MAT-E LESSON TEMPLATE

Lesson Overview
Title:

Marshmallow Catapult Lesson 2

Date:

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Author:

Brian Schultheis

Subject:

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Grade Level(s):

Fifth

Duration:

1 Hour

Subject Area(s):

Science

State Standards:

Science 5.0.A.4: Cite evidence that energy in various

forms exists in mechanical systems.

Goals
Unit Goals (enduring
understandings):

Lesson Goals:

The students will be able to apply their understanding of

potential and kinetic energy to a real-life situation in which
they use a catapult to launch marshmallows. Additionally,
the students will put to use the concepts learned during the
decimals unit in order to determine the distance of the
farthest launch.
1. We can provide evidence that energy in various forms
exists in mechanical systems, including distinguishing
between potential and kinetic energy.

Methods
Anticipatory Set:

1. The teacher will have the daily warm-up displayed on

the projector as the students enter the classroom.
2. Once settled, the students will answer the warm-up on
their whiteboards.
3. The teacher will call upon a student to share his/her
answer to the warm-up.

Introduce and Model New

Knowledge:
I DO

Provide Guided Practice:

CAST 2006

5. The teacher will review the standards and objectives for

todays lesson.
6. The teacher will introduce the concepts of potential and
kinetic energy.
7. The teacher will explain to the students that they will be
reviewing the sources of energy in order to review for the
upcoming science MSA testing.
8. The teacher will inform the students that they will be
learning about potential and kinetic energy in order to
conduct an experiment the next day.
9. The teacher will ask for any student volunteers who can

Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org

provide examples of potential and kinetic energy.

10. Together, the teacher and students will work through
the Potential and Kinetic Energy PowerPoint presentations.
11. While reviewing the presentations, the teacher will ask
higher order questions in attempt to provide a deeper
understanding for the students.

WE DO

Provide Independent
Practice:

12. The teacher will inform the students that they will be
building virtual roller coasters in order to experiment with
the relationship between potential and kinetic energy.

YOU DO

13. The teacher will instruct the students by table to get a

laptop out of the laptop cart.
14. Once all students have laptops, the teacher will tell
them to go to Google, where they will search potential and
kinetic energy games.
15. The students will select JASON Mission Center:
Coaster Creator The Jason Project.
16. The teacher will explain the game to the students.
17. The teacher will instruct the students to click on the
Play Coaster Creator link.
18. The students will be given 10 minutes to play the game,
constructing as many roller coasters as possible to see how
the design affects the sources of energy.
19. After 10 minutes, the teacher will instruct the students
to return their laptops to the cart and return to their seats.
20. Once all students have returned to their seats, the
teacher will inform the students that they will be watching a
pair of videos in order to learn about the potential and
kinetic energy found in catapults.
21. The teacher will play the YouTube video, The Physics
of Punkin Chunkin, stopping it periodically to reinforce
the concepts covered.
22. The teacher will play the YouTube video, Punkin
Chunkin Trebuchet/Homemade Science with Bruce Yeany,
stopping it periodically to reinforce the concepts covered.
23. Together, the teacher and students will discuss the main
concepts covered in the videos.
24. The teacher will inform the students that they watched
the Punkin Chunkin videos because they will be completing
a very similar experiment during tomorrows lesson.
25. The students will be instructed to clear their desks of all
materials and pack up.

CAST 2006

26. As closure for the lesson, the teacher will instruct the
students to turn and talk with their neighbor to try to come
2
Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org

up with one form and potential energy and one form of

kinetic energy that were not discussed during the lesson.
27. The teacher will call upon a few students to share their
answers with the class.
28. The teacher will inform the students of the days
winning table and dismiss each table one at a time.

Assessment
Formative/Ongoing
Assessment:

The students prior knowledge of potential and kinetic

energy will be assessed during the warm-up. The teacher
will use observation techniques throughout the lesson to
assess the students understanding. The teacher will
provide any necessary support if he witnesses a student
struggling in any way. The students verbal responses to the
teachers probing questions will be used as a gauge of their
level of understanding. The students will be assessed
further following the experiment.

Summative/End Of Lesson
Assessment:

The science component of this lesson was implemented to

serve as additional review for the upcoming science MSA
testing, which will serve as the summative assessment for
the science component.

Materials (including technology, texts, manipulatives, audio-visual)

Potential and Kinetic Energy PowerPoint presentation
Kinetic and Potential Energy PowerPoint presentation
Whiteboards
Markers
Laptops
Coaster Creator game via JASON Digital Learning Resources
YouTube video The Physics of Punkin Chunkin
YouTube video Punkin Chunkin Trebuchet/Homemade Science with Bruce Yeany

Reflection (include discussion on time management, engagement, assessment

data outcomes)
This lesson consisted of more lecturing than I typically include in my classroom. However, the
concepts of potential and kinetic energy cannot be conveyed without some type of background
information through lecture. Not being the type of teacher who tries to teach through lecturing, I
tried to make the lecture portion of the lesson as engaging as possible by having student
involvement throughout the review of the PowerPoint presentations.
CAST 2006

Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org

The students demonstrated a remarkably quick understanding of the concepts of potential and
kinetic energy, which made me thankful that I had the Coaster Creator game for them to interact
with independently. This class did not need nearly as much support regarding the sources of
energy as Mrs. Bickers homeroom did, which is what prompted me to seek out an activity for
them to explore independently. When I taught this lesson with Mrs. Bickers class, the students
did not grasp the concepts nearly as quickly, so it took the entire class period to work through the
PowerPoint presentations and watch the videos.
My time management ended up being flawless since I decided to include the Coaster Creator
activity. I had anticipated that the students in this class would work through the PowerPoint
quicker, so I searched for an engaging activity that they could complete during the extra time. I
am definitely glad I found the Coaster Creator; otherwise, I would have been under planned for
todays lesson. This has definitely reinforced my confidence in my ability to understand my
students and their abilities, as well as my ability to accurately plan out a lesson that utilizes every
possible minute. I can easily tell a difference in my planning ability now as compared to when I
first started taking over instruction earlier this practicum.

CAST 2006

Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org