Science In Sports

Discovery Science · Field Notes

A popsicle stick, a rubber band, and a shot at the buzzer.

Oakland students turned favorite basketball and soccer memories into working ball launchers — then spent an hour thinking like sports engineers to make their shot go farther.

CatapultsDesign

Basketball & soccerInspiration

All agesBuilders

OaklandLocation

“What would it look like if we could build a machine that could help us learn how to be better at one of our favorite games?”

— The question that started the build

In this session, we started by sharing sports memories — watching the NBA Finals with family, cheering a World Cup match, shooting hoops at the park. 

Then we asked students a simple question: had they ever noticed ways science shows up in the games they love, and what would it look like to build a machine that could be part of one?

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Lesson snapshot

Sports machine challenge

Students design and build a small machine that launches or moves a ball toward a goal or hoop, then test and revise it — connecting the physics of motion and force to the sports they already love.

Per student

• Popsicle sticks (craft sticks)
• Rubber bands
• Spoon or bottle cap, for the launch cup
• Cotton balls, to build a "basketball" or "soccer ball"
• Markers and tape, to decorate

Shared & demo materials

• Cardboard hoop or goal
• Extra sticks and rubber bands, for advanced catapults
• Masking tape, for the demo projectile
• Craft-stick soccer goal, for the launcher demo

01	Share sports memories Students talk about games and moments they cherish, watching or playing basketball and soccer with family.
02	Introduce the challenge "How can we design a small machine that helps us move or score a ball?" Students take on the role of a sports equipment engineer.
03	Build the launcher Younger students build a simple craft-stick catapult. Students with more developed motor skills take on an advanced design with extra sticks and bracing.
04	Decorate and customize Students personalize their machines with markers and tape, and shape cotton-ball "basketballs" or "soccer balls" of their own design.
05	Launch, laugh, adjust, try again Students aim toward a cardboard hoop or goal and treat every missed shot as information for the next redesign.
06	Demo: angle, tension, and structure A more complex projectile launcher aims a masking-tape ball into a craft-stick soccer goal, showing how small changes affect speed, direction, and distance.

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In practice

What we did together

Once students had shared their sports memories, we introduced the challenge: how can we design a small machine that helps us move or score a ball? We explained that engineers sometimes design equipment for sports — ramps, launchers, and other tools — and that today, they would take on that role.

Caption: a student-built craft-stick catapult, ready to test

Younger students built simple craft-stick ball launchers. 

Using popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a spoon or bottle cap as the launch cup, they made catapults that could send soft projectiles toward a cardboard hoop or goal. 

They decorated their machines with markers and tape and customized cotton-ball “basketballs” or “soccer balls” with color and designs that mattered to them. 

Testing became a loop of launch, laugh, adjust, and try again.

Three parts, one launch

■	Crossbar — the frame that holds everything steady
■	Rubber band — stores the tension that powers the shot
■	Launch cup — aims and releases the ball

Students with more developed motor skills practiced a more advanced catapult design.

 This version used extra sticks and rubber bands and required more careful bracing and alignment. 

Caption: a launcher test in action

We also demoed a more complex projectile launcher that aimed a masking-tape ball into a craft-stick soccer goal, showing how changes in angle, tension, and structure affect how the ball travels — noting differences in speed, direction, and distance.

Throughout the session, we kept connecting back to the games they know: 

“How does this feel like shooting a basketball? Where else have you seen a ball move in a direction or speed like this?” 

That helped students see that the science of motion and force is already living inside the sports moments they enjoy.

What we noticed

Why it matters

Students quickly began to treat their launchers as serious designs, not just toys. After a few test shots, they started asking questions like “how can I fix this so the ball goes farther?” and “whose ball launcher goes farthest, and what can I change about mine so it works as good as theirs?”

Missed shots as data

“It went past the goal, so I need it to be softer,” or “it didn’t reach; let’s try pulling more.” Younger students used everyday language — higher, lower, too strong, too soft — to describe what they saw and explain their choices to each other.

Older students leaned into the challenge of accuracy and consistency. They experimented with lever length and tension, and paid close attention to how small changes — moving a stick, tightening a band, shifting the angle — changed the path of the ball. The soccer-goal demo sparked more questions about trajectory and range, and conversations about how science, not just a favorite player’s talent, can make a goal feel fast and exciting.

Caption: the soccer-goal launcher demo

Across ages, the most important impact was on how students saw themselves: not just as kids who like a particular sport, but as people who can design and improve game outcomes with science. This activity also shifted students' understandings of how their favorite athletes might use science to be really good at sports. Their sports memories and family stories stayed in the room, and their new machines gave them a way to connect those memories to concrete engineering practice.

What might change in Oakland if more students had regular chances to design the tools and spaces where they play?

This sports-play lesson shows how powerful it can be to treat play as a serious site for learning and world-building. 

With simple materials and a clear challenge, students practiced designing, testing, and revising real mechanisms that connect directly to the games they care about. If that vision resonates with you, we invite you to help us create and sustain more programs where student-built machines and joyful inquiry sit at the heart of learning.

Discovery Science — Field Notes from Oakland classrooms