Tired of discussing projectile motion in terms of bullets and cannonballs? Launch into the Science of NHL Hockey, where hockey pucks follow the same parabolic path as they shoot through the air and fall into the back corner of the goal, just out of the goalie’s reach. A phantom-cam captures the spinning puck at 10,000 frames per second, or about 160 times faster than the human eye can see. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it!

Projectile Motion is one of ten lesson packages developed by NBC Learn, in partnership with NSF and NSTA. Show the Science of NHL Hockey video Newton’s Three Laws of Motion as a “bell-ringer” to remind students of why objects move as they do. Then scoot them right into Projectile Motion. THEN, let us know what you think!

—Judy Elgin Jensen

Sledge hockey player preparing for a wrist shot by Mariska Richters

Video:
“Projectile Motion” shows how a wrist shot is a perfect example of the phenomenon, as well as describing angular and linear motion.

Middle school lesson: In this lesson, students explore two dimensional motion, linear and angular velocity, and a projectile’s path.

High school lesson: In this lesson, students design and carry out investigations about two dimensional motion, linear and angular velocity, and projectile motion.

You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans:

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