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The Science of
Baseball
Review of website:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/
Age
requirement: 8 years old and up; parent or
other older person needed for reading out loud to the
T-Ball-aged crowd.
Summer means a lot of things:
days hot enough to make your ice cream melt faster than
you can eat it, a chance to play outside till nine, then
catch fireflies until ten; swimming pools and fire
hydrants bringing deliciously cool relief; but most
importantly of all—NO SCHOOL!
Just because there’s no teacher
around doesn’t mean the education comes to a stop.
Learning is everywhere, even in our nation’s historically
favorite past time: baseball. The Exploratorium, found in
the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, has made the
sport of baseball part of their ongoing program to promote
the learning of science, art, and nature through various
media, tools, and environments. However, for those of us
not holding a vacation calendar in one hand and a plane
ticket in the other, we can experience their exceptionally
cool site by way of the cyber highway. Gather your Little
Leaguers around the screen and let’s take a look!
 How
to get in:
Simply type in
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/ and
you’re there. No personal information or cover charge
required. The web site style is like a comic book, so any
user of third grade reading level or above will find it
friendly to the eyes and easy to navigate.
Ok, now you’re in…
Here’s where the fun—and the
science--begins! Want to learn where the “sweet spot” is
on your bat? (You’ll be learning about vibrations and
percussions while exploring that topic.) How about
fine-tuning your curve ball? (The finer points of spin and
lift are discussed here.) You can see what goes into
making a homerun (more than a breakfast cereal endorsement
and dietary growth supplements!), although you’ll need
Shockwave to interact with the exhibit.
Want to brush up on some history?
Find out how one of baseball’s superstars got his start in
a team named the “Bloomer Girls”. Or look up the stats on
players from years ago and see how they would rank in
today’s game. You can even read up on another country
crazy about baseball: Japan!
Ok, what I mean is…
Five stars! Two opposable thumbs
and two toes up! This is a great site to explore, to
learn, and to truly experience the nuances of what makes
baseball great. Any child interested in the sport will
relish the chance to see how it looks in cyberspace, and
not mind that he or she is learning about physics and math
at the same time. After all, it’s just a game, right?
(Wink!)
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