Praxis: Seeing, and shooting, hoops

By Medicine Hat News on November 17, 2018.

I have been helping out a young lady the past few months with her basketball skills; please understand, I am no expert in basketball, merely helping out! It’s a great deal of fun for sure, but we have hit a bit of a roadblock recently as this young lady is now wearing glasses.She does insist that she does not need them to play sports, and I respectfully have disagreed. I definitely am no stranger to a ball in the face and understand the pain associated with that hence her apprehension to wearing them. But I think that the glasses may be of help with the accuracy of her shot. In order to see who is “right,” I thought we would do this experiment. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– basketball net

– basketball

– chalk/masking tape

– science helper that knows how to play basketball and wears glasses

– sidewalk or gym

– scientific notebook

– measuring tape

– pencil

Procedure

1. Find an area that you will not be disturbed at so that you can conduct your scientific investigation.

2. Measure out three different places from the net in which you will shoot from. Depending on your location, mark these with either the chalk or masking tape.

3. Stand at the first line and take 10 shots with your glasses on.

4. Write down how many you made into the basket in your scientific notebook.

5. Move to the second line you marked and take 10 more shots.

6. Record how many you made into the basket in your notebook.

7. Repeat at the third line you marked. Do not forget to record your information.

8. Remove your glasses and go to the first line. Take 10 shots and record how many you made into the basket. Repeat for the second and third lines you marked.

9. Analyze your data.

10. Do you need your glasses or not?

What is going on?

Having to wear glasses clearly indicates you have a vision issue. One cannot tell what your issue(s) are just by looking at your glasses. You may need glasses to correctly see things close up, far away or perhaps both. Vision issues can affect your depth perception though. This is an important factor in the eye hand coordination you need in order to make a perfect shot and sink it in to the basketball net. Hopefully by doing this experiment you can figure out if you really need your glasses to be an all-star basketball player. Good luck this season!

Science Fair 101 has officially started for this school year. Do not hesitate to call Praxis and book in your school; space is limited and before you know it the Regional Science Fair will be here! It is never too early to get started. I hope to see all the young scientists throughout southeastern Alberta soon!

Patty Rooks is senior scientific consultant at PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook.