Forces and MotionGrades 4–8

Forces and Motion

at the Science Museum

• Classroom activities• In-Museum activities• Chaperone guide• Connections to

Minnesota Academic Standards

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How to use this guide• Give chaperones copies of student pages and

the chaperone page.• Add your own page(s). Connect with your own

special unit. You can use just one page or all. Choose the ones that meet your needs best. Since this guide is designed for a large span of grade levels, it may be most appropriate to use it in different ways with different grades. For the younger grades, plan your trip to allow students multiple motion experiences at the beginning of your unit or for application of concepts learned in the classroom. For older grades, the activities can provide concept application in real life examples. Provide extensions of museum experiences back at school, especially focusing on data patterns, further experiments, and graphing results.

• Components are not sequential. You can start anywhere in the exhibition.

• If your time in the exhibits is limited, choose just a few stops. Don’t try to rush your students to finish the Explorations suggestions. Some questions may leave students with more questions. Use these as the basis for aftertrip discussions or group research.

Explore force and motion by inviting students to take on the role of scientists as they investigate the movement of objects, changes in their speed or direction, and interrelationships between motion, force and mass. The guide begins with an exploration to find moving things and speculate about the force causing the motion.

Table of contents

About this topic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Connecting with the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Minnesota Academic Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7At the museum activities

Chaperone page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Student pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

In this guide

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Newton’s cradleSo who’s this Newton guy and why do we have his cradle? At the end of the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton formulated three laws of motion. The “cradle” you see on many desks allows you to play with spheres in motion and experiment with Newton’s Laws. Play and experimentation with real motion are key elements of this Exploration. Newton’s laws of motion are simple to state, but research has documented that students typically have difficulty relating formal ideas of motion and force to their personal view of how the world works. For example, to say that a book presses down on the table is sensible enough, but then to say that the table pushes back up with exactly the same force (which disappears the instant you pick up the book) seems false on the face of it. …What is to be done? Students should have lots of experiences to shape their intuition about motion and forces long before encountering laws.

MotionEverything in the universe moves. Describing, analyzing and understanding motion underlies many other topics in science. There are many topics in the study of motion, but this Exploration only touches on a few: relationships of force and motion, gravitational motion, relationships of mass and motion, moving air and a very brief introduction to waves and motion influenced by magnetic forces. This Exploration does not include breaking down motion into position, velocity and acceleration, but if your classroom study includes these, insert your own exhibit activities to reinforce these concepts at the museum.

A force is a push or pullChanges in speed or direction of motion are caused by forces. The greater the force, the greater the change in motion will be. The more massive the object, the less effect a given force will have on it. Some objects move slowly and others move too fast for people to see them. Students need to have opportunities to observe and recognize forces that attract or repel other objects and demonstrate them. Vocabulary may get in the way if students have to struggle over the meaning of force and acceleration. Both terms have many meanings in common language that confound their specialized use in science.

About this topic

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About this topic

Mass and weightThe mass of an object is the measure of the amount of matter in the object. The weight of an object is the force of gravity on the object (the mass times the acceleration of gravity). Weight changes depending on many things, including what planet you’re on! To focus on motion, and being able to isolate forces, mass is used in referring to the object. Gravity is the force that causes things to fall to earth.There is a gravitational force between all objects with mass. This is usually not observable unless one object’s mass is much larger than the other’s is. That is why we can observe this with the Earth and everything on it, since the Earth’s mass is much larger.

WavesThis guide includes one activity with waves in water. The focus is on the interrelationship of the elements of waves – wavelength, frequency and amplitude. In water, waves are disturbances that travel through the interacting molecules of water. Experiences with water and watching waves will give students mental images as they begin to study waves that are not as easily observable, such as sound waves or electromagnetic waves.

The Wave Tank in the Science Museum contains a push (force) which affects the motion of the water, that students can change and observe.

For more on waves:

“Whether a wave in water, a sound wave, or a light wave, all waves have some features in common. A simple wave has a repeating pattern of specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude. The wavelength and frequency of a wave are related to one another by the speed of travel of the wave, which, for each type of wave, depends on the medium in which the wave is traveling”.A Framework for K-12 Science Education Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas

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Before you visitReview student activity pages for yourself and with your students. Review the schedule and your expectations for the visit with your students. Divide students into groups.

Play with motion. Find a clear area in the gym, auditorium, or yard. Introduce the following activities to the whole class, or divide into smaller groups. Students can take turns throwing or rolling a ball and making observations and diagrams.• See how many kinds of motion you can show with a ball.

• Don’t throw the ball hard—it’s easier to see what’s happening if it’s traveling slowly.

• Students can record observations by making diagrams that show the paths the ball took.

• Try different ways of getting the ball started, and aim it in different directions.

• Use some obstacles to change the way the ball moves. • What motion did the ball have when you rolled it with

no obstacles in its way? • What happened to the motion of the ball when it hit

an obstacle? • Did different kinds of obstacles affect the ball’s

motion in different ways? • Were you able to make the ball move in a curve? How

did you accomplish it?

Explore magnetsGather magnets you may have in your classroom, or ask students to bring some from home. Set aside free exploration time to investigate what happens when magnets are put together. Group students into groups of 4. Each group should have a minimum of 4 magnets. Groups can generate as many magnet observations as they can. Share observations with the whole class. (Caution: Do NOT place magnets on computers, monitors,

television screens, memory cards, USB flash drives,

or credit cards.)

Connecting with the classroomTest your magnets: (Ask students to make a chart summarizing their results.)For example:Item tested Results

• What do magnets attract? Try coins, school supplies, desks, chairs, floor.

• Put a magnet on a string. What happens when brought near another magnet?

• Does a magnet work through a solid? (paper, cardboard, book)

• Does a magnet work through a liquid? (water)• Can a magnet change an object’s direction?• Does it have to touch the object?• Hypothesize: How does a magnet push or pull an

object?

Magnetic force is created by electric currents (themselves caused by moving electrons). Magnets have an invisible magnetic field that extends all around them. Another way of describing this is to say that a magnet can “act at a distance”: it can cause a pushing or pulling force on other objects it isn’t actually touching. Magnetic fields can penetrate through all kinds of materials, not just air. A strong magnetic field can influence the magnetic or electrical parts of items like credit cards, watches, and pacemakers.Adapted from: explainthatstuff.com/magnetism.html

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Back in the classroomReview the information that students gathered at the museum by discussing the questions on the student pages. These activities are more explorations of motion and can be done before the visit, afterwards, or as small group activities. For older students, more data collection, measurements and graphing can be introduced.

Make a trackFor each group: construction paper, scissors, modeling clay, duct tape, marble • Think about how you could make a marble travel in a

straight line, in a zigzag, and in a circle or part of a circle using the materials listed. Draw a diagram of a track that you could build to show these motions.

• Make your track with the materials. Cut out construction paper shapes and attach them with clay or duct tape to the top of a table. You may also want to use clay for part of the track.

• Test your track with a marble. How can you make the marble start moving? How can you make sure it stays in motion? Record your observations.

• Experiment with the track until the marble shows straight-line, zigzag, and circular motion. Think about what you did to keep the marble in motion? What did you have to do to the track to change the marble’s straightline motion to zigzag motion? What did you have to do to the track to change the marble’s straight-line motion to a circular motion?

Connecting with the classroom

Make a parachuteFor each group: a plastic grocery bag, scissors, tape, thread, 3 paper clips and a ruler.• Cut a 30 cm square from a plastic grocery bag. Cut four

lengths of thread, each about 30 cm long. Tape one end of each piece of thread to each corner of the plastic square, and tie the other ends together. Attach three paper clips to the thread. This is the parachute.

• Hold the parachute up high in one hand and then drop it.

• Connect with another group. Have one group cut a hole about 5 cm wide in the top of their parachute. Then drop both parachutes at the same time.

• Was there a change in the falling motion of the parachute when it had a hole cut in it? If so, why? What do you think would happen if you dropped the parachute folded up? How fast would it fall? Try it!

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Minnesota Academic Standards

The Science Museum of Minnesota provides a field trip destination that allows teachers and students to reinforce Minnesota Academic Standards. Use of the materials in this Force and Motion Field Trip Guide will help you link learning experiences to the following content standards.

Science:

Grade 4Energy

4.2.3.1.2 Describe how magnets can repel or attract each other and how they attract certain metal objects.

Grade 5Nature of science and engineering

5.1.1.2.2 Identify and collect relevant evidence, make systematic observations and accurate measurements, and identify variables in a scientific investigation.Physical Science

5.2.2.1.2 Identify the force that starts something moving or changes its speed or direction of motion5.2.2.1.3 Demonstrate that a greater force on an object can produce a greater change in motion.

Grade 6Physical science

6.2.2.2.2 Identify the forces acting on an object and describe how the sum of the forces affects the motion of the object.6.2.2.2.3 Recognize that some forces between objects act when the objects are in direct contact and others, such as magnetic, electrical, and gravitational forces can act from a distance.

Additional resources

For TeachersBook:

Force and Motion Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You can Teach It, William C.Robertson,NSTA Press, 2002, ISBN: 0-87355-209-1An easy to understand and fun introduction to the basics of force and motion. Includes Newton’s laws, clear explanations of major terms and examples of major concepts.

Websites:

The Physics Classroomwww.physicsclassroom.comA clear and thorough tutorial on terms and concepts, developed for high school physics students. Fear of Physics: Speed and Acceleration www.fearofphysics.com/Xva/xva.htmlFor further background and an online demonstration of the elements of motion.

For Students:https://www.dkfindout.com/us/science/forces-and-motion/what-is-force/Simple explanation of forces and how they affect motion, with examples.

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/force-and-motion.htmShort video (3:52) with an overview of force and motion with two characters using a soccer ball and a bowling ball as examples.

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Chaperone guide

Trip tips• The Force and Motion Field Trip Guide helps students understand the how things move, what makes things move and

the relationships among motion, force and the size of objects.• Encourage students to play with the motion they find in the exhibits.• Observing motion, noticing change and what causes changes are very important.

All student pages refer to exhibits in the Experiment Gallery on Level 3.

Find things that move!There are many things to choose from in the Gallery. Students should choose one to complete the investigation.

Questions are designed to allow exploration. Finding the right answer is not as important as looking for the right answer. It’s OK for your group to work to together to decide how to answer the questions. This is a popular gallery. If one exhibit is busy, students can choose another. If students are stuck or can’t find something, ask any staff member in a blue vest or apron.

Look for answers

What do you think?

Draw what you learned

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Explore Motion in the Experiment Gallery Level 3

Find things that move! List them below:

What’s moving? What is making it move? Can you see what’s providing the force?

Circle one from your list to investigate further with a partner.

How fast is it moving?

too fast to see very fast fast medium slow very slow too slow to notice

Describe the motion: (for example: straight, curved, zigzag)

Does the motion change in direction and/or speed?

Describe the force that made the motion change.

Student pages

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Forces and MotionStudent Activities

Motion LabTry one of the activities on the sign.

You exerted a force (or more than one) when you did one of the activities. What happened when you pushed or pulled?

Draw or describe your push or pull.

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Forces and MotionStudent Activities

Big magnetDraw the Big Magnet here:

Look at the big sign above the Magnet. Find the metal wand and the magnetic field tracer. Use them to explore the force of the magnet.

Metal wandHold it near the magnet. What do you notice?

In your drawing, show where the force is the strongest.

Magnetic field tracerHold it near the magnet. What do you notice?

Why is there a warning about watches, credit cards ? and pacemakers??

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Forces and MotionStudent Activities

Give the rubber ducky a great ride!Change the wave frequency, wave height, and change the floor levels (1-5) to create a great ride for the ducky. Use the controls to make waves. Draw the tank to show your waves and the floor you designed.

What control setting did you use for?Wave frequency

Wave height

Change the force of the wave. What did you change?

How did that change the motion you observed?

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Forces and MotionStudent Activities

Small PlaneTry these challenges:• Make the plane fly parallel to the bottom of the case.• Make the plane go as high as it will go.• Put the plane on the bottom of the case.Keep track of where the settings are for each of the controls

Fan speed Elevator controlPlane flies parallel to the bottom of the case.

The plane as high as it will go.

The plane on the bottom of the case.

From your experiments, What makes the plane move? Or another way to ask the question: where’s the force?

How did you make the plane change its altitude?

Air streamWhat is moving?

Predict: If you put a large, light balloon over the airstream tube, would it move differently than the ball?

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