Stacking up: try your hand at a popular sport that's sweeping the nation.DID YOU KNOW? * Special plastic cups are used for official sport-stacking events. These cups have 3 holes on the closed end. When a competitor moves the cups, the holes allow air to escape. With fewer air molecules pushing against the cup, the person can stack and un-stack the cups at a greater speed. * The exterior of a regulation sport-slacking cup is rough. The cup's rough texture increases friction with the palm, giving the sport-stacking participant a better grip of the cup. CRITICAL THINKING: * What daily activities require good dexterity and hand-eye coordination hand-eye coordination Eye-hand coordination Surgery Oculomanual synchronization, required by surgeons, especially for laparoscopic surgery. See Laparoscopic surgery, Paradoxical movement. ? Explain. CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS: MATH: The Web site below features a link to the current world records for sport stacking Sport stacking (formerly known as cup stacking) is an individual and team activity played using plastic cups. It originated in the early 1980's at a southern California boys and girls' club and received national attention in 1990 on . Have students create a graph from the information in the data table. www.worldsportstackingassociation.org/results.htm RESOURCES * To read the study on how stacking cups influenced the hand-eye coordination of a group of second graders, go to: www.crazy-cups.com/cupstackstudy.pdf * For information about the World Sports Stacking Association, go to: www.worldsportstackingassociation.org * VERB, a teen-friendly program created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. , promotes physical activity through playing games: www.verbnow.com/ For most teens, clearing dishes from the table is a chore. But that may change once they try "cup stacking." In this new activity, officially known as "sport stacking," players race to build and then unbuild un·build v. un·built , un·build·ing, un·builds v.tr. To dismantle, take apart, or demolish; raze. v.intr. To dismantle something built. small pyramids of specially designed cups in the fastest time (see Nuts & Bolts, right). Sport stacking began in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). in the early 1980s. Today, roughly 9,000 schools, camps, and clubs across the country participate in the timed challenges for physical-education classes and competitions. Like juggling, sport stacking is popular in PE classes because it improves dexterity, or skill at using your hands. In fact, a 2004 study of second-graders found that sport stacking caused a 25 to 30 percent improvement in reaction time and hand-eye coordination, says Brian Udermann, a sports exercise scientist at the University of Wisconsin Wisconsin, state, United States Wisconsin (wĭskŏn`sən, –sĭn), upper midwestern state of the United States. It is bounded by Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, from which it is divided by the Menominee at Lacrosse lacrosse (ləkrôs`), ball and goal game usually played outdoors by two teams of 10 players each on a field 60 to 70 yd (54.86 to 64.01 m) wide by 110 yd (100.58 m) long. Two goals face each other 80 yd (73. , who helped run the study. Alison Zick, 14, of Denver, Colorado, has entered sport-stacking competitions since the fourth grade. She has noticed similar improvements in her speed and dexterity. "After you practice it, you cut seconds off your time," she says. Alison says that a little sport-stacking practice even helps her play the drums better in the band, and improves her performance in other sports. "If I'm going to play volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. , I might do a few [sport-stacking formations] before I play," she says. "It helps my reaction time." Nuts & Bolts There are three main formations in sport stacking: THE 3-3-3: Competitors "up stack," or build, three pyramids of three cups each and then "down stack" them again. This might take a beginner 10 seconds. The world record is 2.43 seconds. THE 3-6-3: This is similar to the 3-3-3, but the middle pyramid pyramid, structure pyramid. The true pyramid exists only in Egypt, though the term has also been applied to similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their triangular sides, which directly face the points of the has six cups. A beginner could do this in about 15 seconds. The world record: 2.72 seconds. THE CYCLE: This is the sport's biggest event. It combines three different stacks--a 3-6-3, a 6-6, and a 1-10-1. Typical beginners complete the roughly 40 moves in 60 seconds. The world record is 7.43 seconds. HANDS-ON SCIENCE (No Lab Required) PREDICT In this experiment you will use a ruler to test your reaction time. Then you will practice sport stacking. Will sport stacking improve your reaction time? MATERIALS chair * desk * metric ruler * set of 9 cups * PROCEDURE 1 Test your reaction time: Sit in a chair facing a desk. If you are right-handed right-handed adj. Using the right hand more skillfully or easily than the left. , turn your body to the left and place your right arm on the desk. If you are left-handed, do the reverse. 2 Position your arm in such a way that your hand extends off the edge of the desk by about three inches. Then, extend your thumb and pointer pointer, breed of large sporting dog developed in England more than 300 years ago. It stands between 23 and 26 in. (58.4–66.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 50 and 60 lb (22.7–27.2 kg). finger so that they are about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) apart. 3 Have a partner hold a ruler vertically in the space between your thumb and pointer finger. Adjust the height of the ruler so that your thumb and finger are even with the 3-cm mark. 4 Your partner will say, "ready," and then wait two to three seconds before releasing the ruler. 5 Pinch pinch, n a small amount of chewing tobacco (snuff) an individual takes to use the substance for its desired effect. A “pinch” is called a quid in Britain. your thumb and pointer finger together to grab the falling ruler as quickly as you can. Rule: Do not lift your arm off the desk. 6 Note the centimeter centimeter (sĕn`tĭmē'tər), abbr. cm, unit of length equal to 0.01 meter, the basic unit of length in the metric system. The centimeter is the unit of length in the cgs system. It is approximately equal to 0. mark closest to the top of your thumb. Subtract A relational DBMS operation that generates a third file from all the records in one file that are not in a second file. 3 cm (to account for the starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the ) and record this measurement. 7 Repeat Steps 1 to 6 four more times. 8 Average all five measurements to get your "reaction time" score. 9 Practice the 3-3-3 formation (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 18) for 10 minutes a day, 5 days in a row. 10 After your 3-3-3 stacking practice on day five, repeat Steps 1 to 8. CONCLUSIONS How did your "reaction time" score on Day 1 (before sport stacking) compare with your score on Day 5? Explain. ANSWER * Note to teachers: Special cups are used for sport stacking competitions. If you choose to use them in the hands on activity, they are available for purchase at the following Web site: www.speedstacks.com 1. There may be a difference in the reaction time score. Often, the score before practicing sport stacking is higher. That means more centimeters of the ruler passed by before you were able to grab it with your fingers. The lower the score the better your reaction time. 2. The score should have improved Sport stacking helps build dexterity. |
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