Andrew Marchese, Lauren Bosley

Standard: P.FM.05.31 Describe what happens when two forces act on an object in the same or opposing directions.

Grade Level: 5th

Lesson Title: Forces in Motion

Lesson Overview:

After completing this lesson students will be able to:

-Identify individual forces acting on an object in motion.

-Describe the motion that results from individual forces acting on an object.

List of Materials:

 Balloons – enough for each  String – enough for each group group of two to have 2 to have 25 feet

 Straws – enough for each  One roll of masking tape group of two to have 1  Meter stick  Scissors  Stopwatch

 Instructional Sequence:

 Engage:

 Watch movie clip from UP™.

 Explore:

 Students will be split into groups of 2 and given two balloons, one straw, one length of string, stopwatch, and meter stick. Instruct students to listen to all directions before starting. Tape one end of the string to the wall and hold the other end stretched out. Blow up the balloon, tape the straw to the inflated balloon, and place the string in the straw. One student should hold the string and balloon, the other should take time. Let the balloon go and record the time and distance traveled. Students should perform 3 trials while recording time and distance. Students will then graph their data.

 Explain:

 When all groups have finished, ask the students to share their observations. What was their average time and distance? What forces did their balloon experience? Record these findings on the board. Using PowerPoint demo/lecture, cover the concept of friction, air pressure, and pressure gradient force.

 Elaborate:

 Each individual student will be asked to come up with 2 forces in motion pairs that they see outside of school. The students must identify the direction of the forces involved and the direction of motion for the object. This will be turned in as homework. In class, students will regroup and redo the explore experiment. Students are encouraged to modify the experiment to increase the balloons time and distance traveled. Groups will present their new experimental findings to the class.

 Evaluate:

 Students will be formatively assessed on participation with group members, by group experimental findings, and homework. Summative assessment of student comprehension of forces in motion will be measured in the end of the unit exam.