The sound of the balls hitting the pins could be heard echoing through AMF Bowling in Cranston, as student voices cheered with triumph the week before school vacation. The sixth- and seventh-graders on the Tornadoes team at Western Hills took what seemed like just a normal bowling field trip. Although the students were, in fact, bowling, a closer look provided a better perspective to the learning that was taking place and the curriculum connections that were being made through the interdisciplinary, hands-on project that incorporated math, science, social studies and English.

"We are bowling, but each time we are recording the weight and speed of our ball on a chart," said seventh-grader Hailey Perry. "We can choose from balls that are six, eight, 10, 12, 14 or 16 pounds in weight and see what works best for us. We will be graphing our results when we get back to school to see the difference that is made for the weight and the speed. I have mostly been using seven-pound balls for my bowling."

According to science teacher Michelle DeFeo, one student per group was given the task of using every available size bowling ball in their bowling and recording their data.

"We will be taking a special look at their data to see the differences," DeFeo said. "We are also videotaping some of the students bowling to see if the formula for speed is consistent. We will be watching the ball roll from the moment it enters and timing it."

The students had spent a great deal of time on their bowling research in each of their core classes prior to the field trip.

"We have studied the history of bowling in social studies and we found that the origin of the sport is uncertain," said Daniel Meyerson, a seventh-grader. "It has roots in Germany, Greece and Rome."

As someone who bowls just a few times a year, Meyerson looked to his research in math and physics to help improve his game.

"I found that if the ball is heavier, it knocks down the pins better, but if it's too heavy, you can't control the ball as well," he said.

"We have focused in science on the friction of the ball and how the weight affects the speed," DeFeo said. "With graphing in the sixth and seventh grade curriculum, we have chosen to incorporate graphing into the end of the project when we are back at school, and we will also be doing compare and contrast charts comparing the weight of the ball versus the speed of the ball, whether it rolls faster or slower and presenting the results."

For Ezra Moniz, a sixth-grade student on the field trip, connections were definitely being made during the trip from what had been done in the classroom to the hands-on practical learning.

"I never thought that miles per hour would be involved in bowling," Moniz said. "But now I'm thinking, 'Wow, that's fast for a ball to travel,' and for the last game I was in third place."

Taking the learning from the classroom to the bowling alley made a definite difference for seventh-grader Sydney DeRousi.

"Learning that the speed of the ball would be affected by the weight of the ball, making it go faster if the ball was smaller, has me choosing lighter balls today and I'm winning," said DeRousi. 

According to Cadence Koenig, a sixth-grade student, there were other strategies taught prior to the trip as well.

"We have been working on our hook and trying to get a strike because we talked about friction," she said. "I'm really trying to use what we learned about both friction and velocity."

Koenig watched her own game, and reflected on the research that had been done about some of the earliest bowling games, comparing and contrasting the differences.

"We did a lot of research and we learned the different theories about where bowling came from, and we debated as to where the earliest game was ever recorded. We found that there were Roman soldiers who had to throw stones as close to other stones as they could, and we determined that might have been the earliest recorded bowling game.

The parents who accompanied the students on the trip were impressed by what they saw.

"This has been fantastic," said Kristen Lariviere. "To have all of the teachers from the team working together is great. Who would've thought that bowling could be incorporated into all four subjects? It's just amazing and it's a nice team-building activity, too. These kids may not all get to spend a lot of time together outside of school, and this has been a really fun time."