This lesson plan is intended to be used by the teacher of the class if the class is used in a classroom setting, a printable version of the document can be found here:

The next section contains a student worksheet to be used with the lab. The lesson can be done by self paced learners by using the teacher's guide with the worksheet when the guide says to fill out the worksheet.

Part 1: Lesson Description

Abstract

The lesson will apply Newton’s Second Law equation, F=ma (Force equals mass times acceleration) to a lab, which allows learners to solve problems using the equation while performing an experiment. The lab will be created in a way to teach the scientific method.

The purpose of the lesson with respect to adult education is to teach learners about the scientific method, while it is not used directly the process is the foundation of what would be performed in a typical entry-level laboratory or research job, which would consist of doing part of or all of an experiment in a similar manner.

Learner Audience / Primary Users

The lesson is designed for users that are wanting to learn about how to perform scientific experiments; it is an introduction to performing experiments in physics, and using the scientific method. A basic knowledge of Newton's Second Law is required, which is reviewed at the start of the lesson.

Educational Use

Curriculum/Instruction

Language

English

Material Type

Instructional Materials 

Keywords

Force, Mass, Acceleration, Newton’s Second Law, Scientific Method

Time Required for Lesson

1 Hour

Targeted Skills:

• Following a Procedure
• Multiplication
• Using Equations
• Learning the Scientific Method
• Conducting an Experiment

Learning Objectives

• Students will  perform the 5 steps of the Scientific Method with 85% accuracy.

• Students will define and use 3 new terms in their analysis.

• Students will demonstrate understanding of Newton's law by applying the Scientific Method to the lab experiment and communicating their results in a presentation.

College & Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) Alignment

The Lesson is designed to align with the following Standards:

CCR Anchor 3 D:  Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. (RST.6-8.3)

It will also align with one of the two standards below depending on the numbers used. (See Prior Knowledge for more details)

Mathematics Level B: Multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range 10–90 (e.g., 9 × 80, 5 × 60) using strategies based on place value and properties of operations. (3.NBT.3)

Mathematics Level C: Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models. (4.NBT.5)

Prior Knowledge

• The exercise will require a understanding of multiplication of whole numbers using 10 and another number, if the other number is 10 or lower Level B Mathematics standard (3.NBT.3) will apply. If the other number is above 10, Level C Mathematics Standard (4.NBT.5) will apply.  
• This lesson would be designed to follow learning about Newton’s Second Law, the lesson will have a quick review of the concepts of the equation, however students should understand the equation F=ma or Force equals mass times acceleration.

Required Resources

The lesson plan is required, as well as pencil and paper for doing the equations.  For the lab section the following items are required:

• A ramp- This can be made using items on hand at the time, for example you could create one by stacking books
• A heavy ball and light ball- For the lab two balls with different weights will be rolled down a ramp. The lab uses a golf ball and ping pong ball, however other items can be substituted based on what is at hand. Note: It is advised that the teacher have different objects than the students when doing the lesson so that the mass of the objects of the teacher will be different than the mass of the student's objects. This will allow for the numbers the students use in their equations to be different than the ones the teacher uses.
• An object to be knocked down- The lab demonstrates force by having the balls mentioned above run into something. The lab uses a domino as an example but anything on hand can be used.

Lesson Author & License

Author: Christopher Simpson

License: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license

Part 2: Lesson

Warm-Up

The warm up will be an overview of Newton's Second Law Please note that any text in italics are general notes:

Mass is the amount of physical material in an object. For example, a ping-pong ball has more mass than this golf ball. Mass will always stay the same, and is not affected by gravity, so an object on the moon and on earth would have the same mass. (Mass is different than weight, which is affected by gravity. Weight is how much gravity affects an object, a heavier object will be affected more) Mass is measured in grams, kilograms, milligrams, etc. depending on the object.

Acceleration is a change in speed with a direction. A skydiver falling due to gravity would be a good example of acceleration. Acceleration due to gravity is always 10 meters per second.

Finally, Force is something that causes an object to accelerate. or put into a formula, F=MA or Force equals Mass times Acceleration. Force is measured in Newtons.

The formula is the important part of the lesson so it is suggested that the formula be reviewed more than once.

Time: 10 mins

Introduction

In the introduction, the lesson about the scientific method will start. The lesson will start with a general definition of what the Scientific Method is, then go through each step with an experiment. A definition to use with students is as follows: 

The scientific method is a process that scientists use to answer a question by making an educated guess to the answer of the question, then proving the answer by doing an expriment. After a question is asked, a scientist will do research to try and answer the question, then they will then make an educated guess on what they think the answer to their question is. That educated guess is called a hypothesis. An experiment is then done to prove if the hypothesis is right or wrong. Finally, the last step is to publish the results of the experiment. The published results are called a Conclusion.

Overall the Scientific Method is a 5 part process:

1. Question
2. Research
3. Hypothesis
4. Experiment
5. Conclusion

The steps are done in order, as shown in the flowchart below:

This image shows the 5 step process of the Scientific Method in a flowchart: 1. Question 2. Research 3. Hypothesis 4. Experiment 5. Conclusion

After going over the definition of the scientific method, the rest of the lesson will be applying it to the F=MA formula. 

The lesson will begin by asking students if they know which one of the two objects, (the heavy object or the light object) will knock the object at the bottom of the ramp with a greater force. Learners should be able to know that the heavier object will. The lesson objective will be to learn the scientific method to prove that they are right about the heavier object. Below is a guideline of what to say. The demonstration should be set up before starting, and it will be done in the next section.

The first step of the Scientific Method is to ask a question. For this lesson, our question will be: Which one of these balls will act with a greater force on the domino at the end of the ramp?

To answer the question, we would then do research. In our case, we already have done most of it by learning the F=MA formula. Since we know the formula, we can move onto the third step of the Scientific Method: The Hypothesis.

So knowing what you know about F=MA lets create our Hypothesis. Based on what you know, what is your educated guess on which one of the two balls will have a greater force?

At this point, see which answer the students give. Make note of the answer, but do not let the students know if they are right or wrong, the correct answer will be proven when the experiment is done in the next step.

Time: 10 mins

Presentation / Modeling / Demonstration

The next step in the scientific method is to do an experiment to prove the hypothesis. Roll the ping-pong ball down the ramp, and mention that it has a mass of 3 grams, and that acceleration is due to gravity. After observing the effects, use F=MA to find the force. F= 3*10, so the force of the ping-pong ball would be 30 Newtons. 

Next, roll the golf ball down the ramp. After observing the effects, use F=MA again to find the force. F= 45*10 so the force of the golf ball is 450 Newtons. Since 450 is greater than 30, you can conclude that the golf ball has the greater force. 

Time: 10 mins

Guided Practice

The students will then perform the experiment demonstrated by the teacher on their own.  They will set up their own version of the experiment using the objects provided by the teacher, and perform calculations to determine the force created by their two objects rolling down the ramp. If the students are using a different object than the teacher, then the mass of both objects should be provided.

Time: 15 mins

Evaluation

After all the members of the class have finished there will be a class discussion about the last step of the Scientific Method: the Conclusion. For the conclusion, pick students to tell the rest of the class about the results they got and if the results of the experiment matched the Hypotheses. The students should already know if they were right based on the demonstration and their own experiment. 

Time: 10 mins

Application

To apply the lesson, inform the students that the scientific method can be used for other experiments as well. Encourage students to make observations then perform an experiment at home using the scientific method. Inform the students that there will be a discussion the next class session on the experiments that the students performed at home, what observations they made, their hypotheses, and if their results matched the hypothesis. The next class period can also have discussion time for how the Scientific Method is used in jobs, and how students could get a start in a science related career or degree.

Time: 5 mins

Application- Adult Education

The scientific method is the basis for many entry level lab jobs, and will be required knowledge for getting an entry level job, or if learners are going to college. A common starting job would be as a Medical & Clinical Laboratory Technician, information about how to get started as a lab technician can be found here:

http://www.mynextmove.org/profile/summary/29-2012.00

However that is just one of the examples of a job type, and there are many others as well. Encourage the students to go take a career interest survey here:

http://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip

Key Terms and Concepts

Force- Something that causes an object to accelerate.

Mass- The amount of physical material in an object

Acceleration- A change in speed with a direction

Scientific Method- A process that scientists use to answer a question by making an educated guess to the answer of the question, then proving the answer by doing an experiment.

Hypothesis- An educated guess to a question about how something works.

Experiment- A process that tests the hypothesis to prove if it is correct

Conclusion- The results of an experiment

Part 3: Supplementary Resources & References

Force, Mass, Acceleration, Observation, Hypotheses, Results

Supplementary Resources

ONet Career Interest Profiler:

http://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip

References

Scientific method. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

Steps of the Scientific Method. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02, 2016, from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml

Attribution Statements

None