Gravity Pitch


Imagine a gigantic pitcher standing on Earth, ready to hurl a huge baseball. What will happen as the ball is thrown harder and harder? Find out with the Gravity Pitch Gizmo. Observe the path of the ball when it is thrown at different velocities. Throw the ball on different planets to see how each planet's gravity affects the ball.

Screenshot of Gravity Pitch Gizmo

LESSON MATERIALS:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • Observe that gravity causes objects to fall toward the center of Earth.
  • Observe that when a ball is thrown, its path is bent by gravity toward Earth.
  • Notice that when the ball is thrown with a high enough velocity, it will go into orbit around Earth. If it is thrown even harder, it will fly off into space.
  • Find the orbital velocity and escape velocity of objects on Earth and other planets.
  • Use controlled experiments to discover that gravity becomes stronger as a planet's mass increases and weaker as a planet's radius increases.

VOCABULARY:

  • escape velocity, gravity, orbit, orbital velocity, trajectory, velocity

User Recommendations (3):

  • avatar
    Gravity Pitch is great for 6th grade students!

    SCIENCE:  6th Grade

    By: LaTanya Hall (Georgia) | Recommended yesterday

  • avatar
    Great gizmo to try and knock the guy out!

    SCIENCE:  7th Grade | Physical Science

    By: Thom OBrien (Virginia) | Recommended 219 days ago

  • avatar
    I use this one to introduce the concept of orbits. Love it!

    SCIENCE:  9th Grade, 11th Grade | Earth/Space Science, Physics

    By: Stephen Lippa (Ontario) | Recommended 374 days ago

User Testimonials

Critical Acclaim

  • Winner: Golden Lamp Award

    2010 AEP

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    2010, 2007, 2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Finalist: Best K-12 Instructional Solution

    2010 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Winner: Best K-12 Instructional Solution

    2009 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Winner: Award of Excellence

    2009, 2008 Tech and Learning Magazine

  • Winner: Distinguished Achievement Award

    2008, 2007, 2005 AEP

  • Finalist: Distinguished Achievement Award

    2010, 2009, 2006 AEP

  • Finalist: Golden Lamp Award

    2009, 2008, 2006 AEP

  • Finalist: Best Math Instructional Solution

    2009, 2008, 2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Finalist: Best Instructional Solution, Science

    2009, 2008 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Finalist: Best Instructional Solution, Online

    2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

  • Diamond Award in Mathematics

    District Administration Magazine

  • E-Learning Innovation Award

    Macromedia Corp.

  • Best Education Website

    Webby Awards

  • Three time Digital Dozen Honoree

    Eisenhower National Clearinghouse

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