Michael Tannebaum/Journal Scene

Jordan Drayton (left) and Phillip Pinson, eighth-graders at River Oaks Middle School, design sports balls to run through an obstacle course.

Michael Tannebaum/Journal Scene

Eighth-grader Demitri Carter and his classmates at River Oaks Middle School have been learning about different materials and their effects on different surfaces.

Despite its small stature, the odd-looking obstacle course at the front of the classroom loomed large.

After examining the contraption, 20 River Oaks Middle School eighth-graders set out to create sports balls that they hoped would successfully maneuver through the obstacle course. This required the sports balls – when dropped through a tube hovering about two feet above ground – to first bounce over a wooden block then roll along a surface with texture comparable to that of a golf course’s putting green and finally come to an abrupt halt on small piece of purple cloth.

The students had to use knowledge they had acquired from a recent lesson during which they examined why sports balls are created with certain materials and how and why those sports balls react the way they do on different surfaces.

In one corner of the classroom sat a basketball, baseball and golf ball – each severed in half – that served as references for the students to examine their contents.

To create the sports balls, each student was provided with a Wiffle Ball and an abundance of supplies such as rubber bands and cotton balls. They had to decide what characteristics their sports balls needed to possess in order to successfully make it through the obstacle course.

Each student designed his or her sports ball uniquely by stuffing and wrapping the Wiffle Ball with different types and amounts of materials. One student, Jordan Drayton, had a strategy to make sure his sports ball was able to bounce over the wooden block, roll a few feet and stop in the designated area.

“I plan to stuff the ball so that it won’t be too hollow and cover it with rubber bands so it will bounce,” Drayton said. “The more mass it has the further it will roll so I need to be sure it doesn’t weigh too much.”

Many of the students tested their sports ball on the obstacle course, returned to their desk and made adjustments based on what they had witnessed.

The activity took place in science teacher Tammy Lamon’s classroom. Lamon learned about the exercise at a workshop sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and the Department of Defense, locally SPAWAR.

Lamon added her own touch to the exercise by having her students meet with the school’s entrepreneur classes, taught by Richard Glickman, to come up with names, logos and marketing schemes for the sports balls.

“It’s a great opportunity for these young entrepreneurs,” Glickman said. “It’s all about bringing this product to life.”

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com

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