Science Projects Using Baseball

Science projects for a science class or a science fair can be more interesting for students when the topic of the project is more in line with their other interests. Fans of baseball will find that there are many approaches to science projects based around the sport. Whether directly experimenting with aspects of the sport like balls or bats or pursuing a more analytical look at the data collected about professional games, baseball offers many opportunities to apply the scientific method.

  1. The Hypothesis

    • A good science project starts with a good hypothesis. A hypothesis is a declarative statement that addresses the outcome the experimenter expects to see from his experiment. The hypothesis will determine what kind of project will be done. A hypothesis of "an aluminum bat will hit baseballs farther than a wooden bat" is a different kind of project than "the Colorado Rockies have won more games since storing their balls in a humidor." The former hypothesis may lead to a day in the park with a wooden bat, an aluminum bat and a yard stick. The latter hypothesis will involve comparing game statistics.

    Direct Experiments

    • For hypotheses like "an aluminum bat will hit baseballs farther than a wooden bat" students will likely be doing hands-on experiments. These experiments will involve collecting firsthand data for students to compare and evaluate. Some other direct experiments can include determining how body position effects the speed and distance a baseball will travel, how different weather conditions effect the distance a baseball will travel when hit, or if a particular exercise will help improve a player's batting.

    Analysis

    • If more direct experiments are not possible or undesirable for some reason, an alternative is to do analysis of existing baseball statistics. One of the advantages of this type of science project is that baseball statistics and data on player performance have been collected for decades. There is an abundance of data to be examined. In addition to a science project to determine whether the Colorado Rockies have won more often since storing their baseballs in a humidor, a student could try to determine if left-handed hitters get more hits than right-handed hitters, or if teams from the East Coast have won more postseason games than teams from the West Coast.

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Project Types

    • The direct experiments can be more involving than the analytical projects. The direct experiments can be more physical and can show a more direct connection between science and the world around a student. The disadvantage is many direct experiments may involve buying equipment like balls and bats for the experiment. Also, the weather may have an effect on whether the experiment can be conducted at all. Analytical projects can be done at any time of the year but may be unappealing to students who don't care for math. With either type there's much to be learned, and students who do the research into the physics that govern the game and the results of their project will find strong connections between baseball and science.