Time Required: approx 20 minutes per activity (4 activities)
Stage 1 - Desired Results
Lesson Overview
Students will use an inquiry based approach to discover and reinforce how things move. They will discover that a push and a pull are a pair of forces that put things into motion. They will also investigate how friction is a force that slows an object in motion.
PA Core Standards / Next Generation Science Standards
Arrange specific objects (ex: cell phone, coffee mug) in different locations in the classroom. Create a class list of position words on your whiteboard with the students (ex: top, above, bottom, next to, under, below, between, under, next to, in front). Select an object and describe where it is. Can the students guess the object you are describing just by your positional words? Do this several times with your other objects.
Activity 2: Outdoor Observations of Motion
Take your students outside with their clipboards, pencils, and observation record sheet. This outdoor activity works best when there is another grade at recess for the students to observe. Students should be allowed to observe from different areas and should record everything that they see moving while outdoors. (Examples of observations: swings moving, balls kicked, trucks driving on the road behind the playground, acorns falling from the tree, etc.) Give the students their directions and time them for about 2 minutes. After students have recorded their answers, call the group back together and discuss the things they have seen. How were the objects put into motion? Push, pull, gravity? Remind students, a push is a force that moves things away. A pull is a force that moves things closer. Gravity is a force that pulls down on everything on Earth. Have the students label their record sheets. P for push/pull and G for gravity.
Activity 3: Classroom Observations
Move your class back into the classroom and group students in groups of 3-4 students. Give students a box of items. Each box should contain the same items and can include things like: toy car, a block, a tennis ball, a dictionary, and a string. Allow students to brainstorm within their groups on a question they could ask about their objects and how they move. Examples of questions that may come up with are:
How do you make things go farther?
How do you make things go faster?
Is it easier to push or pull a toy car?
What will happen to the object if it is moved on different kinds of surfaces?
Which surface will the object move further on (the cement, the grass, the rocks, the tar, the mulch)?
What happens if I give more of a push (more force) to the car?
After students have brainstormed, discuss the possible questions as a class. Together, decide on one question to investigate within individual groups. Have students record their question and their hypothesis on their record sheet. Allow the students to experiment and find their conclusion, reminding them to record as they go. Remember that any inquiry at the primary level can be guided and not all of it needs to be completed by the student independently.
Activity 4: Computer Simulation
Visit the following link to allow students to explore an online simulation of forces and the way they act upon objects.
StartSOLE is a simple inquiry-based approach that can be implemented in a single class period with minimal constraints and serves as an excellent addition or supplement to this lesson. If you'd like to use one of these suggested questions to encourage students to dig deeper or help prepare them for this activity click on a link below to setup your StartSOLE lesson:
Administrator, STEMToolkit. "What Makes Things Move?". OER Commons. Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, 16 Jun. 2021. Web. 01 Sep. 2024. <https://oercommons.org/authoring/61520-what-makes-things-move>.
Administrator, S. (2021, June 16). What Makes Things Move?. OER Commons. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://oercommons.org/authoring/61520-what-makes-things-move.