Catching On!

Experiment #3

Air date: 2/5/98

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:	1 soft, round ball such as a Nerf Ball 1 tape measure
WHO YOU'LL NEED:	4 people: 1 subject 1 tosser 1 measurer 1 recorder

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

On Earth, your body is in what can be called, an "Earth-normal" condition because it automatically detects and responds to the environment around it. Part of that environment is gravity, the characteristic that we probably take for granted most often. The human body is an extraordinary and complex system with all its parts in constant communication. Your brain is the master controller of this system.

In space, the human body responds to the new environment. Astronauts feel and even look somewhat different. Within hours or sometimes days, astronauts adapt to microgravity. In this "space normal" condition, many body functions and systems begin to work together effectively. Some body functions, however, do not adapt as quickly, and may prove to cause problems in the Earth-normal environment to which the astronauts return. Those functions that do adapt well in space may have problems re-adapting to an "Earth normal" condition.

Crew members from previous missions have routinely experienced a change in how they perceive objects and motions in space. Even something as simple as catching a ball involves complex interactions between the body's sensory and motor systems.

If you were playing ball under unfamiliar circumstances, do you think you could "catch" on?

WHAT TO DO:

1. Write a one sentence hypothesis.

2. Measurer marks off 2 spots, 3.5 meters apart.

   NOTE: The same subject and tosser should be used for steps 3-10.

   

3. Tosser, throws ball in a slow-underhand pitch to the subject who tries to catch the ball.

4. Subject returns the ball to tosser.

5. Repeat for a total of ten tosses to the subject.

6. Recorder notes how many times the subject catches the ball out of ten tosses.

   

7. Repeat the experiment with the subject lying face up on the floor, and the tosser on a stepladder, releasing the ball at a distance of 3.5 meters from the ground.

8. Repeat the experiment with the subject in a chair at a distance of 3.5 meters from the tosser, the subject's back is facing the tosser and subject's head is hanging down the back of the chair.

9. Subject sits upright for 5 minutes, then repeats #8.

   

10. Recorder tallies the catches and misses in each category.

11. Repeat experiment using other participants in each of the 4 roles.

12. Record results on reply card and return to WHAT'S IN THE NEWS, Wagner Annex, University Park, PA 16802.

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Reply card

Printable copy

Hypothesis:

The results of this investigation:

______ support the hypothesis

______ refute the hypothesis

______ are inconclusive