Name: ______________

Bouncing Around
The goal of this experiment is to encourage students to write a quadratic equation from
experimental data, giving students a chance to experience how these equations can be a
powerful model for real-world situations.
Directions:
1.

Connect the CBR to the calculator. Then press the APPS button. Scroll down to Easy
Data.

2. You should see it reading Distance (m) at the top of the screen. Press Setup (Window
key) and select option 5: Ball Bounce.
3. When you are ready to begin, press Start (Zoom key). Then, bounce the ball. You will be
prompted about overwriting your data, then you will be told to hold the ball half a meter
below the CBR, press Next (Zoom key). Then press the Next again, this time while
simultaneously pressing the trigger button on the CBR.
4. Examine the graph you produced for a clear parabola. To zoom into the parabola:
a. Select Analyze and choose 7: Select Region. This feature of the App will allow us
to Zero In on just the part of our graph that shows the parabolic motion.
b. A warning screen is displayed, letting you know that you will lose the rest of your
data. If you are ready, press OK.
c. Now, your graph is displayed and the calculator is asking you to Set a Left
Bound for the region you wish to examine. Arrow to the beginning of your clear
parabola.
d. You will see a vertical line drawn at that point and the sentence at the bottom of
the screen has changed and is now asking you to Set a Right Bound. The cursor
will move to the far right side of the screen. Use the arrow keys to scroll to the
end of your clear parabola.
e. The region you selected will be drawn alone on the screen. Does it look like a
parabola?
5. Sketch the graph below and explain why it makes sense that this graph has the form of a
quadratic function.

Name: ______________

Name: ______________
Bouncing Around
Answer the following questions with your group. Be prepared to discuss your answers as a class.
1. What is represented along the X-axis?

2. What are the units of measurement along the X-axis?

3. What is represented along the Y-axis?

4. What are the units of measurement along the Y-axis?

5. Where is the vertex of the parabola located on the graph? What about the motion of the
ball does the vertex tell you?
6. Where are the x-intercepts of the parabola located on the graph? What about the motion
of the ball do these points tell you?
7. Why is this graph only in the first quadrant?

Name: ______________
This is what our parabola looked like. Using the information given, create an equation in vertex
form for this parabola.