Lesson Plan #1

School of Education
The College of New Jersey
Jennifer Hayes and Danielle Sorrentino
1. Understanding Motion and Friction
Grade: 3rd
2. Lesson Essential Question(s):
Students will understand the concept of how objects move and interact with friction.
3. Standards:
3-PS2-1: Objects in contact exert forces on each other.
3-PS2-2: Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for
evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.
4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments:
SWBAT explain the motion of an object, as well as how force is needed to make an object move.
SWBAT conduct an experiment to observe friction.
B. Assessments:
Learning Objectives

Assessments

SWBAT explain the motion of an object as well

Through discussion, students will explain
as how force is needed to make an object move. how objects can be moved.
SWBAT conduct an experiment to observe
friction.

5. Materials:
Chair
Toy racecars (4)
Measuring tape
Lab report worksheet (see attached)
Anchor chart paper

Through an experiment, students will

observe a racecar move on a wood surface
and a carpeted surface to determine which
traveled the determined distance faster.
Through discussion and a lab report,
students will note that the car traveled faster
due to the surface having less friction than
the other surface.

Markers
Tape
Stopwatch (4)
Friction in daily life worksheet (see attached)
6 . Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:
Students may bring the prior knowledge of how objects can move. Some students may
know objects move faster or slower on different surfaces.
7. Lesson Beginning:
Teacher will begin with saying: Today we are learning about how things move! A chair
will be placed in front of the classroom and teacher will ask for a way the chair could be moved.
Students may say push or pulled. Demonstrate moving the chair based on their answer.
Probe students to find an additional way the chair could be moved.

8. Instructional Plan:
After students view the way the chair could be moved, explain to students that we are putting
force on the chair.
Have students say the word Force.
Provide students with definition that force is pushing or pulling something to make it move and
we use energy to make things move. Anchor chart will be shown.
Teacher will have students stand behind their chairs to experience force. Students will push and
pull their chairs.
The students will then be seated again and the lesson will continue.
Students will be asked, If I put someone in this chair and then tried to push it do you think I
would be using the same amount of force as I did when the chair was empty? The teacher will
call on a few students before providing students with an answer.
Teachers will tell the students that the chair would now be heavier than it was before. Because it
is heavier we need to put more force on the chair in order make it move the same distance. This
requires more energy. The harder we work, the more energy is needed.
Students will then be told to take a minute and think about types of things they can put force on.
Take student examples of things that are pulled and pushed.
Lesson will transition to beginning to discuss friction. If it has not been mentioned yet, the
teacher will explain that one thing we can exert force on is something with wheels, such as a toy
racecar.
Teacher will begin to explain the activity that each group will observe one race car pushed along
the wood floor and one pushed along the carpet.
Students will be asked What am I doing to the car when I push it? What car do you think will
travel faster? The car on the wood or the car on the rug?
Students will write their prediction down on the worksheet with the prompt of I think
_________ will travel faster because______.
Students will be reminded that good predictions include why we think something will happen

 Students will break-off into four groups with the teachers. Before breaking off into the groups,
each person in the group will be assigned a role. One student will be the timekeeper, one student
the notetaker, one student the car pusher and one student the groups spokesperson. Then, two
groups will go with Ms. Hayes to the carpet and two with Ms. Sorrentino to the wood floor.
In the areas, a measuring tape was used to predetermine the distance of nine feet and was marked
with tape.
Students will time how fast it takes the car to travel nine feet, which is marked with the tape.
Once finished at one station, students will switch to monitor the cars distance on the other
surface.
After, students will go back to their tables and discuss what they observed and fill in their
worksheet.
Teacher will ask students to provide data of how fast the cars traveled to be written on chart.
Students will observe if all groups had the car on the same surface go the fastest.
Teacher will ask students why they think cars traveled further on one surface than the other.
Answers may include floor is smooth, carpet is bumpy.
The lesson will transition to students learning about the term friction and how it relates to how
fast the cars traveled.
Friction is when two surfaces rub together and create a force. Sometimes, this can make an
object slow down. What surfaces did we observe rubbing together? Answers will include the
cars wheels and the carpet/wood.
The carpet has more friction than the wood floor and affected how fast the cars traveled.

o Differentiation:
Students can be provided with a worksheet with more labels, informing them what to specifically
look for during the friction activity.
Students can share their prediction and conclusion statements instead of writing them on the
worksheet.
Students can discuss observations from the experiment before writing their conclusion statement.

o Questions:
How do objects move?
What are some objects we push?
What are some objects we pull?
What is the difference between the floor and carpet?
Which car with move faster?
Why did the car on the floor move faster than the car on the carpet?
What are some examples of friction we see in daily life?

o Classroom Management:
Activity directions will be explained before students are given materials to combat students
playing with the materials and missing the directions.
Each student will be given a job during the activity to ensure each student is focused and on task.

 Students will be given jobs depending on their location in their desk groups allowing for each job
to be fairly and quickly decided.

o Transitions:
Lesson will transition from opening to discussion by having students experience placing force on
their chairs.
Lesson will transition from discussion to friction activity by having students predict which car
will travel faster.
Lesson will transition from friction activity to friction discussion by having students discuss their
observations from the activity.
Lesson will transition from discussion to closure by having students write their conclusion
statement of if their prediction was supported and why, and friction that occurs in daily life.
9. Closure:
Lesson will conclude with students writing on their worksheet if their prediction was supported
and the reason why.
After having students think about friction in relation to the experiment, students will discuss how
friction is seen throughout daily life. Focus will be directed to observing two surfaces rubbing
together.
Teachers will explain to students how friction is everywhere. Teachers will ask students to
compare walking on sheet of ice compared to walking on a sidewalk.
For homework, students will be given a worksheet asking them to identify friction in their daily
life.

Name ________________________ Date __________

Friction for a Day

Every day you use forces to change the way objects move.Friction is the force caused by two
objects rubbing together. Friction can cause moving objects to slow down or stop.

Think of something you did this morning that caused or used friction. Then, think of
each action you took while getting ready for school and traveling to school. When was
friction produced?
1. List examples of actions that produced friction for each category below.
Making Breakfast
and Lunch
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________

Getting Ready
for school
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________

Traveling to
School
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________

_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________

______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________

___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
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___________________
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Name:_________________
Lab Report:
Prediction: I think the car on the _________________will travel faster because
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Experiment:
How fast did the car travel?
Groups:
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Group 4:

Carpet:

Wood:

Conclusion:
The car on the ____________ traveled faster because__________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Future surfaces to test:________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Lesson Plan #2
School of Education
The College of New Jersey
Jennifer Hayes and Danielle Sorrentino
1. Balanced and Unbalanced Forces
Grade: 3rd
2. Lesson Essential Question(s):
What makes an object balanced or unbalanced?
What forces act on an object to make them balanced or unbalanced?
3. Standards:
3-PS2-1: Objects in contact exert forces on each other.
3-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and
unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
3-PS2-1:Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and a direction. An object
at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add to give zero net force on the object.
Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the objects speed or direction of motion.
4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments:
SWBAT explain when forces on an object are balanced or unbalanced.
SWBAT conduct an experiment to determine when forces are balanced or unbalanced.

B. Assessments:
Learning Objectives

Assessments

SWBAT explain when forces on an object are Through discussion students will explain
balanced or unbalanced.
balanced and unbalanced forces in reference
to their notebooks.
SWBAT conduct an experiment to determine Through an experiment, students will
when forces are balanced or unbalanced.
observe balanced and unbalanced forces
acting on a foam ball.

5. Materials:
Foam Balls
Pencils
Powerpoint of images that have balanced and unbalanced forces (see attached)
Worksheet (see attached)
Science Notebooks
6 . Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:
Students will have an understanding of the concept of motion and force from a previous
lesson. Students will previously have learned that forces on an object make an object move. They
also will have learned about the forces of gravity on an object. Therefore, they will have an
understanding that not all forces are visible to the human eye.
7. Lesson Beginning:
Lesson will begin with asking students to revisit that forces can push or pull and object.
Why can I push on a notebook and it will move but when I push on the wall it does not move?
Demonstrate this to students for a visual. Have students think about playing tug-of-war Why is
the rope able to move to one side? The answer to all of these questions is because of balanced
and unbalanced forces!

8. Instructional Plan:
Have students place their hands together with their fingers pointing towards the ceiling and have
them push on both hands with equal effort. Do your hands move or do they stay in the center of
your body?
This is because of balanced forces! Describe to students that a balanced force occurs when two
forces, equal in size act on opposite sides of the object.
To further demonstrate this, have students hold their notebook with both hands, with their hands
adjacent to each other.
Have students try and push on the notebook, Does it move?
Because each side that is pushing on the notebook is of the same force, the notebook does not
move.

Have the students place their notebook on the desk, Does the notebook move?
The notebook does not move because it is balanced on the desk.
What forces do we think are acting on the notebook?
Explain to students that gravity pushes the book down, but the table pushes up on the book.
Now have the students place their notebook on the desk and push it from one side. Does the
notebook move?
The notebook moves because of unbalanced forces. Unbalanced forces occur when opposing
forces are of unequal sizes.
Now lets observe this through an activity!
Hand out worksheet to students and explain directions.
After explaining directions, have students test out unbalanced and balanced forces with a partner.

o Differentiation:
Students can talk with a partner during opening investigation.
Students can be provided with a worksheet with more detailed instructions.
Definitions of balanced and unbalanced will be displayed to guide students during the activity.

o Questions:
When is an object balanced?
When is an object unbalanced?
What forces are always present?
When an object is balanced does it move?

o Classroom Management:
Activity directions will be explained before students are given materials to combat students
playing with the materials and missing the directions.
Due to students limited writing abilities, they do not have to write in complete sentences on the
worksheet to limit frustration.

o Transitions:
Lesson will transition from opening to discussion by having students observe balanced forces
through their hands.
Lesson will transition from discussion to activity by having students determine the balanced and
unbalanced forces acting on the ball.
Lesson will transition from activity to discussion by having students share their observations and
view images of unbalanced and balanced forces in daily life.
Lesson will transition from discussion to closure by having students complete an exit ticket
where they identify an example of unbalanced and balanced forces in daily life.
9. Closure:
After completing the activity, students will share their observations. Students will then be
shown additional images of unbalanced and balanced forces occurring in daily life.

Students will then be given an exit ticket. They will be asked to name an example of a balanced
object and an example of an unbalanced object.

Name:_________________________________
Balanced vs. Unbalanced
Question: How do balanced and unbalanced forces affect the motion of a ball?
1. Place the ball on your desk.
a. What forces are acting on it?

b. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced? Why do you think so?

2. Have both you and your partner push the ball softly with one finger in opposite directions.
a. What happens to the ball? What forces are acting on the ball?

b. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced? Why do you think so?

3. Have one person push on the ball gently by themselves.

a. What happens to the ball? What forces are acting on the ball?

b. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced? Why do you think so?

4. From these observations I can conclude that balanced forces cause the ball to
____________________, and unbalanced forces cause the ball to _________________.

Exit Ticket:
Name:_____________________________
Today we learned about balanced and unbalanced objects. Write down one object that is
balanced and one object that is unbalanced. How do you know?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Images used:

Lesson Plan #3
School of Education
The College of New Jersey
Jennifer Hayes and Danielle Sorrentino

1. Predicting Motion
Grade: 3rd
2. Lesson Essential Question(s):
How can observing the motion of an object help predict future motion?
3. Standards:
3-PS2-2: The patterns of an objects motion in various situations can be observed and measured;
when that past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it.
3-PS2-2:Patterns of change can be used to make predictions.
3-PS2-2:Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for
evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.
4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments:
SWBAT observe an objects motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to
predict future motion.
SWBAT predict the motion of objects based on past motion.

B. Assessments:
Learning Objectives

Assessments

SWBAT observe an objects motion to provide Students will observe a ball being thrown, a
evidence that a pattern can be used to predict
swing and a pendulum. Through these
future motion.
observations, students will note the motion
of the objects and begin to establish motion
patterns.
SWBAT predict the motion of objects based on Through an exit ticket students will predict
past motion.
the motion of objects based on knowledge
of those objects past path of motion.
5. Materials:
Soft swimming pool ball.
Swings video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKKwqX62Y4

 Science notebook
Makeshift pendulum (ruler, string and large marble)
Predicting motion worksheet (see attached)
6 . Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:
Students may bring prior knowledge of understanding how objects move. From previous
lessons, students understand that objects can be pushed or pulled to make them move. Some
students may know how a swing moves due to playground experiences.
7. Lesson Beginning:
The lesson will be begin with the students sitting at their desks facing the board. The
students will be shown a small water ball. Ms. Hayes will ask the students what they think will
happen if she throws the ball at the wall behind her. She will tell the students to take a minute
and write down what they predict might happen. The teachers will then ask the students to share
their predictions. After calling on a few students, Ms. Hayes will throw the ball at the wall. She
will ask the students, If I throw the ball at the wall again, what will happen? She will call on a
few students to share their answer. She will then throw the ball against the wall a second time.
The teacher will then ask the students, What if Ms. Sorrentino threw the ball against the wall?
Would the same thing happen again? Or would something different happen? Students will be
given a minute to think. Students will be asked to put their hands on their nose if they think the
same thing will happen and hands on their heads if they think something different will happen.
Ms. Sorrentino will then throw the ball at the wall and show that the same event occurred again.
Students will be asked If we throw this ball against a wall 1,000 times, will the ball do the same
thing?

8. Instructional Plan:
Students will told that today we are going to try to find patterns in motion and predict the future
motion of an object.
Lets try and predict how the ball will move if it is thrown straight up. Students will write
down their predictions.
One student will be called upon to throw the ball straight up. Students will observe the motion of
the ball.
Again, students will be asked if we thrown the ball like this 500 times, will the direction it falls
always be the same?
Next, two students will be called upon to throw the ball to each other. Beforehand, students will
write down their predictions of how the ball will move.
Teacher will ask all students to demonstrate the predicted motion the ball will take by using their
arm to demonstrate.
Students will then watch the path of the ball as it is thrown and write down their observations.
Again students will be asked Will the ball always move this way? This is to continue to
demonstrate to students that once observing patterns of motion we can predict the object will
continue to move this way.

 Students will then be shown a video of a child on a swing on the Powerpoint. Students will be
asked to look at the childs position (he is positioned at the top of the swing) and predict how the
child will move with their arm.
The teacher will then tell the students to raise their hands and on the count of three, move their
hands in the way the child will swing. The teacher will then call on a one or two of the students
to explain their answers and why they think the swing will move in this direction.
The teacher will play the video for the class and have students observe the motion of the swing.
This demonstrates pattern of motion! Once we know the pattern the swing will move, we can
determine the swing will always move this way.
The teacher will then present to the class a pendulum made of a ruler, string and a large marble
the size of a Ping-Pong ball. They will tell the class that the item they are holding is called a
pendulum.
Teacher will pull the pendulum up to the left side. Students will be asked to predict how they
think the pendulum will move. Again, students will use their arm to demonstrate the predicted
motion of the pendulum.
The teacher will then release the pendulum letting it swing back and forth. At this time, students
will be asked to draw comparisons about the swing previously observed and the pendulum.
Students will then be asked, why do you think the pendulum has not stopped? The students
will be given a few seconds to ponder this question before being asked, What forces do we
think or acting on the object?
The teachers will look for answers that mention gravity.
Students will consider gravity helps the pendulum swing back and forth instead of swinging in a
circle.
Students will compare the pendulum to other objects they have seen move in this pattern.
Answers may include grandfather clock.

o Differentiation:
Students can be provided with a worksheet with more labels, informing them what to specifically
look for during the predicting motion activity.
Students can discuss their predictions with a partner before writing them down.
Students will be told to predict particular motions with their arms allowing for less fluent
speakers and quiet students to participate in the discussion.

o Questions:
If we throw this ball at the wall what will happen?
What if someone different throws the ball?
If we throw this ball 1,000 times will it move differently?
If we throw the ball like this 500 times, will the direction it falls always be the same?
Will the ball always move this way?
Where do you think the swing will move next?
How are the motion of the swing and pendulum similar?
What force keeps the pendulum in motion?

o Classroom Management:
Activity directions will be explained before students are given materials to combat students
playing with the materials and missing the directions.
Students will be chosen for the ball experiments using the pull-a-name popsicle stick method
to combat students fighting over participating in the experiment.

o Transitions:
Lesson will transition from opening to discussion by having students determine the future motion
of the ball.
Lesson will transition from discussion to activity by having students predict the motion of the
swing.
Lesson will transition from activity to discussion by having students observe a pendulum and the
effects of gravity.
Lesson will transition from discussion to closure by having students predict the motion of
different objects on a worksheet.

9. Closure:
Lesson will conclude with a worksheet. Students will be given different scenarios where they
have to predict the objects future motion and describe why it occurs.

Name:__________________________
Date:______________________
Predicting Motion:
1. Predict the path of motion for this pendulum. Draw what the pendulums new position would
be.

Why did this happen?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. Draw the path of the ball if it is thrown from the arrow.

How is the path of the first ball different from the second ball?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3. Draw the path the children will follow on the seesaw.

How do we know this happens?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________