Education Standards
Flipping Pennies - Grade 3
Overview
Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC
Lesson - Force and Motion
Student Science Performance
Phenomenon: A handkerchief can be pulled from under a plate without causing the plate to move.
Anlogous Phenomenon: When a penny is sitting on a 3x5 paper card that is on top of a cup, you can make the penny fall into the cup without touching the penny.
Gather:
1. Students develop questions to investigate how to cause the penny to fall off the card and into the cup without touching the penny.
2. Students plan and carry out an investigation to determine how forces are causing the movement of the penny.
(Teaching Suggestions: Place a 3X5 card flat on top of a cup then place a penny on top of the card (in the middle of the card) directly over the cup. Now without touching the penny, design ways to have the penny fall into the cup by applying a single force. Provide students with a 3X5 card, nickel, and penny, heavy glass or mug.)
3. Students obtain information from reading or other sources about the causes of the penny falling straight down but the card being moved horizontally.
(Teaching Suggestions: This NSF video is a quality resource: https://science360.gov/obj/video/70fadaa8-c3d4-4132-ba1f-c98be5caeb14/science-nfl-football-newtons-first-law-motion you may also provide a reading for the students. )
Reason:
4. Students develop a model to show the forces acting on the system of the card and penny result in the penny falling straight down into the cup.
Class Discussion:
Q: Why does the speed that the card is moving affect the way the penny moves?
Q: ow does an increase in the weight of penny or stacking of pennies affect the motion?
Q: Why does pulling the handkerchief or card out slowly change their motion?
Q: Why does changing the angle the card is pulled out affect the motion of the penny?
Q: Why is the inertia or momentum of the penny important to making it fall in the cup?
Q: How does gravity affect the system?
Q: How would it change the motion of the penny if we were someplace without gravity?
Communicate Reasoning:
5. Students construct an explanation for how a handkerchief can be taken out from under an object without causing the object to move.
*See attached document below for full lesson.
Additional Lessons can be found at #Going 3D with GRC (Gathering, Reasoning and Communicating). Original authors were: Dave Campbell