7th Grade Basketball Science Fair Projects

Throwing and Physics

• In seventh-grade physics, you will learn to calculate speed, force and velocity. You can do a project to study the physics of basketball. For example, how does the rotation or spin of a shot affect its path to the net? Another project would be to calculate the exact angle, force and spin at which a given player must throw the ball, based on the player's height, from various locations on the court.

Bounce and the Ball

• You might consider doing a project to study the basketball itself or how it bounces. Find out what are the components of a basketball and how the basketball affects play. Try to build your own basketball and see what challenges you must overcome.

  Another project might study factors that affect how high a ball bounces. Some possible areas of research are the floor surface, how much air is in the ball, the ball's age and surface wear, altitude and temperature of the court.

Gravity and Astronomy

• Other project ideas involve studying gravity. A classic science fair project involves dropping various objects (which could include a basketball) from different heights and observing how quickly they fall. To make this a seventh-grade level project, you would need to do some math as well, such as calculating the factors that affect an object's air resistance.

  You can also use a basketball as one of the materials to make a working model of the solar system. Decorate balls of different sizes to resemble the planets and show each planet's unique orbit around the sun. In addition to a basketball, this project would use other balls such as tennis, soccer, golf and baseballs to illustrate the relative sizes of the planets in the solar system.

Sports Nutrition

• Another type of project might study basketball and sports nutrition. For example, how do energy drinks and bars affect a basketball player?

  Or you might calculate how many calories someone would burn when performing activities included in a game of basketball, such as running the length of the court a certain number of times or shooting free throws. You would have to consider the person's age and weight as well as the specific activity. You could also study the affect of overall nutrition on a person's ability to play basketball, or the effect of playing basketball on health.