Teacher(s) Gyaneshwaran G
discipline
Unit title Motion and Magnetism
Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the unit
Key concept
Relationships
The parameters for describing
motion of different objects are
position, distance, displacement,
speed, velocity and acceleration.
These parameters have important
‘relationships’ with each other. If
we understand these ‘relationships’,
we can understand and describe the
motion of different objects.
Magnetic poles have ‘relationships’
of attraction (opposite poles) and
repulsion (like poles).
Statement of inquiry
Understanding relationships in a system helps us to improve our lifestyle and develop physically, psychologically and socially.
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
Subject group and Physics
Form D (grade 7) Unit duration 44
(hrs)
Related concept(s) Global context
Consequences | Energy | Movement| Pattern| Transformation Identities and Relationships
Magnetic fields and magnetic poles lead to the ‘consequence’ of magnetic Identity formation, self-esteem,
force. status, roles and role models
When objects ‘move’ against the direction of ‘magnetic force’, work done When the students learn about
in moving it gets ‘transformed’ into potential ‘energy’. motion, they think about fast cars.
Most 7th graders are fascinated by
When objects ‘move’ while opposing friction force, the ‘consequence’ is
fast and expensive cars. They will
that they lose kinetic ‘energy’ which is ‘transformed’ into heat ‘energy’.
explore why they are so fascinated
Objects ‘move’ in different ways, and when we plot the graphs of position by fast and expensive cars? Are
or distance or velocity vs time, or when we observe the ticker-tape expensive cars a status symbol for
diagrams of the moving objects, we observe similar ‘patterns’ which tell us them? How much is their self-
about the type of motion. All objects having similar type of ‘movement’ esteem linked to the brand and
produce similar ‘patterns’ of ticker-tape diagrams and postion-time or model of their car?
velocity-time graphs.
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Inquiry questions
Factual— How do you find the speed of an object from the distance-time graph?
Conceptual— How do you distinguish between an identical looking bar of iron and magnet?
Debatable— How would life on earth be affected if the earth lost its magnetic field suddenly?
Objectives
Objective A: Knowing and understanding
i. describe scientific knowledge
ii. apply scientific knowledge and
understanding to solve problems set
in familiar and unfamiliar situations
iii. analyse information to make
scientifically supported judgments.
Objective B: Inquiring and designing
i. describe a problem or question to be
tested by a scientific investigation
ii. outline a testable hypothesis and
explain it using scientific reasoning
iii. describe how to manipulate the
variables, and describe how data will
be collected
iv. design scientific investigations.
Objective C: Processing and evaluating
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Summative assessment
Outline of summative assessment task(s) including
assessment criteria:
Summative 1: Investigating Motion
Critera B,C
Take a video of an object moving in a straight line and
analyse its motion using TRACKER software and plot its
position vs time, velocity vs time graphs, AS
DEMONSTRATED IN CLASS. Comment on the graphs in
your result and conclusion.
You can download and install TRACKER software from this
link:
https://www.cabrillo.edu/~dbrown/tracker/
Summative 2: Imagine a world where humans can fly!
Criterion: D
Ornithopter (machine that can fly like a bird) already exists.
Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn5pPy9BX3w&x-yt-
ts=1422327029&x-yt-cl=84838260
Relationship between summative
assessment task(s) and statement of
inquiry:
Summative 1: Investigating Motion
Critera B,C
In this task, the student takes a video of
something which moves, which he has
observed and found very interesting and
fascinating. By observing the graphs of
position, velocity and acceleration
obtained by the TRACKER analysis of
the video, they ‘understand the
relationships’ between the position,
velocity and acceleration of the ‘system’
whose motion they are investigating.
Summative 2: Imagine a world where
humans can fly!
Criterion: D
While doing this task, students will
reflect on the benefits and risks of a new
technological breakthrough. The
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 i. present collected and transformed
data
ii. interpret data and describe results
using scientific reasoning
iii. discuss the validity of a hypothesis
based on the outcome of the scientific walk?
investigation
iv. discuss the validity of the method
v. describe improvements or extensions and predictions.
to the method.
Objective D: Reflecting on the impacts of
Science
i. describe the ways in which science is
applied and used to address a specific
problem or issue
ii. discuss and analyse the various
implications of the use of science and
its application in solving a specific
problem or issue
iii. apply communication modes
effectively
iv. document the work of others and
sources of information used.
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
Imagine a future world where the battery technology has
advanced so much that humans can wear mechanical wings
and fly like birds. Explore the consequences - both good and
bad - of such a development. What would happen if these
mechanical wings are available only to the very rich, or if
they were available to every human as soon as they learn to
Set your imagination and creativity free and ask as many
questions as you can and come up with your own possibilities
Use the Positive Branch and Negative Branch tools to list all
the good and bad consequences of humans getting the ability
to fly due to such an invention.
Summative 3: Science Fiction Short Story Based on New
Physics
Criterion: D
Write a science fiction short story based on NEW physics by
following the below guidelines.
You must change some property or law of nature which you
have already learned or are going to learn this year, and
imagine a world with such a change. Set your story in this
new world. For example, you learned that light travels in
straight lines and so casts shadows or 'regions where light
cannot reach', but sound does not cast 'shadows' or 'regions
where you can't hear the sound'. So imagine a world where
this behaviour is reversed. In this new fictional world, Sound
travels in straight lines and casts shadows, while light can
bend around objects. How would our vision be in this world?
Would we be able to see clearly? Would life in such a world
have evolved different kinds of eyes which function
technological breakthroughs would’ve
been possible only when the scientists
‘understood the relationships’ between
the various components of flying
‘systems’. So now students will imagine
how this breakthrough leads to
improvements in lifestyle, and helps
people to develop physically,
psychologically and socially.
Summative 3: Science Fiction Short
Story Based on New Physics
Criterion: D
When students change a law of physics,
they need to understand and figure out
how it would affect the old
‘relationships’ between the different
components of a ‘system’ in order to
predict and describe the changed scenario
in their science fiction story. They can
apply this understanding of the new
‘relationships’ to predict and create new
events in the story which indicate
‘improvements in lifestyle and physical,
psychological and social development’ of
the characters in their story. This finally
will help them to recognize a similar
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 differently? Would our ears and eyes get interchanged on our
heads in such a new world? Let your imagination and
creativity go wild and have fun while writing the short story.
Set your own physics laws for your imaginary world, but
follow those laws logically and consistently in your story.
minimum number of words for the short story: 1000
maximum number of words for the short story: no limit
Summative 4: Investigate Magnetism and use your
findings to DESIGN an INVENTION to improve our
lifestyle or to help us develop physically, psychologically
or socially.
Criteria: B, C
Design an experiment and conduct it to investigate
magnetism and write a report to communicate your results.
Suitable research questions will be discussed in class. You
can either procure magnets on your own or borrow from the
lab, or construct your own electromagnet under the
supervision of your parents, or in the lab under my
supervision.
Based on your understanding of magnetism and
electromagnets and what they can do, DESIGN an invention
that uses magnets or electromagnets to improve some routine
task so that our lifestyle can improve. You could design an
invention which will help us to become more physically fit,
or entertain us and keep us cheerful, or help us to socialize
better. Already many such inventions exist which use
magnetism! List all such inventions that you noticed, in your
report.
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
effect in their real life.
Summative 4 Investigate Magnetism
and use your findings to DESIGN an
INVENTION to improve our lifestyle
or to help us develop physically,
psychologically or socially.
Criteria: B, C
While experimenting with magnets and
electromagnets, students first ‘understand
the relationships’ between the different
components of the ‘system’ like magnetic
poles, magnetic field, magnetic force, and
magnetic materials.
Then, this task forces them to think and
come up with a design to make an
invention using magnetism, which will
‘improve our lifestyle’, or help in
‘developing ourselves physically,
psychologically or socially’.
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 Summative 5: Semester 2 Exam
Criteria: A, D
Approaches to learning (ATL)
Skill Cluster Strands Objectives Targeted.
Give and receive meaningful Objective A: Knowing and
Communication
feedback understanding
i. describe scientific knowledge
ii. apply scientific knowledge
and understanding to solve
problems set in familiar and
unfamiliar situations
iii. analyse information to make
scientifically supported
judgments.
Use appropriate forms of writing
for different purposes and
audiences
Negotiate ideas and knowledge
with peers and teachers.
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
Summative 5: Semester 2 Exam
Criteria: A, D
This task is a written exam. At least some
questions are framed to make the student
reflect on the statement of inquiry.
Learning experience
Each time the students submit their task on
managebac, I use the Review feature of WORD to give
my comments and suggestions for improvements and
share the Annotated draft with the entire class using
the Message feature of Managebac. So when the entire
class reads my suggestions, they learn from the
mistakes of that student and correct the same mistakes
in their draft. Thus I demonstrate to students how to
‘give and receive meaningful feedback’. Students also
‘give and receive meaningful feedback’ to each other
directly using the Message feature of managebac when
I share the annotated documents.
When students submit their investigation reports (for
tasks on Criteria B & C), they follow the appropriate
scientific writing styles as demonstrated in the
exemplars provided for each task. Thus they learn to
‘use appropriate forms of writing for different
purposes’.
While improving their drafts in the written tasks based
on my feedback, they ‘negotiate ideas and knowledge
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Read critically and for
comprehension
Read a variety of sources for
information and for pleasure
Objective B: Inquiring and
designing
Make inferences and draw
conclusions
Use and interpret a range of
discipline-specific terms and
symbols
Understand and use mathematical
notation
Preview and skim texts to build
understanding
Take effective notes in class
Structure information in summaries,
essays and reports
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
i. describe a problem or
question to be tested by a
scientific investigation
ii. outline a testable hypothesis
and explain it using scientific
reasoning
iii. describe how to manipulate
the variables, and describe
how data will be collected
iv. design scientific
investigations.
with peers and teachers’.
When the students start working on their tasks after
reading my detailed instructions, they learn to ‘read
critically and for comprehension’.
While writing the investigation reports, they need to
‘read a variety of sources for information’ to write the
‘introduction’.
They ‘make inferences and draw conclusions’ when
they analyse their experimental data and formulate the
conclusions and results of their experiments.
While writing the ‘Introduction’ in the Investigation
Reports, the students ‘use and interpret a range of
discipline-specific terms and symbols’.
They ‘understand and use mathematical notation’
when they write the ‘hypothesis’ for their experimental
investigation reports.
They ‘preview and skim texts to build understanding’
when they are trying to figure out the background
theory to explain how the dependent variable of their
experiment depends on the independent variable.
They ‘take effective notes in class’ when I am
explaining the various concepts.
They ‘structure information in summaries, essays and
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Objective C: Processing and
evaluating
Collect, record and verify data
Research
Make connections between various
sources of information
Collect and analyse data to identify
solutions and make informed
decisions
Process data and report results
Understand and implement
intellectual property rights
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
i. present collected and
transformed data
ii. interpret data and describe
results using scientific
reasoning
iii. discuss the validity of a
hypothesis based on the
outcome of the scientific
investigation
iv. discuss the validity of the
method
v. describe improvements or
extensions to the method.
reports’ when they submit their final investigation
reports.
In all the investigation tasks (having criteria B & C),
students ‘collect, record and verify data’.
They ‘make connections between various sources of
information’ when they try to interpret the raw data
collected in their experiments by plotting appropriate
graphs.
They ‘collect and analyse data to identify solutions’
when they process the raw data to produce the
‘processed data table’.
Thus, they ‘process the data and report results’ in their
investigation reports.
They ‘understand and implement intellectual property
rights’ when they give the citations in the
‘Introduction’ and when they write the ‘Bibliography’
in their investigation reports.
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 Create references and citations, use
footnotes/endnotes and construct
bibliography according to
recognized conventions
Objective D: Reflecting on the
impacts of Science
i. describe the ways in which
Thinking Practice observing carefully in science is applied and used to
order to recognize problems address a specific problem or
issue
ii. discuss and analyse the
various implications of the
use of science and its
application in solving a
specific problem or issue
iii. apply communication modes
effectively
iv. document the work of others
and sources of information
used.
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
Thus while writing the ‘Introduction’ and
‘Bibliography’ in their Investigation Reports (for tasks
having criteria B & C), they ‘create references and
citations, use footnotes and construct Bibliography
according to recgonized conventions’. In fact, my
students have been trained to use bibme.org to give the
citations in proper convention.
In the various ‘Investigation Tasks’ (tasks with criteria
B & C), students ‘practice observing carefully in order
to recognize problems’. For example, while
investigating magnetism (Summative 4), many
students decided to trace the magnetic field lines of a
bar magnet. But they encountered many problems and
didn’t get the proper magnetic field lines. For some of
them, the magnets were too weak, or the magnetic
compass was not working, or they had taken the
compass too far away from the magnet so that the
magnetic field due to the bar magnet was no longer
being detected by the compass. This led to incorrect
magnetic field lines when they tried to trace it. So they
learned how to recognize if they are having problems
Similarly, when other students tried to construct an
electromagnet and measure its magnetic field strength
using the number of pins which it can attract and hold,
they were puzzled when they didn’t get the expected
proportionate increase in the number of pins with the
increase in current through the electromagnet. It took
them lot of time to figure out that the pins are too big
and heavy to capture the small change in magnetic
field due to the small changes in current. Thus,
students learned how to recognize problems.
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 Gather and organize relevant
information to formulate an
argument
Recognize unstated assumptions
and bias
Interpret data
Evaluate evidence and arguments
Draw reasonable conclusions and
generalizations
Revise understanding based on new
information and evidence
Evaluate and manage risk
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
When the students try to explain their observations in
the experimental investigations (tasks with criteria B &
C), they ‘organize relevant information to formulate an
argument’.
When they read their peers’ investigation reports and
my feedback on them, they learn to ‘recognize
unstated assumptions and bias’ in the hypothesis.
They ‘interpret data’ while processing the raw data
tables.
They ‘evaluate evidence and arguments’ while reading
the annotated reports of their peers which I share using
the Message feature of Managebac.
They learn to ‘draw reasonable conclusions and
generalizations’ while interpreting the graphs in their
investigation reports.
They learn to ‘revise their understanding based on new
information and evidence’ when they reflect on their
hypothesis which was formulated before the data
collection and compare it with the results obtained
from the graphs plotted using the processed data of
their experiments.
They learn to ‘evaluate and manage risk’ while
designing the procedure for their experiment while
keeping all the safety precautions in mind. I ask my
students to do a risk analysis for every experiment at
the time of designing and make them list the steps they
9

Create novel solutions to authentic
problems
Design improvements to existing
machines, media and technologies
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
would take to mitigate the risks. For example, while
working on the Investigating Magnetism task
(Summative 4), those students who wanted to
construct an electromagnet, and wanted to use the
Battery Eliminator which is connected to the mains
current supply, they had to list the safety precautions
to avoid short circuits, electrocution, or overheating of
the circuit.
Students get plenty of opportunities to ‘create novel
solutions to authentic problems’ while working on
their Investigation Tasks (tasks with criteria B & C).
For instance, while trying to film the motion of
interesting moving objects, one of the requirements is
that the camera should be held perfectly steady. Most
of my students don’t have a tripod stand to hold the
camera steady. So they need to come up with novel
solutions to hold the camera steady.
One of my students wanted to film the motion of an
ant. But the requirements of the video is that the
moving object should move ONLY in a plane parallel
to the plane of the surface of the camera. So the
student came up with a ‘novel’ experimental setup
(‘solution’) – he setup a metal rod horizontally,
supported by two iron stands, and released the ant on
one end of the metal rod using a plastic funnel (paper
funnel didn’t work because the ant would crawl out of
the paper funnel). Thus students were forced to find
‘novel solutions’ to authentic problems in the course of
their Investigation Tasks.
In Summative 4 (Investigating Magnetism), students
were asked to identify already existing inventions that
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 use magnetism to improve our standard of living and
help us develop physically, psychologically or
socially. After identifying such inventions, some
students came up with suggestions for improvements.

Design new machines, media and Some students even came up with innovative design
technologies ideas for new inventions. For example, using magnets
instead of Velcro, using magnetic force for
propulsion,etc.

Make guesses, ask “what if” While framing the ‘Hypothesis’ for their investigation
questions and generate testable reports (tasks with criteria B & C), students ‘make
hypothesis guesses, ask “what if” questions and generate testable
hypothesis’.

Apply existing knowledge to While designing inventions in Summative 4, they

generate new ideas, products or ‘apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas,
processes products, or processes’.

Create original works and ideas; use Thus, students end up ‘creating original works and
existing works and ideas in new ideas and also use existing works and ideas in new
ways ways’ while designing inventions in Summative 4.

Combine knowledge, understanding Thus, while designing inventions in Summative 4, the

and skills to create products or students ‘combine knowledge, understanding and
solutions skills to create products or solutions’.

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Action: Teaching and learning through inquiry

Content Learning process

Concepts Week No. Teaching strategies Learning experiences

covered:

distance
Week 1 Explain the concepts of distance, displacement, average Students interact with the teacher in an interactive
displacement speed, average velocity, using Socratic Pedagogy, question-answer session where they try to answer all the
Chalkboard Animations. questions asked by the teacher. The teacher quickly finds
average speed out what the student knows and builds on that. Students
also learn from the answers given by their peers. Students
understand the concept of density and pressure.
average velocity
Week 2 Explain the concepts of interpreting position-time, distance- Students gain a thorough understanding of the concepts
interpreting
time graphs using Chalkboard Animaitons, Physics by watching the animations and answering the questions
position-time,
Classroom Shockwave Studios from the link: in the shockwave studio animation assessments.
distance-time
graphs
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave
finding average
velocity from Use Name That Motion, Graph That Motion, Graphing
slope of Motion from the above link.
position-time

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graphs Week 3 Make students do Ticker-Tape diagram of different types of Students are able to have fun doing the ticker tape activity
motion by asking a student to tap the marker pen at a fixed since it’s a hands-on activity. They learned the concept
magnetic field frequency, while the other student pulls a long strip of paper very well when they actually produced the ticker tape.
of bar magnet at different speeds to cover all possible scenarios like
moving at constant low speed, moving at constant high
attraction and speed, speeding up, slowing down, staying at rest, and any
repulsion random combination of these. Make students show their
between ticker tape diagrams and describe the motion corresponding
magnetic poles to those diagrams.

effect of Week 4 Explain Summative 1: Investigating Motion - Criteria B, Students learn to observe the world around them and find
magnets on C . Demonstrate how to take the videos using a cellphone fascinating types of motion happening around them. They
magnetic and camera, and list all the precautions like take the video in enjoy using their gadgets (iphones, etc) to take the videos.
non-magnetic bright light, and movement should happen in a plane parallel They learn a very useful tool of analysing motion videos
materials to the surface of the camera and camera should be fixed in using TRACKER, which will help them immensely when
place and not held in hand. they have to do IAs during their DP program in higher
grades. They understand the motion of whatever captures
construction and Demonstrate how to analyse the video using TRACKER
their interest.
working of software and also how to download it and install it.
electromagnet Demonstrate how to plot the graphs and interpret the graphs
for one sample video.
Skills covered: Students will take the videos at home and do the analysis of
the video using TRACKER at home and upload their reports
inquiring on ManageBac from home.

designing an
experiment Week 5 Make students do the Formative Task 1: Measuring Students solve the workbook in class if they haven’t
Motion Workbook Questions – Criterion A already solved it at home. They get their doubts clarified
processing and by the teacher.
Help students to answer all the Measuring Motion
evaluating the Workbook questions in the checkpoint science workbook.
data collected in

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the experiment Week 6 Explain Summative 2: Imagine a world where humans Students use the Thinking Tools of Positive Branch and
can fly! - Criterion: D Negative Branch in this task. They exercise their
analyzing and imagination and reasoning skills.
Discuss some exemplars.
concluding from
the processed
data

reporting the
results of the
scientific Week 7 Conduct Formative Assessment 5 - Criterion A Students learn how well they’ve understood the concepts.
investigation in They improve their skills in Criterion A by reflecting on
Questions will be similar to workbook questions from Unit
proper format the teacher feedback.
10: Measuring Motion.
Distribute the corrected answer scripts and do the Test
Analysis in next class.

Week 8 Explain the concepts of magnetic field using Socratic Students understand the abstract concept of ‘field’ which
Pedagogy. Use the analogy of a giant invisible octopus with is very important. They find it easier to understand with
tentacles extending in all directions, which pulls objects the help of the analogy.
using those invisible tentacles. Use this analogy to explain
how ‘field’ is a concept used to explain ‘action at a
distance’. Start with examples of gravitational field and
electric field. Finally introduce magnetic field.

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 Week 9 Explain Summative 3: Science Fiction Short Story Based Students exercise their creative writing skills and give
on New Physics - Criterion: D free rein to their imagination and apply their reasoning
Discuss some exemplars skills to build the cause-effect relationships in their story.

Week 10 Use magnets and magnetic compass to make the students Students finally get to ‘see’ the invisible magnetic field
trace the magnetic field lines of a bar magnet or horshoe lines set up by the bar magnet in the space around it.
magnet. Students create their own research question, identify
Explain Summative 4: Investigate Magnetism and use independent, dependent, and controlled variables for their
your findings to DESIGN an INVENTION to improve research question. They discuss with each other and come
our lifestyle or to help us develop physically, up with design ideas for their own inventions to improve
psychologically or socially - Criteria: B, C the standard of living.
Give feedback on the students’ designs for their research
investigations.
Week 11 Students will do the data collection for their research Students set up the experiment and carry out the
investigations for Summative 4. Give feedback on their raw measurements in the lab.
data and guide them to process it, analyse it and to interpret
their results.

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 Week 12 Make students do the Formative Task 2: Magnetism
Workbook Questions – Criterion A
Help students to answer all the Measuring Motion
Workbook questions in the checkpoint science workbook.
Students learn the concepts of Magnetism by answering
all the questions in the workbook. It trains them for the
Formative Assessment.

Week 13 Conduct Formative Assessment 6 - Criterion A Students learn from the feedback of the teacher about the
areas of improvement in Criterion A for the concepts of
Questions will be similar to workbook questions from Unit
Magnetism.
13: Magnetism.
Hand over the corrected answer scripts and do the Test
Analysis in next class.

Week 14 Conduct Summative 5: Semester 2 Exam Students write a 2 hr exam and their skills are tested in all
Criteria: A, D the strands of Criteria A and D.

Formative assessment
Formative Task 1: Measuring Motion Workbook Questions – Criterion A
Answer all the Measuring Motion Workbook questions in the checkpoint science workbook.
Formative Assessment 5 - Criterion A
Questions will be similar to workbook questions from Unit 10: Measuring Motion

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 Formative Task 2: Magnetism Workbook Questions – Criterion A
Answer all the Measuring Motion Workbook questions in the checkpoint science workbook.
Formative Assessment 6 - Criterion A
Questions will be similar to workbook questions from Unit 13: Magnetism
Differentiation
A variety of tasks are provided to cater to the different interests and learning styles of the students. Thus students do well in different
tasks according to their interests and ability. I do have a few students with special needs in my class. I am in direct communication
with their mothers, and their mothers do extra teaching at home, while I keep them updated about all the activities in the class through
the Transaction Log and the Task Descriptions in Managebac. If the parents have any queries, they communicate with me over phone
or by email. For students with learning difficulties, I take extra classes once a week where I give them individual attention and explain
the concepts till they understand it clearly and make them answer all the workbook questions. This ensures that they at least get the
minimum requirements of the content of the course. For the most advanced students, I give them extra challenges like writing a
research paper for our very own ‘Journal of High School Physics’ which I’ve started on my website. These students stay back after
school to work on various research questions and I guide them with their research. Their final investigation report is published on my
website in ‘The Journal of High School Physics’.

Resources
Texts:
Cambridge Checkpoint Science Coursebook 8 by Mary Jones, Diane Fellowes-Freeman and David Sang, Cambridge University Press
Cambridge Checkpoint Science Workbook 8 by Mary Jones, Diane Fellowes-Freeman and David Sang, Cambridge University Press
my website: http://www.freegyan.org/gyani/ (‘Student Forms and Reports’ link in my website is important for students to submit some of their work if
we don’t use managebac)
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave (physics classroom shockwave studios)

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17
Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry

Prior to teaching the unit During the unit After teaching the unit
Why do we think that the unit or the What difficulties did we encounter while What were the learning outcomes of this unit?
selection of topics will be interesting? completing the unit or the summative Students vastly improved their skills in each of
the four Criteria.
The study of physics starts with the assessment task(s)?
description of moving objects in the world The correction of tasks is HERCULEAN. Each Students had an experiential understanding of
student’s essay has to be read and commented. concepts like displacement, velocity,
around us. Students see objects moving
around them all the time. So they’ll find it Each investigation report has to be improved acceleration and magnetic field, since they either
interesting to learn new accurate ways of through many drafts. Since I am teaching IBDP directly did experiments involving those
describing the motion of everyday objects and and ISC also, it’s been the most hectic year of concepts, or watched or read the reports of their
even predict their motion. Students are always my career so far. Correction work is too much. friends who did those experiments.
fascinated by magnets. So they’ll be excited to
learn about motion and magnetism. What resources are proving useful, and what How well did the summative assessment task
other resources do we need? serve to distinguish levels of achievement?
What do students already know, and what plot.ly for plotting graphs and analyzing graphs, There was a wide spectrum in the quality of
can they do? TRACKER for analyzing videos are very useful work submitted in the summatives. So I could
Students need not know any prerequisites. All resources. easily distinguish the levels of achievement.
prerequisites will be covered in the class. Motion sensor is also useful. We need to get
Students need to be attentive in class and Light Gate setup to show the students a different Was the task sufficiently complex to allow
perform all the tasks with interest. way of measuring motion, and Air Track to students to reach the highest levels?
demonstrate motion without friction. Certainly.
What have students encountered in this
discipline before? What student inquiries are emerging? What evidence of learning can we identify?
Students are familiar with moving objects and If acceleration is negative, does it mean object is The student works are all saved in managebac
objects at rest. They know what is speeding up slowing down? and are clear evidence of their learning – their
and slowing down. They know that like If velocity is negative, does it mean object is investigation reports and answer scripts and
magnetic poles attract and unlike magnetic going back? essays.
poles repel. Will objects move forever if there is no friction?
Can there be magnetic monopoles? What artifacts of learning should we
What does experience tell us about what to Why are some substances magnetic and others document?
expect in this unit? non-magnetic? We should document all the student works –

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This is my first time teaching this unit.
What attributes of the learner profile does
this unit offer students opportunities to
develop?
Inquirer: All the Investigation Tasks (tasks
with criteria B & C) require the student to
frame a research question first. The student
needs to identify the independent, dependent,
and control variables. Thus the student
develops the ‘INQUIRER’ attribute.
Knowledgeable: All the Formative
Assessments – FA1 to FA6 which are
conducted as per the schedule for the
semester, test the various strands of Criterion
A – Knowing and Understanding. Thus, by
doing these assessments and by reflecting on
the feedback on these assessments which I
provide to them in the very next class, the
students develop the ‘KNOWLEDGEABLE’
attribute.
Thinkers: Students develop the ‘THINKER’
attribute while doing the Formative
Assesments – FA1 to FA6. They also develop
this attribute extensively while doing the
experimental investigation tasks – when they
design the experiment, process the data, and
analyse the results.
Communicators: Students develop the
‘COMMUNICATOR’ attribute when they
write their investigation reports for the tasks
with Criterion B & C, and when they write
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
What can we adjust or change? answer scripts, essays, investigation reports,
I need two lab assistants to manage the class of models, charts, etc.
25 students when they are working on different
experiments at the same time. We should allow Which teaching strategies were effective?
the students to take simple measuring Why?
instruments home if they can’t buy it, so that Experimental investigations were highly
they can complete the experiments at home. Or effective for students who did the experiments
else, we should at least be in a position to sell and submitted the reports, because they learned
those instruments to the students. the concepts first-hand by doing stuff. But many
didn’t do the experiments. They learned more
What skills need more practice? from my lectures and by solving the workbook.
Students take a lot of time to master Criterion B
and C. What student-initiated action did we notice?
Few of my students picked up tough research
What is the level of student engagement? questions to investigate and performed the
Students are most engaged while doing experiments at home and brought the models the
experiments and least engaged while listening to very next day to school. I was very impressed by
my lectures! Some students are engaged while their interest.
doing the workbook, while others have to be
forced to do the workbook. How will we build on our experience to plan
the next unit?
How can we scaffold learning for students Planning the next unit should be much easier. I
who need more guidance? will plan it on similar lines.
The feedback for each student is shared through
How effectively did we differentiate learning
Message feature of Managebac. So each student
in this unit?
I have a few special needs students. I couldn’t
gets a lot of extra guidance. Students can also
meet me one-on-one after school by taking an
help them much in class, but I was in touch with
appointment. their parents, and they gave the extra help to
their kids at home. I also took a few extra classes
What is happening in the world right now, on-on-one for students who were lagging behind.
with which we could connect teaching and They benefitted a lot from those classes and I
learning in this unit? could see drastic improvement in their class
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their essays for the tasks with Criterion D. The
students also develop this attribute when they
interact with their partners while doing some
of the experimental work in pairs or groups.
Principled: Students strengthen the
‘PRINCIPLED’ attribute each time they cite
all the references and whenever they write the
bibliography in their investigation reports for
tasks with criteria B & C.
Courageous: Students become more
‘COURAGEOUS’ when they frame a new
research question and design their own
experiment and start setting up their
experiment without knowing in advance
whether their experiment would work or fail.
Many times it fails and they learn from their
failures and modify their research question or
change their experiment designs, or even
discover mistakes in their hypothesis! Thus
they learn that being ‘COURAGEOUS’ pays
off very well.
Balanced: I announce all the tasks on
managebac well in advance and put all the due
dates on managebac at the start of the
semester. I don’t change the grades once I
grade the tasks after the deadline. So students
learn to manage their time and lead a
‘BALANCED’ life, in order to be able to
finish all the tasks on time. At the start of the
semester, there are a lot of late submissions,
but as the semester progresses, most of the
students settle down and start submitting on
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
Nuclear Fusion Research is in full swing in the participation and attitude after those classes.
ITER (International Thermonuclear What can students carry forward from this
Experimental Reactor), which is a global unit to the next year/level of study?
multibillion dollar project, and in which most of Students will carry forward improved research
the major countries of the world are skills and a good understanding of position-time
collaborating. This project uses very strong graphs, velocity-time graphs, magnetic field, etc.
magnetic fields to confine the plasma which is at
millions of degrees Celsius temperature. Without Which subject groups could we work with?
the use of magnetic fields, nuclear fusion as a I was not able to work with any other subject
source of energy could not even be group, though there was a possibility to work
contemplated, since there would have been no with Biology and Chemistry.
way to confine the extremely hot plasma.
What will we do differently next time?
How well are the learning experiences aligned I will try to give feedback for the tasks submitted
with the unit’s objectives? by the students on managebac, more promptly.
In my opinion, they’re perfectly aligned. This will motivate the defaulters to submit their
tasks sooner.
What opportunities are we giving to help
students explore the interpretative nature of
knowledge, including personal biases that
might be retained, revised or rejected? (DP
theory of knowledge skills development)
When students try to figure out why their
experimental data are different from what they
expected in their hypothesis, they encounter
different explanations from their classmates.
Here, they get an opportunity to accept or reject
those explanations. Students also get an
opportunity to express their personal biases
when they do their Criterion D tasks like science
fiction story writing.
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time. When I grade the tasks following the
rubric, some students get lower grades and
they learn to take it in a ‘BALANCED’ way
and work on improving the skills which they
lack, and improve their grades in the next
assessment.
Reflective: All my tasks on Criterion D, make
the student ‘REFLECT’ on the impacts of
science. Thus by doing these tasks, the student
is trained to become ‘REFLECTIVE’. The
student also develops the ‘REFLECTIVE’
attribute while doing the Investigation Tasks
(tasks with criteria B & C), when he ponders
over why he got the particular results in his
experiments, or when the experiment doesn’t
work as planned, or when the results don’t
match the hypothesis.
What potential interdisciplinary
connections can we identify?
Students can investigate the speed with which
coloured inks travel through chromatography
paper. In consultation with their
CHEMISTRY teacher, they can find out the
uses of Chromatography and what determines
the speed with which the different chemicals
travel up the chromatography paper.
Students can find out the working principle of
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and in
consultation with their BIOLOGYteacher, find
out the different uses of MRI.

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What do we know about students’
preferences and patterns of interaction?
Students don’t like lectures. They like
watching interesting videos and like to learn
through hands-on activities.
Are there any possible opportunities for
meaningful service learning?
Students can start an awareness campaign for
providing facilities for the physically disabled
people, like ramps alongside steps, availability
of wheelchairs in important public areas like
malls, airports, railway stations, etc.
What in the unit might be inspiring for
community or personal projects?
Students have plenty of opportunity to come
up with interesting research questions which
can be pursued as a personal project.
Could we develop authentic opportunities
for service learning?
I couldn’t do it this time.
How can we use students’ multilingualism
as a resource for learning?
Since all my students are fluent in English, I
didn’t think about this.

Middle Years Programme Unit planner

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