Experimenting

Darby's next science project is an experimental one. She has to state a hypothesis, carry out an experiment, and report the results and conclusion.

I wanted her to come up with something she could largely do herself, though I expected we might need some help in the materiel support department. After discussing my ideas with her, we came up with the title "Which Ball is Best?"

The idea is to create a reasonably constant environment with which to experiment, so that only the ball we use will vary. We intend to hit several softball brands, from generic to premium, to see if the brand matters in terms of distance the ball travels.

As I have virtually no physical skills whatsoever, I enlisted my father's help. I explained the idea and gave some suggestions, and the mechanically inclined grandfather of Darby hit the ground running. After just a couple days of measuring and wood-working, we now have a contraption with which Darby can conduct her experiment. Below are a photo and video of it in action.

Darby will do the actual experimenting. She will load the device and pull the string to release the bat probably dozens of times. She will measure the distance of each hit ball, and she will do the math (average distance per ball) before writing-up her conclusions.

You might think it would all end there, but then she has to present her results orally AND via a tri-fold presentation board with photos, diagrams, etc.