Launch Lab
Category: Sport Skills · 2-page printable PDF · Ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 · Free for ConnectedPE members
Launch Lab turns throwing and jumping into eight fair-test experiments for ages 10–16, each tied to one biomechanics variable: Angle (Low, Mid, High; Take-Off Angle), Force (Feet Still vs Step; Arm Swing Jump), Levers (Bent vs Straight Arm; Run-Up Power) and Follow-Through (Stop vs Follow; Predict & Prove). Students predict first, then measure three trials from one start line.
Page 2 is a real lab report, not a scoreboard: a three-trial data table, a distance-versus-launch-angle graph where students mark their sweet-spot angle, analysis prompts that require the words force, speed and release, and a Design Your Own Test box. Predicting first, changing one variable at a time and a Lab Rating badge ladder (Lab Assistant, Sport Scientist, Head of Research) make the scientific method explicit.
Two pages, run in pairs with a ball or beanbag, tape measure, protractor and stopwatch. Fits a Years 5–10 biomechanics or athletics unit before a javelin, shot put or long jump block. Pairs with Force Factory and the Throwing Analysis Activity.
What students learn
Students apply biomechanical principles to throwing and jumping by running controlled fair tests on launch angle, take-off angle, force production (stepping into a throw, arm swing in a jump), lever length (bent vs straight arm, run-up length) and follow-through. They make a prediction before each experiment, record three trials in a data table, graph distance against launch angle to identify an optimal release angle, and explain their results using the language of force, speed and release. Working in pairs as tester and recorder, they learn to change one variable at a time, design and sketch their own fair test by naming what they will change, keep the same and measure, and self-assess against a three-tier Lab Rating (recording data, keeping the test fair and graphing it, explaining why it worked).
Topics: biomechanics, sports science, throwing, jumping, projectile motion, launch angle, levers, force, follow-through, fair test, lab report, graphing, athletics, inquiry
Curriculum links
- AC9HP6M01
- AC9HP8M01
- AC9HP10M01
Related PE resources
- Volleyball Battle Stations — Ages 7-8
- Force Factory — Ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10
- Move Masters — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Smash Stars! — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Scarf Stars — Ages F-2, 3-4