Catching On!Experiment #3Air date: 2/5/98OBJECT: To test the ability to "re-learn" large motor skills.
On Earth, your body is in what can be called, an "Earth-normal" condition because it automatically detects and responds to the environment around it. Part of that environment is gravity, the characteristic that we probably take for granted most often. The human body is an extraordinary and complex system with all its parts in constant communication. Your brain is the master controller of this system. In space, the human body responds to the new environment. Astronauts feel and even look somewhat different. Within hours or sometimes days, astronauts adapt to microgravity. In this "space normal" condition, many body functions and systems begin to work together effectively. Some body functions, however, do not adapt as quickly, and may prove to cause problems in the Earth-normal environment to which the astronauts return. Those functions that do adapt well in space may have problems re-adapting to an "Earth normal" condition. Crew members from previous missions have routinely experienced a change in how they perceive objects and motions in space. Even something as simple as catching a ball involves complex interactions between the body's sensory and motor systems. If you were playing ball under unfamiliar circumstances, do you think you could "catch" on? WHAT TO DO:
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Reply card Catching On!Hypothesis:
Number of catches
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Diameter size of ball ______ Color of ball ______ Brand of ball ______ |
______ support the hypothesis
______ refute the hypothesis
______ are inconclusive