s no escaping it. In particular, you will need to be well versed in probability and linear algebra. It is also a good idea to know statistics, and ideally, it would be great if you had a bit of computer programming and coding knowled e in Pyth n, J va, or C++. Finally, knowing how to create and manage a relational database is key because, after all, you need somewhere to store all that data! Does The Running Lane Make a Difference? We’ve all watched track events and wondered whether the athlete in lane one had an unfair advantage over the outer lanes because the track looked shorter. You’ve been there and thought that, right? But is the distance different? Yes, it is. The track is oval, and lane one is a shorter oval than lane 8, the outermost oval. Of course, track events have to be fair, so it stands to reason that runners in different lanes obviously have to run the same distance. In a short-sprint event,

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

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inqu chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deep

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

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like the 100-meter dash, this is much easier to track and to see. All runners line up in a straight line, and a straight line is drawn across the finish line for them to cross. The situation gets more difficult for longer-distance races that take place on an oval track. Each lane on the track is a different distance due to the curves at either end. Therefore, runners start in staggered positions at different To calculate this, let’s take a blast to the geometry past. Remember circle radius? Let’s calculate the arc length of a circle. Just as in Figure 1, the lanes on a track share the same center, but the radius of each is a different length. The calculation for arc length(s) follows:

Races longer than 100 meters require a staggered start, with runners starting farther ahead in each lane as they extend out from the center.

points on the track. Is there a magic math formula that dictates the distance between each runner in the staggered position? Why, of course there is!

Figure 1

r 2

0

r

CHAPTER 1 : RUNNING

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1 = s r 1 0 2 = s r 2 0

For a regular track, the straight sections are 88 meters long, and the circular ends have a radius of 35.75 meters for the inner lane. Each lane is 1.22 meters wide. If we have a 200-meter race, there is not enough distance to have the race in a

straightaway. Each lane distance will equal 200 meters; the distance L is the 88-meter straightaway, which is the same for each lane, but the difference is the radius and angle of each lane is After one lap with a staggered start, runners can then choose any lane. Typically, this will be the inside lane as it allows for the shortest distance.

(200 m) = L + r 0 0 0 (200 m) = L + r 1 0 1 (200 m) = L + r 2 0 2

Knowing the lane width, we can find how the angular size decreases with each lane away from the center ( delta r ). (200 m) = L + r 0 0 0 (200 m) = L + ( r 0 + ∆ r) (0 0 − ∆ 0) r 0 ∆ 0 = ∆ r0 0 + ∆ r ∆ 0 ∆ 0 =

∆ r0 0 r 0

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Each lane starts about 6 degrees lower than the lane next to it. Runners can switch lanes in some races. Why do they switch, though, given that each lane is the same distance? Some runners simply prefer particular lanes. A runner on the inside lane cannot see the other runners and KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

has harder turns because it has the smallest curvature radius. Now you know the math behind why runners are staggered at the lineup for longer races! Text-Dependent Questions: 1. When a sprinter enters the starting blocks, why is it important for the athlete to ensure his or her feet are well planted on the blocks? 2. As a sprinter runs, which is higher: the vertical motion or horizontal motion? 3. Explain why each runner on a curved track is really running the same distance. Research Project: ext-Depend nt Questions: These q estions 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. 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 broad n their perspectives by w aving 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, ic nic sports moments, a d much ore! Text-De endent Questions: These questions send th reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. esearch Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Do some research on the body types of runners that specialize in sprinting versus distance races. What is the difference in average height and weight for the top ten International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) athletes in the 100-meter race compared to the 1,500-meter race for both men and women? Explain in a short paper why the body types are so different. 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. Runners compete at an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) event in Paris. 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 additio al duc tional content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more!

CHAPTER 1 : RUNNING

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND Words To Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will inc 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 togeth additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing t with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! aerodynamics: the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of air and other gases and with the effects of such motion on objects center of gravity: the point through which the resultant of gravitational forces on a body passes and from which the resultant force of attraction of the body on other bodies emanates; coincident with the center of mass in a uniform gravitational field Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for mo careful attention to the evidence presented there. centripetal force: the force that is necessary to keep an object moving in a curved path and that is directed inward toward the center of rotation

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and a

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