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LESSON PLANNING GUIDE

Teacher: Topic of Lesson:

Michael Taylor Modeling Constant Velocity and Constant Acceleration

Grade Level: Content Area:

11/12 AP Physics C: Mechanics

This guide may be used for your observed lesson, or you may choose to use your site-based lesson-
planning template.

Expected Outcomes: What new concept or information do you want students to know at the end of this
one lesson?

Students will be able to recognize graphs of position, velocity and acceleration for objects that
have constant velocity or constant acceleration.

Students will be able to construct (through modeling) kinematic equations which define position,
and velocity as a function of time of particles with constant acceleration.

Students will be able to formulate a laboratory experiment, deciding on procedure, and equipment
used, in order to find the velocity and acceleration of two carts (one a constant velocity cart, and
one a constant acceleration cart). More generally students will model the motion of the carts, and
arrive at these results.

Students will be able to prove, from definitions, the equations obtained from the laboratory work.

Based on these equations, students will be able to calculate and discuss accuracy (% error),
including possible sources of error

Students will be able to discuss the precision of equipment used, as well as report uncertainty in
measured quantities

Focus Student: How will you modify, accommodate, and differentiate instruction to ensure universal
access to the curriculum for your Focus Student?

Group composition and content vocabulary priory discussed and available on the world wall serve as
language support for developing ELL students. In this course differentiating instruction to address the
needs of my Chinese (the only ELL students in my course) speaking students is the main challenge.
Additional scaffolding may be necessary in order to meet the needs of some students. The instructor
monitors the lesson closely and provides scaffolding when needed.

Assessment: What evidence will you gather to assess student learning?

Students will write a letter home style laboratory report to a family member. This report is
written in informal language (with audience in mind), describing the question being answered,
procedure, equipment used, data analysis, and conclusions. Students will be able to describe the
conclusion of the investigation from a conceptual standpoint, demonstrating understanding.
Students will discuss possible sources of error, and uncertainty in measurement. Students will
propose an improvement that might have been made to the procedure, as well as a question for
further study. This laboratory report is delivered to both the instructor and family member via
email. The family member will reply with questions, which the student answers. The instructor
is CCed in this email communication (Note: AP Physics C parents/family members are typically
very responsive to this type of interaction. In the event of family being unable to engage in this
interaction, instruction is differentiated via the instructor replying with questions instead).

Students will also share the results of their derivations, from definitions, of the kinematic
equations within their groups, and discuss the ideas. After this, each group will share their
methods of derivation and results with the class. Definitions of constant velocity and constant
acceleration are priory developed knowledge from a previous lesson.

Flexible Grouping Strategies: How will you group students at various points in the lesson to address
individual students needs?

As most unique student needs in my course involve ELL students, and in particular Mandarin Chinese
native speakers, I typically construct groups which contain one native Mandarin speaker with greater
English proficiency, one with developing English language skills, and one native English speaker. This
group composition allows for meaningful dialogue and discussion in English, with content vocabulary
support available from peers, as well as the vocabulary wall. The instructor will observe student
interactions during the laboratory part of the lesson, deciding if the language and other needs of students
are being fulfilled by the group composition. If this is not the case, the groups may be switched in order
to provide all students with a group that maximizes content learning for individual students.

What academic content standard(s) will you focus on during this lesson?
College Board AP Physics C: Mechanics Curriculum

Laboratory--

Students should be able to:

Design experiments;

Observe and measure real phenomena

Organize, display, and critically analyze data;

Analyze sources of error and determine uncertainties in measurement

Draw inferences from observation and data

Communicate results, including suggested ways to improve experiments and proposed questions
for further study.

Content

Students should be able to solve problems and understand conceptual ideas in regard to:

Motion in one dimension

Constant Velocity

Constant Acceleration

Lesson Design: Describe each stage of your lesson in detail.

Stage 1: Anticipatory Set/MotivationStudents are provided with two carts, one that travels at a
constant velocity, and another that, for a time, travels at a roughly constant acceleration via a wind up
mechanism. Students are allowed to informally experiment with the carts for a short time, to get an idea
how they work. Students are presented with the very general guided inquiry question: What do you
observe about the motion of the two carts? Students discuss this question in groups, and then groups
share their thoughts with the class.

Stage 2: Guided Inquiry Laboratory InvestigationStudent are asked to conduct a laboratory

investigation to find the constant velocity of the constant velocity cart, and the constant acceleration of
the constant acceleration cart. Students may use any laboratory equipment available in the supply bins.
Students write their own procedure for the laboratory investigation, and decide what to measure, and what
data to collect. Students organize their data and plot position versus time, and velocity versus time
graphs. Students use excel, or some other data analysis software to create best fit curves, and thus a
model for the motion of the carts.

Stage 3: Guided Inquiry InvestigationUsing the definition of average velocity and average
acceleration (prior knowledge), and working in groups of 3, students are to arrive at the four main
kinematic equations for constant acceleration. Students laboratory results can serve as a guide to
deriving these results. The instructor will observe student progress and provide additional scaffolding as
necessary. Some groups may require the instructor to ask additional Socratic style questions to guide
them in the right direction. Groups then present their results to the class, and instructor summarizes what
we have learned/discovered.

Student Engagement: Explain how your lesson ensures student engagement and differentiates for all
learners.

Guided inquiry investigations involving collaboration and peer interaction ensures student engagement.
Additionally, opportunities for differentiating instruction during guided inquiry investigation are
manifold, since the instructor can vary the scaffolding provided to each group, based on observed needs.
Additionally, instructor employs flexible grouping strategies to create the optimal learning environment
for all students. In regard to the letter home laboratory report, instructor can reply with dialogue
questions, instead of a family member. This insures that students whose families are unable to engage in
a dialogue in regard to the physics lab, are still able to interact meaningfully in regard to their work.

Academic Vocabulary Instruction: What specific vocabulary/terms will you explicitly teach and have
students practice during this lesson to ensure concept understanding?

Average Velocity

Average Acceleration

Constant Velocity

Constant Acceleration

Uncertainty

Systematic and Random Error

 Linear and Quadratic Regression

1-Dimensional

Displacement

Distance traveled

Asking Critical Questions: What specific questions will you pose to students to ensure thinking that
requires analysis, evaluation, synthesis and application of content ideas across proficiency levels?

In Groups:

Decide which cart travels at constant velocity, and which travels at constant acceleration. Design
an experiment to find out, and decide what the constant velocity and constant acceleration of the
respective carts are.

How does the area under the curve of the velocity graph relate to the displacement? Check your
conjecture by observing if your experimental data is in agreement with your hypothesis.

The purpose of the laboratory was to model the motion of an object undergoing constant
acceleration. What can we do to arrive at the equations of motion (1-D) of an object undergoing
constant acceleration, from the definitions of constant and average velocity and constant and
average acceleration, as well as the conjecture above?

What % error was present in your results, and what are possible sources of error? Given the
possible sources of error, did the results make sense?

Classroom Management: List any logistical, materials-related or behavioral issues you may need to
consider to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for student learning.

In my laboratory all materials are organized and available to the students at all times. It is essential for
experiment design guided inquiry laboratory that the students be able to use any instrumentation available
as they choose. It is important that enough equipment exists for all groups to use, and so this requires
substantial resources and organization. Lab safety in physics varies per experiment, but the instructor has
provided previous safety related information for all laboratory equipment. Instructor will monitor
equipment to ensure it is being used responsibly. This particularly guided inquiry lab typically involves
few safety considerations.

Guided inquiry laboratories are inclusive by design. Students are able to approach a problem in an
authentic, student centered way. The use of procedural instructions given by the teacher are minimized,
hence reducing possible bias in these procedures. Students develop more authentic long term knowledge
when they have arrived at the results in a student centered way.

Integration of Technology: How will you integrate available technology resources into this lesson as
you plan, teach, and assess student learning?

Students are able to use any equipment we have in the laboratory to carry out the experiment. We do
have motion sensors, and Lab Pro (Vernier) data collectors, as well as many other sensors; every student
has access to Logger Pro on both I-pads (we have a 1:1 program) and individual licenses for PC.
Students who decide to use a lower tech approach to the experiment may use Excel for data analysis,
which is available on all student I-pads.