Big Idea 13: Forces and Changes in Motion

This interactive game uses the traditional hangman premise with all questions and answers involving science vocabulary. There are general sets of science vocabulary to choose from, as well as specific topics. You can even choose vocabulary pertaining to 5th or 8th grade FCAT Science Tests!

Type: Educational Game

Students will be working in teams of four to measure the rebound heights of a tennis ball dropped from four different heights. Students will be investigating with the bouncing balls to measure changes in the type of energy they possess.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students will investigate the relationship between mass and the force required to lift an object, as well as the impact of forces on the object’s motion. Using payload data and rocket specs, they will develop a plan with a budget to launch five modules of a new spaceport into low Earth orbit.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is the first in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion published on CPALMS. This lesson provides a brief background of Sir Isaac Newton and covers Newton's First Law of Motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will use standards-based quadrilaterals and triangles to design a roller coaster tower. Students will use the Engineering Design Process to work through the processes in this lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will create a model hovercraft. The challenge is to lift the most mass. Students will use their knowledge of forces and how increased mass interacts with motion. They will need to follow a budget in order to purchase building material for their hovercraft. While budgeting, students will apply real world mathematical (money) problem solving. Students will use iPads to record and document the process of the engineering and building of their model hovercrafts.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore how force affects an object's motion. Students will discuss how the greater the mass of an object, the greater the force required to move an object.  Students will use data gathered through experimentation to justify their reasoning and understanding of forces and motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will investigate and explain balanced and unbalanced forces as they design a building for Miami Beach that is inspired by Florida's natural environment. In this challenge/lesson, students must design a building model that is at least thirty centimeters tall, features two elements that move in the wind, and can also withstand the wind.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will create an exciting and thrilling roller coaster model. Students will use their knowledge of forces to build a model of a roller coaster using foam insulation and a marble.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is an engineering design process lesson that covers forces and motion. It is designed to engage students using hands-on problem solving strategies.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explore the concepts of force and motion as they use the engineering design process to create and test rockets. Students will demonstrate their understanding of familiar forces by creating and presenting a poster. Take students up, up, and away with this engaging lesson!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this engineering lesson, students will design and construct a bridge that will be free-standing and support a toy car.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, 5th grade students work in small groups on a STEM challenge that involves science and math standards related to force, motion, and measurement, as well as learning the engineering design process.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, Balanced or Nah, the students will collaborate within groups to create a scenario or demonstration where they will explain concepts related to forces and motion. The students will conclude the lesson with a written essay or paragraphs explaining their concept and the concepts of other presenters.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) is written at a 5th grade level. Clean Dat "SPACE" MEA provides students with an engineering problem in which they must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best space junk cleanup company for the purpose of keeping the International Space Station safe while in orbit.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), the students follow the engineering process to assist Worldwide Food Distribution Mission improve their food delivery device in order to deliver food to remote parts of the world.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will mimic a wrecking ball by manipulating the variables of a pendulum in order to move objects with different masses. It is recommended this lesson follow Pendulum Inquiry (see CPALMS Resource #28568), which will build students' content knowledge on pendulums. Students can apply their understanding of pendulums gained from the lesson Pendulum Inquiry to assist them in designing wrecking ball pendulums in this lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

Pendulums are a fun and engaging way for students to learn about physics and the nature of science. In this lesson, students will investigate the effects of gravity, mass, changing variables and energy transfer through building their own pendulums as well as teacher demonstration.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is the third in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion published to CPALMS. This lesson plan teaches Newton's third law of motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is the second in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion published to CPALMS. This lesson teaches Newton's second law of motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This MEA asks students to assist Ms. Joy Ride who is creating a virtual TV series about extreme roller coasters. They work together to determine which roller coaster is most extreme and should be featured in the first episode. Students are presented with research of five extreme roller coasters and they must use their math skills to convert units of measurements while learning about force and motion.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

During this activity, students will read a book about the Brooklyn Bridge. After whole class discussion, children will explore different types of bridges and data, in order to decipher which bridge is the strongest. The students will work collaboratively in groups with assigned student roles. Students will utilized Higher Order thinking to create a solution. The culminating activity is a presentation of solution to whole class.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will work in small groups in order to build a "Rube Goldberg" machine. A "Rube Goldberg" machine is modeled after a famous cartoonist who tried to make more difficult ways to accomplish simple tasks, such as popping a balloon. The students will build one machine, made from many simple machines working together, to perform their task. The machine is only permitted to be touched at the beginning and must work independently from that point on.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help students apply the concepts of forces from SC.5.P.13.1 and SC.5.P.13.2 as well as energy and its ability to cause motion from SC.5.P.10.1 and SC.5.P.10.2 by designing a boat and racing it. It may also be used as introductory instruction of the content.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help students apply the concepts of forces from SC.5.P.13.1 and SC.5.P.13.2 by building and launching straw rockets. It may also be used as introductory instruction of the content.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students explore friction using ramps, matchbox cars, books, and a beach towel. The beach towels are used to increase the friction between the cars and the surface. The books are used to increase the speed in which the car travels, and later changing the number of text books allows the students to explore the effect of mass on friction.

Type: Lesson Plan

The attached engineering design lesson plan elaborates on the PBS Kids online resource and will probably take from 4-5 class periods. It takes the students through the engineering design process which includes the following components: Identify the Problem, Brainstorm and Design a Solution, Test and Evaluate, Redesign, Reflect and Share the Solution.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help students apply the concepts of forces as they build containers to protect their eggs in an egg drop. It is not intended as an initial introduction to this benchmark.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore forces and how changes in forces can affect the motion of objects in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the relationship between mass, forces, and motion on the soccer field in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore different kinds of forces, including pushes, pulls, magnetism, gravity, and friction in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Investigate and explain that when a force is applied to an object but it does not move, it is because another opposing force is being applied by something in the environment so the forces are balanced. This interactive tutorial also includes practice items to check your knowledge.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Ancient weapons technologies developed by humans proved that they were better at physics than the saber-toothed cats.

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

What is the force of a horse on a course? It depends on the size of the horse, of course!

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

Don't get too carried away, but make sure you are having fun while learning about how hurricane researchers gather data! Produced with funding from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Teaching Idea

Have you ever wanted to fly paper airplanes for fun while learning about the science of flight? Here's your chance! Produced with funding from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Teaching Idea

Let's get rolling and explore the physics behind rolling cars! Make sure you stay on track. Produced with funding from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Teaching Idea

In this video, students will learn from a researcher about adaptations algae have developed to enable them to withstand water forces in their habitat.

Type: Teaching Idea

This set of interactive online simulations shows the forces that may be at work on geologic structures or on man-made structures during an earthquake. Users can see examples of compression, tension, bending, and torsion. Each simulation also features a link to a photo of a real-life example.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students will correlate Newton's Laws to various animal behaviors.

Type: Teaching Idea

Why can't busses fly like passenger jets? Students will explore the physics of flight in this automated PowerPoint eReader, learning about the main forces that influence airplanes in flight. Open the presentation in presenter view and the animations and music will take over!

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

This virtual manipulative will help the students learn some important concepts of classical mechanics, such as gravitational acceleration, energy conservation and so on. This activity will also help in students learning via the process of making predictions (about number of pendulum swings), discussing outcomes and sharing results.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

Friction is important in enabling the movement of objects. Friction is a force that acts in an opposite direction to movement. Friction is everywhere when objects come into contact with each other. Observe what happens when the surfaces are very smooth or slippery, it reduces the friction and thus it makes harder to stop the motion.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

This activity will help the students in understanding the concept of the pulley and how it can be helpful in lifting heavy weights. Students will recognize the structure of a pulley which is a wheel on an axle that is designed to support movement of a cable or a belt along its circumference.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

Play with objects on a teeter totter to learn about balance.

• Predict how objects of various masses can be used to make a plank balance.
• Predict how changing the positions of the masses on the plank will affect the motion of the plank
• Write rules to predict which way plank will tilt when objects are placed on it.
• Use your rules to solve puzzles about balancing.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

Students can create an applied force and see how it makes objects move. They can also make changes in friction and see how it affects the motion of objects.

• Identify when forces are balanced vs. unbalanced.
• Determine the sum of forces (net force) on an object with more than one force on it.
• Predict the motion of an object with zero net force.
• Predict the direction of motion given a combination of forces.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

This is a virtual manipulative which demonstrates the principles of force. Students can click on a man and push different objects of varying masses across the screen. The resulting forces (frictional and total force) are shown. Graphs show forces, position and acceleration as a function of time. Free body diagrams of all the forces can also be viewed.

Type: Virtual Manipulative