By CHRISTINE MCDONALD – Director, CONNECT
Trajectory, is by definition “the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.” We innocently understand the idea of trajectory when a football is thrown by the quarterback with the intent of successfully connecting to the receiver, or a baseball player throwing a ball to first base.
It seems simple enough, but is it so simple? To make that connection a great deal more goes into the equation, you also must understand the range, the launch angle, speed, and distance necessary to travel.
With the help of 30 cadets from the United States Military Academy and the United States Military Academy Prep School recently, CONNECT students at HFIS learned about flying projectiles hitting their target when their West Point friends visited with an exciting lesson that brought home the connections necessary to understand trajectory.
Using first an iPad App, students practiced hitting a target by considering the angle, speed, and distance. Once they mastered the computer simulation, they moved to targets set up in their classroom.
“I got to launch a ball out of a cannon and our objective was to knock down objects on table,” one student explained, “We did it at different heights and had to angle the cannon.” Another CONNECT student summed up the experience, “Boom! It was super cool!”
To learn more about CONNECT visit www.hffmconnect.org
