Teachers in Motion 

Integrated Standards 
4. Engage in Inquiry: 
STEM 
STEM proficient students will engage in inquiry to investigate global issues, challenges, and real world problems. 
Standards of 
A. Ask questions to identify and define global issues, challenges, and real world problems.  
Practice 
B. Conduct research to refine questions and develop new questions.  

3-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions 

NGSS 
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. 

TOPIC 
A.​ MECHANICS 

State  INDICATOR 
Standards  ● 1.​ Cite evidence from observations to describe the motion of an object using position and speed. 

OBJECTIVES 
● Describe the position of an object by locating it relative to another object or to its background. 

● CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.4​-Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. 
CCSS  Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters. 
 
Math  ● CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3​- Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve 
one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.  

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.A 

Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension. 
MCPS 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.B 
Writing 
Standard  Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details. 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.7 
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7 
CCSS  Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, 
Reading  when, why, and how key events occur). 
Standards  CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5 
Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently. 
 5E Model 
To engage students in the beginning of the unit/lesson about objects in motion students will be shown a 
Description  video of kids and parents playing Tug of War. After watching the video students will discuss what they 
noticed, wondered, and saw in the video. 

Tug of war video (kids v. teachers: how has position changed based on balanced or unbalanced forces of 
  motion)  
Engage  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlSgBt8LRZ0 
Process   
- What do you notice? 
- What do you wonder?  
- Observations?  

Students will begin by being asked the question “How does the position of an object change based on force”? 
Students will discuss this question and the will be told that they are going to be conducting an experiment 
where they will be altering the position of an object by applying a new force to it. As a group we will discuss 
materials that can be used to change the position of the object and how they will measure the distance their 
object travels to the nearest ¼ inch. After coming up with materials that students can use, the groups of 
Description  students will brainstorm together how they are going to change the position of their objects. Once they have 
a design students will begin to construct their design that they will be using. Students will record the data 
  that they find throughout their experiment as they test their experiment. After students conduct their 
Explore  experiment we will discuss as a class their results by making a bar graph to show the distance that their 
objects traveled for the experiment. We will use this graph to ask questions and analyze the data. We will also 
discuss the forces that students think affected the experiment and how a ramp affected the experiment. 

- “How does the position of an object change based on force”? 

- Present materials: 
Process 
- Cardboard, wiffle balls, tape, string, ruler/measuring tape, hardcover books, index cards, 
markers, containers, mini-whiteboards 
 - Whole Group Brainstorm diving through the materials and experimental ideas 
- Show students how to measure to the nearest ½ inch.  
- Small Group Brainstorm - arriving on a idea.  
- Worksheet outlining their experimental ideas.  
- Students will have time to explore, test ideas, record their thoughts, and revise their experiment. 
- Students would be placed in groups to allow for collaboration 
- Recording sheet with distance traveled (length), position change (traveled far left, high to low 
etc.)  
- How was the object put into motion  
- After recording and experiment students will share distances for a class line plot on distances when 
using a ramp and distances when not using a ramp.  
- The class record their data on a class line plot. After collecting and displaying data, we will analyze 
the data by asking and answering questions.  
- Class discussion on what happened during our experiments.  
- What forces do you think played a role in your experiment? 
- Why did the ramp impact distance (if it did)? 

Now that students have completed their experiment we will come back the the last question asked in the 
explore section, What forces do you think played a role in your experiment? Students will use PebbleGo to 
Description  research the different types of forces. Students will choose forces and they will define what they are. They will 
have to think critically about if that force was used in their experiment and how it impacted the position and 
distance the object traveled. 

  - Students can research using PebbleGo - kinds of forces (only some of the tabs, we will look at gravity 
Explain  later). Student work individually to research but will work on their slides together to support one 
another in ELA skills. 
Process  - Planning sheet for Google Slides: What forces went into your experiment?  
- How did they impact the position of your object and the distance it traveled?  
- Select two text features from the article and explain how they deepened your understanding 
of the topic 
 Students will select one of the forces that they researched earlier. They will use this to design a slide that has 
Description  information about the force that they chose. They will create this slide by making it into a page of a 
non-fiction book that includes a heading, picture, and caption.   

  - Students will design a google slides poster sharing the positions/forces they discovered during their 
Extend/  investigations.  
Explore  - Define the force 
Process 
- Include caption, picture, heading 
- Identify a real life scenario where students would see this force 
- Reading (text features)  

Students will share their google slide with the class about the force that they researched. This is a good 
chance for students to share their thinking as scientists and as readers/writers. After presenting as a class 
Description 
we will debrief on the notices and wonders that we had from the beginning of the lesson that we could now 
answer. We will also answer any final questions that we have from the unit. 
 
- Students share their posters  
Elaborate 
- Revisit notice/wonder? 
Process  - Clear up any ideas on speed?  
- Arrive at the a new notice/wonder of speed. We talked about how force and direction affect motion. 
What happened with speed? Do objects continue to go on forever?  

● Know position words and be able to apply them  

Before  ● Background knowledge of what a ruler is (a measuring tool) 
● Know how to measure to the nearest inch 

● Why does an object stop? What forces make an object stop? 

● Students will continue to work with how different types of forces affect the motion and position of 
objects. To have consistency students will use a ball throughout the unit to see how these different 
After  forces affect the same object. 
● Eventually students will use the pieces of the different projects and experimentation they’ve done 
to build a handicap ramp. This will be said at the beginning and students will be reminded with 
every project.