Detailed Lesson Preparation Guide

Elementary Education

Name: Rebecca Pridgen and Morgan McEntire Title: The Race is On Grade: 1st
Concept/Topic: force and motion and measurement
Meeting the student where they are:

Standards:
Science (Essential Standards)
Understand how forces affect the motion of an object

Math (Common Core, Extended Content Standards)

Compare lengths to determine which is longer, shorter, taller and shorter
Organize data into categories by sorting (class chart with ending data)

Goals:
Science
Explain why Car 1 hitting Car 2 at the bottom of the slide makes Car 2 move
CO predict the effect of a given force on the motion of an object, including balanced forces

Math
LT End to End Length Measurer = lay units end to end in order to measure
LT Length Unit Relater and Repeater = measures by iterating single units

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
In our engage activity, we will be having a class discussion in order to review what they have previously
learned about force and motion. By letting each child share through turn and talk, we can better
understand what they have learned about force and motion in the past. Additionally, we will understand
what students know about force and motion through their predictions about what will happen to Car 2
after it is hit by Car 1.

Lesson Introduction(Engage):
 Push and Pull demonstration using two students
 Have class discussion reviewing what forces are (push, pull, gravity) and examples in real life
(lava being pushed out, pencil balancing on the table, gravity pulling objects towards the ground)
as well as reviewing motion (reaction to the force) and talk about types of motion

Heart of the Lesson/Learning Plans

Universal Design:
  Review vocabulary at the beginning
 Discuss how to measure
 Using writing paper for students who need lines in order to write (spatial issues)
 Sentence starters helps all students form complete sentences and write about their conclusions
 Referencing word wall for how to spell words rather than asking teacher how to spell
 For students who tend to finish earlier, draw what happened with their cars after they finish the
conclusion statement

Lesson Development-Procedure (Explore, Explain):

Day 1: 20 minutes total
1. Bring all kids to carpet for class discussion
2. Demonstrate push and pull between two teachers, have student identify which is the push and
which is the pull
3. Ask class about the meaning of force and motion. Get them to think, pair, share examples of
forces they have learned about in class.

Day 2: 50 minutes total

1. Bring all kids to the carpet.
2. Introduce what ramps are and talk about the forces involved in ramps.
3. Tell them about their engineering activity. (5-10 minutes)
a) You will be in groups… we will call out members of each group
b) Goal is to build a ramp that will allow Car 1 to make Car 2 move
c) You will design and improve this ramp, test it, and finalize your design
d) You will use Unifix blocks to measure distance Car 2 went from the ramp (explain how to
line up with end of ramp)
4. Tell them about the constraints and put those on the Smartboard. (2 minutes)
a) Only use materials given
b) Stand on its own, you will be given tape or prop it up… you can’t hold it on your own
c) Car 2 needs to be at the very bottom of the ramp without moving
5. Call groups to tables and give them materials to start building ramps (15 minutes). Don’t give
them cars right away.
6. After they have built their ramps that stand alone, have them predict using a picture in their
booklets. (5 minutes)
7. Once everyone at their table has drawn predictions, give them cars and let them test it out. Allow
them to improve it and test (10 minutes).
8. Remind class of how they are going to measure. Give them blocks then. Allow them to measure
using iterating units. Have them run three trials and measure distances, recording them in their
booklets. Make them circle which distance is the farthest. (15 minutes)

Day 3: 15 minutes total

1. Have them sit in their desks. Have groups call out their farthest distance, we write that on the
chart. Create a class graph on which group’s design made their car go the farthest based on
findings. Talk about who went farthest and ask that group what characteristics their ramp had that
made it go so far. Emphasize forces acting. (10 minutes)
 2. Write their conclusions about what happened and what they learned in their booklets. Turn
booklets in. (5 minutes)
3. Clean up materials.

Specific Questioning:
 What do you predict will happen when Car 1 comes into contact with Car 2?
 Why are building your ramp this way? What can do you to improve your design?
 Are you all working together to make this design?
 Why did you draw your prediction this way? What force do you think is going to happen? Will
there be a force at all?
 Is there a force acting on Car 2 sitting still at the end of the track? (balanced force)
 Which trial did you observe to be the farthest?
 How many Unifix blocks long is this distance?
 What resources can you use to answer this question? ("3 before me”)

New Vocabulary, Discourse and Academic Language Focus:

Vocabulary
 Force- push or pull
 Motion- effect of force, how object moves
 Ramp- inclined plane
 Gravity- force pulling objects towards center of Earth
 Measure- using objects to find total length
 Graph- a picture comparing numbers such as distances

Science Practices
 Predict what will happen when Car 1 makes Car 2 move
 Observe the motion of the cars in relation to the ramp
 Communicate with each other about ramp design
 Measure distances Car 2 went each trial using Unifix Blocks
 Record findings in booklet and work together to make class graph of all findings
 Compare distances of their trials and distances as a class.
 Describe what they observed and what they learned in their booklets using sentence starters.

** use these words while talking to students in order to model meanings

Concluding the Lesson/Closure and Assessment (Evaluate):

Math
Observing each group as they use the Unifix blocks to iterate units in order to measure the distance
Car 2 traveled. Writing this length in their booklet.

Science
 Read over their conclusion statement in their booklet using the sentence starter provided by us about
the forces acting between the two cars on the ramp ( I observed that ___caused ____to move because
___)

Materials/Resources:
 5 sets of race car tracks (1 set per group)
 10 race cars (2 per groups)
 250 Unifix Blocks for measuring (50 per group)
 STEM Booklets for each child that we will make for them (picture directions, length measured,
conclusion statement). To make this we will need 1 sheet of construction paper and 1 sheet of
writing paper stapled together for each booklet.
 Pencil
 Printed push and pull pictures
 Chart of Push and Pull
 List of new groups
 List of constraints on smartboard
 Foldables with constraints/instructions on tables

Teaching Behavior Focus:

Utilize cooperative learning strategies
 Think-pair-share to share knowledge during review
 Emphasize team work and how that is done
 Encourage students to ask each other questions before asking the teacher (directions, spelling)

Follow-Up Activities/Parent Involvement (Extend)

Close up activity with review of how forces create motion and how one object can apply a force on
another object. Look around your house and when you see an object’s motion, think about what force is
causing it. Write it in your STEM notebook!