Aiming Lab: Comparing Three Traditional Throws

A pair-based experiment comparing three throwing styles found in traditional games: rolling as in bowling, an underhand arc as in rana or chito, and a direct flight as in calva. Students measure each throw's error in centimeters, calculate the mean and spread and discuss why some movements are more accurate than others.

How to play

1. Pose the research question: which type of throw is most accurate at 6 m, and why; each pair writes a hypothesis (3 min).
2. Set up three stations with a chalk target (a cross on the ground or a pin) at 6 m: rolling with a tennis ball, an arc with a beanbag and a direct throw with a beanbag at a standing pin (2 min).
3. At each station, each student takes 8 throws while the partner measures with a tape the distance from where it lands to the center of the target (or records hit or miss for the direct throw) (12 min, 4 per station).
4. Students enter the data in a shared spreadsheet and calculate the mean error and spread for each type of throw (5 min).
5. Group discussion: compare results with the hypotheses and connect accuracy with speed, trajectory and the number of joints involved (3 min).

Rules

• Only one person throws per station, and the measurer waits to the side.
• Collect throws on the signal, once the pair has finished its set.
• Record the real result of each throw, without redoing bad ones.
• All stations throw in the same direction.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair user: throws from the chair at all three stations and is compared with themselves.
• Visual impairment: the partner claps over the target and tells them the error after each throw.
• Dyscalculia or difficulty with calculations: uses the spreadsheet with ready-made formulas and focuses on reading the graph.

Learning goals

• Apply the scientific method to a question about one's own movement.
• Connect throwing accuracy with its biomechanical features.
• Use digital tools to record and analyze data.

Equipment for a class of 25

• beanbags: 20
• tennis balls: 10
• bowling pins: 5
• tape measures: 6
• chalk: 3
• tablets or phones: 6

Teacher tip

Set up the spreadsheet with a column for each type of throw and the mean formula; spread can be calculated as the range if the class hasn't covered standard deviation.

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