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A Goalkeeper's Reaction-Time Tests

Grade 6 life science: analyze a goalkeeper's ruler-drop reaction tests to explain how signals travel from sense receptors to the brain and how practice builds memory.

Grade 6ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned toMS-LS1-8

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
11 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students analyze reaction-time data to trace signals from sense receptors through the brain to muscles.
Students explain how practice and stored memories change how quickly a person responds.

How to use

If time allows, let pairs try the ruler-drop test themselves before reading, then use the data on the page to answer every question.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

MS-LS1-8

Explain how sense receptors send signals to the brain that lead to behavior or are stored as memories.

Preview

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Name Date

A Goalkeeper's Reaction-Time Tests

Use ruler-drop data to explain how sense receptors, nerves and the brain lead to action and memory.

Sight, sound and touch

Read the passage and study the table. Then answer the questions.

Faster Hands in the Goal

1Amara Nwosu plays goalkeeper for her club soccer team. Her coach, Teodoro Ruiz, told her that a keeper often has well under a second to react to a hard shot. In science class, Amara decided to measure her own reaction time with a ruler-drop test.

2Her teammate Gil held a 30 cm ruler straight up, with the 0 cm mark between Amara's open thumb and finger. Without warning, Gil let go, and Amara pinched the ruler as fast as she could. Gil read the mark at the top of her thumb. The ruler speeds up as it falls, so a shorter distance means a faster reaction. For each test, Amara did 5 trials with the same hand and found the average.

3Amara ran four tests on the first day. In the sight test, she watched the ruler and caught it when she saw it move. In the sound test, she closed her eyes and Gil said "now" as he let go. In the touch test, she closed her eyes and Gil tapped her shoulder as he let go. In the last test, she watched the ruler again, but she also had to count backward by sevens out loud the whole time.

4Then Amara practiced the sight test with 20 catches every day for five days, using the same ruler, the same hand and the same partner. She recorded the average distance each day.

5At her next game, Coach Ruiz noticed something new. The week before, Amara had watched video of the other team's best striker and saw that she usually shot to the left after a long run-up. When that striker took a long run-up, Amara shifted left before the kick, and she made the save.