SEQUENCE OF CONCEPTS

Cycle 1: What is a Force? Engage/Explore Framing Questions Activities: Exerting Forces Lab Broom Ball The game lab investigate forces probe prior knowledge about forces discover many different kinds of forces (not just push and pull) forces have a direction associated with them some forces act on contact (e.g., push, pull, friction); other forces act at a distance (e.g., gravity, magnetism) some forces can be controlled by varying a parameter (e.g., roughness of a surface changes friction; size of an object changes air resistance) from this and the next four labs, students develop the properties of forces: that all forces have an agent, a receiver, an effect, and a direction (force is a vector) Practice and Reading Pages (RP): Reading Page: What is a force? Reading Page: Type of forces Explain Activities: Normal or Abnormal? Demonstration Lab discover normal forces as forces that exist when an object is in contact with a surface normal force is perpendicular to the surface Measuring The Strength of Weight Lab measure forces using spring scales get familiar with the SI unit of force (newton) design and conduct an experiment to measure how the force of gravity and mass are related develop a mathematical relationship between force of gravity and mass understand that the force of gravity has a strength, measured by the slope of the force vs. mass graph the strength of gravity is different on different planets and satellites of planets. On the earths surface, however, the strength of gravity is the same everywhere (almost). Measuring Elastic Strength Lab design and conduct an experiment to measure how elastic force and stretch are related develop a relationship between elastic force and the stretch of a spring understand that the force has a strength, measured by the slope of the force vs. stretch graph. This linear relationship is similar to the relationship for gravity.

Elaborate/Evaluate Practice and Reading Pages (RP): 4.1 Practice: Force Challenge Reading Page: Analyzing Forces Reading Page: Measuring Weight 4.2 Practice: Strength of Weight 4.3 Practice: Gravitational Force and Mass 4.4 Practice: Stretching Forces Reading Page: Drawing Force Diagrams 4.5 Practice: Force Diagrams I

Cycle 2. How Force Affects Motion Engage/Explore Activities: Broom Ball Lab Revisited a force is required to start and to stop the ball, a force is required to change the balls direction of motion once the ball is in motion, very little (or no) force is required to keep it moving in a straight line Explain/Elaborate Activities: Newtons First Law Lab relationship between mass and inertia Newtons first law, the law of inertia Newtons Third Law Lab Develop a force law for two objects interacting with one another. Newtons Third Law with Force Probes Lab Investigate the similarities/differences between paired forces when a large and a small object interact Investigate the similarities/differences between paired forces when objects are stationary or moving at a constant speed Identifying action-reaction pairs What Does it Take to Move? Lab Draws upon students prior knowledge of connections between force and motion; connects force diagrams and motion diagrams Makes students come to the qualitative conclusion that force is related to acceleration, not to velocity. Derive the quantitative relationship between force, mass and acceleration. Identify the system for which Newtons 2nd law is applied

Understand that the directions of force and acceleration are the same Understand that mass is the constant of proportionality that connects force and acceleration.

Evaluate Practice and Reading Pages (RP): Reading Page: Newtons First Law 4.6 Practice: Newtons First Law Reading Page: Newtons Third Law 4.7 Practice: Identifying Pairs of Forces I 4.8 Practice: Identifying Pairs of Forces II 4.9 Practice: Newtons Third Law Problems Reading Page: Newtons Second Law 4.10 Practice: Newtons Second Law Problems 4.11 Practice: Newtons Third and Second Laws with Blocks 4.12 Practice: Balanced Forces 4.13 Practice: Force Diagrams Related to Motion 4.14 Practice: Force Diagrams, Motion Diagrams and Newtons Laws Framing Questions Newtons Laws of Motion Project

Teachers Notes for Readings, Practice and Labs

Framing Questions List big ideas extracted from framing questions. Exerting Forces Lab 5E: Engage/Explore Concepts addressed: - investigate forces - probe prior knowledge about forces - discover many different kinds of forces (not just push and pull) - forces have a direction associated with them - some forces act on contact (e.g., push, pull, friction); other forces act at a distance (e.g., gravity, magnetism) - some forces can be controlled by varying a parameter (e.g., roughness of a surface changes friction; size of an object changes air resistance) - from this and the next four labs, students develop the properties of forces: that all forces have an agent, a receiver, an effect, and a direction (force is a vector) If you do not have all the suggested materials, be creative and substitute items that will show the same ideas. You may want to give your students minimal instructions, and not even use the word force. Bring out the word force during discussions. Station 4: Allow students to measure the masses of the different papers if they so wish. Station 5: Use a low ramp. Station 7: Make sure the masses you supply produce sufficient change.

On the board or on a piece of paper placed on the document camera, make a list (collect) of all the forces students come up with. Return to this list once they learned all types of forces.

Broom Ball The Game 5E: Explain Concepts addressed: - a force is required to start and to stop the ball - a force is required to change the balls direction of motion - once the ball is in motion, very little (or no) force is required to keep it moving in a straight line

Select members of the opposite team to help with timing, but make sure that you as teacher determine all of the penalties. To eliminate arguments give the guilty team 5 penalty points.

After the game is over and the winning team commended, ask the students what was hard about Broom Ball. Ask only for difficulties with the ball. Then ask them what broom remedies helped overcome those difficulties. Make a list of each on the board. Your students will mention Difficulties: Starting, Stopping, Changing direction Broom Remedies: Pushing the ball from behind, Pushing the ball from the front/placing the broom on top of the ball, Pushing the ball from the side, or at 90 degrees to the direction of the motion

Assign the sheet for homework. Even though students discussed the same ideas in class, they need to process these ideas for themselves.

Check student misconceptions: if students still say there is a force needed to keep a ball moving at constant velocity, address it again: Remember that no net force is required to make an object move at constant velocity! (See other misconceptions in the beginning of unit Student Misconceptions, particularly numbers 1-9.)

Add tape to broom handle and bristles to show where the broom may have contact with the ball and student hands.

Normal/Support Forces The molecules that make up the object are connected to each other by bonds that are also springy they deform a bit (maybe just a microscopic amount) when a force is applied, but they do push back and this pushing back is the origin of the support force. The support force is often called the normal force not normal / abnormal, but normal meaning perpendicular. The normal force is always perpendicular to the surface at the point where the object touches the surface.

On a flat, horizontal surface, the normal force is equal to the weight of the object. It has to be! For example, in the picture above, if the weight of the apple were larger than the normal force, the apple would fall through the book. If the normal force were larger than the weight, the apple would fly off the book.

Students encountered several different forces in the previous activity (Exerting Forces). In the course of this unit they will repeatedly encounter four of these many forces: the gravitational force (weight), the normal force, elastic forces and friction forces. For this reason, these four forces are addressed through specific activities. It is important for students to realize that these (and other) forces are produced by specific agents and each produces specific effects on their receivers. The forces also have specific strengths (a factor not commonly appreciated by students). Some of these strengths can be engineered (for example, the strength of the elastic force can be changed by changing the stiffness of the spring or the thickness of the rubber band), but other strengths cannot be easily changed (such as gravity unless one can travel to another planet). Make sure you discuss balancing forces!

Measuring the Force of Gravity Lab 5E: Explain Concepts addressed: - measure forces using spring scales - get familiar with the SI unit of force (N, or newton) - design and conduct an experiment to measure how the force of gravity and mass are related - develop a mathematical relationship between force of gravity and mass

- understand that the force of gravity has a strength, measured by the slope of the force vs. mass graph - the strength of gravity is different on different planets and satellites of planets. On the earths surface, however, the strength of gravity is the same everywhere (almost).

Students should express the understanding that the slope of this curve, in N/kg, gives the strength of the gravitational force. It tells them how much the force changes as the mass changes. It also tells them that the gravitational force and mass are proportional to one another, and that there is a specific constant of proportionality. It is desirable to have students find the mass and then the weight of each object individually, not find all the masses of all objects first and then find the weights. Some of the weights will be similar and they may have problems in relating them correctly to the appropriate mass. It is a good idea to use vastly different weighted objects, but be careful with the spring scales. When you draw a line fitting data, make sure to draw it such that the line goes through the origin of the coordinate system, there are as many points above the line as below it, and the line is pretty close to all the points. This is a method of taking an average. You may have the students use LoggerPro for plotting the graph and then fitting a line through their data points to find the slope.

Measuring Elastic Strength Lab

5E: Explain Concepts addressed: - design and conduct an experiment to measure how elastic force and extension are related - develop a relationship between elastic force and extension of a stretchable object - understand that the force has a strength, measured by the force vs. extension graph. This linear relationship is similar to the relationship for gravity (to be used in future experiments)

Analogy between g and k Compare elastic force in 1 vs 3 rubber bands, link this to the framing question with the scales Sample data for this lab can be found in the Appendix. To get an accurate measurement of a force, spring scales should not be used at an angle

 Notice that students should measure the additional amount the spring stretches beyond its original length, L (not the total length of the spring, L) vs. force (not mass). They should get an FG vs. L graph. When students do this experiment it is important not to over-stretch the spring. Keep the masses reasonably small, and the spring should be able to recover to its original length when the masses are released. (The graph obtained should be a straight line, or the spring has exceeded its strictly elastic regime). Students should express the understanding that the slope of this curve, in N/m, gives the strength of the elastic force. It tells them how much the length changes as the force changes. It also tells them that the gravitational force and stretch length are proportional to one another, and that there is specific constant of proportionality. The questions at the end of the post-lab discussion are meant to lead students into concepts about balanced forces so be sure to lead students discussion in that direction. The bungees behavior is a little more complicated than that of a spring. Students could do the experiment for the bungee and research the reasons for its behavior. The results are different for rubber bands too they get stretched out easily. Make sure students take data for increasing and decreasing weights. This lab may be also done using force probes. Students may plot their measurements using LoggerPro and get the slope from fitting a line through the data points. A nice simulation that can help with this lab can be found at: http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Masses_and_Springs

Newtons First Law Lab 5E: Elaborate Concepts addressed: - relationship between mass and inertia - Newtons first law, the law of inertia

This activity can be done either as stations with students working in small groups or as a whole class demonstration with the teacher leading. Students should write their predictions in their notebook before they conduct the activity. Students should return to their notebooks to write their observations about what they did to accomplish the task. If you dont have all the suggested material, be creative and use what will you have as long as it conveys the concept.

Broom Ball Revisited 5E: Explain Concepts addressed: - a force is required to start and to stop the ball - a force is required to change the balls direction of motion - once the ball is in motion, very little (or no) force is required to keep it moving in a straight line - object retains its velocity when no force acts on it (or the net force is zero) - force must be applied to change the velocity of an object to increase it, decrease it or change its direction - drawing force diagrams, verbal description of effect Review with students what was hard about Broom Ball. Ask only for difficulties with the ball. Then ask them what broom remedies helped overcome those difficulties. Make a list of each on the board. Your students will mention Difficulties: Starting, Stopping, Changing direction Broom Remedies

Pushing the ball from behind Pushing the ball from the front/placing the broom on top of the ball Pushing the ball from the side, or at 90 degrees to the direction of the motion Assign the sheet for homework. Even though students discussed the same ideas in class, they need to process these ideas for themselves. Check student misconceptions: if students still say there is a force needed to keep a ball moving at constant velocity, address it again: Remember that no net force is required to make an object move at constant velocity! (See other misconceptions in the beginning of unit Student Misconceptions, particularly numbers 1-9.) Add tape to broom handle and bristles to show where the broom may have contact with the ball and student hands Big Idea: If the net force = 0, the forces are balanced, velocity is constant, there is uniform motion, and there is no change in the state of motion. A constant velocity can have a magnitude that is zero, or not zero.

Newtons Third Law Lab White boarding and discussions may continue at this point. It is recommended that students draw only one situation in each section, or if there are three students per station, have each one of them draw one graph. Dont forget to zero your force probes. Go back to the butterfly and windshield question and see if students will change their answers.