Lesson Planning Form for Accessible Instruction Calvin College Education Program

Teacher
Date

Andrew Lewis
04/13/2015

Subject/ Topic/ Theme

Forces and Motion

Grade

7th

I. Objectives
How does this lesson connect to the unit plan?
This unit is helpful in describing the motion of objects around us such as space ships, birds, fish and many more things that are propelled through a medium. This is
essential for the students to have a full understanding of movement and motion.
cognitiveR U Ap An E C*

Learners will be able to:

physical
development

socioemotional

Students will be able to remember what Newtons 3rd Law states

Students will apply that knowledge to why birds fly, and rocket ships can fly in space.
Discuss with a partner and describe to them a theory or idea they have.

Ap
x

Common Core standards (or GLCEs if not available in Common Core) addressed:
P.FM.05.33 Describe how changes in the motion of objects are caused by a non-zero net (unbalanced) force.
P.FM.05.31 Describe what happens when two forces act on an object in the same or opposing directions.
(Note: Write as many as needed. Indicate taxonomy levels and connections to applicable national or state standards. If an objective applies to particular learners
write the name(s) of the learner(s) to whom it applies.)
*remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create

II. Before you start

Identify prerequisite
knowledge and skills.

Outline assessment
activities
(applicable to this lesson)

Knowledge of Forces as push and pull, understanding of gravity, friction, and air resistance. Basic
understanding of what equal and opposite are.
Pre-assessment (for learning): Questions at the beginning of the lesson to see how much they already know of
Newtons 3rd law.
Formative (for learning): Review questions at the end of the lesson on space ships and Newtons 3 rd law.
Formative (as learning): Partners answering how the cradle is an example of Newtons 3 rd law.
Summative (of learning): Test at the end of the unit.
Provide Multiple Means of
Representation
Provide options for perceptionmaking information perceptible

Provide Multiple Means of Action

and Expression
Provide options for physical actionincrease options for interaction

If available have the students

have their own Newtons
cradles.
What barriers might this
lesson present?
What will it take
neurodevelopmentally,
experientially,
emotionally, etc., for your
students to do this lesson?

Provide options for language,

mathematical expressions, and
symbols- clarify & connect
language

Students offer their own

wording of Newtons 3rd law to
help others understand.
Provide options for comprehensionactivate, apply & highlight

Students are given many

different real life examples to
help apply the knowledge.

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Provide options for expression and

communication- increase medium
of expression

Students describe to their

partner what they think
Newtons 3rd law is.
Provide options for executive
functions- coordinate short & long
term goals, monitor progress, and
modify strategies

Teacher tells students at the

beginning of the lesson what the
goal of today is.

Provide Multiple Means of

Engagement
Provide options for recruiting
interest- choice, relevance, value,
authenticity, minimize threats

Showing a video as well as

opening with the cradle activity.
Provide options for sustaining effort
and persistence- optimize
challenge, collaboration, masteryoriented feedback

Students work in partners to try

to figure out what Newtons 3rd
law is without the teacher telling
them.
Provide options for self-regulationexpectations, personal skills and
strategies, self-assessment &
reflection

Materials-what materials
(books, handouts, etc) do
you need for this lesson
and are they ready to
use?

Newtons cradle, Youtube clip with rocket ship (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzCsDVfPQqk),

projector, computer, white board, markers

Traditional classroom set up with the four rows and two students to a desk.
How will your classroom
be set up for this lesson?
III. The Plan
Time
2 min

6 min

Components
Motivation
(opening/
introduction/
engagement)

10 min

12 min

14 min

18 min

Development
(the largest
component or
main body of
the lesson)

Describe teacher activities

AND
student activities
for each component of the lesson. Include important higher order thinking questions and/or
prompts.
Teacher begins class by grabbing the students attention using a Newtons
cradle.
Today we will be learning about this object and how it works.
Does anyone know what this is called?
Has anyone seen one of these before? What does it do?

Students watch Newtons cradle and wonder how it works. Question what
this has to do with physics and what Forces are involved.

Teacher tells the students that today they will be learning about Newtons
3rd Law and how it affects the motion around us.
Ill give you a hint. Who made up the law often called the Law of
Inertia we covered earlier in this unit?
Today we will be learning Newtons 3rd Law and will get to Newtons
2nd law later this week.

Students listen and know what is expected of them at the end of the
lesson. Students wonder how Newtons 3rd law relates to the metal balls
going back and forth. What is Newtons 3rd law?

Teacher again demonstrates to students Newtons cradle asking questions

to engage the students.
What do you notice?
What happens each time? Does anything change?

Students think about Newtons cradle and look for patterns and think
about how it may work.

Teacher demonstrates to the students that Newtons cradle pushes as

many balls up on the other side as you drop on the original side.
What happened when I dropped one ball? What about two, three and
four balls?

Students watch the spheres more intently and notice that when one ball is
dropped one ball on the other side goes up about the same amount as the
ball was raised up. They notice that when two are dropped two go up,
same with three, and four.

Teacher has students discuss with their partners what they think Newtons
third law may be.
Using what we have seen with Newtons cradle, what do you
hypothesize Newtons 3rd law is?

Students discuss with their partner what Newtons 3rd law may be and
think about Newtons cradle.

Teacher defines Newtons third law for the students so that they know all
the components that they have seen.
Newtons 3rd law states that for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction.
Who can think of another way to phrase this law in your own words
preferably?

Students listen and take notes about what Newtons 3rd law is and should
start to put together what Newtons cradle has to do with it.

Students watch the demonstration of Newtons cradle one more time and
answer questions on how the cradle relates to Newtons 3rd law.

26 min

Teacher again drops Newtons cradle to have the students see all the
components of Newtons third law.
How can we see Newtons 3rd law at work here?
How is it equal?
How is it opposite?

32 min

Teacher shows video of a rocket ship flying in outer space and explains
how this and birds flying is an example of Newtons 3rd law.
Why does the rocket ship move?
There is nothing in space to push off of so what propels the rocket
forward?
Birds fly in a similar fashion.

Students watch the video and answer questions while thinking deeply
about Newtons laws and applying them to the situation.

Teacher gets them to think deeply on the material covered earlier in the
unit.
Why does the ball stop eventually if the forces should be equal?
So is this a perfect model for Newtons 3rd law?
What could make it a better model?

Students think about other forces that could be acting on the cradle and
how that affect the model of Newtons 3rd law.

Teacher pulls out a spring scale and demonstrates that a force pulls down
the weight while the spring while the spring pulls the weight up.
What is this? What kind of scale is it?
What are the equal and opposite forces in this scenario?
What forces are acting on it right now?

Students watch the demonstration using a spring scale and understand

what a spring scale is as well as how Newtons 3rd Law is being
demonstrated.

36 min

40 min

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Closure
(conclusion,
culmination,
wrap-up)

Your reflection about the lesson, including evidence(s) of student learning and engagement, as well as ideas for improvement
for next time. (Write this after teaching the lesson, if you had a chance to teach it. If you did not teach this lesson, focus on the
process of preparing the lesson.)
This lesson was done fairly well although there was some content that had to be jammed in awkwardly because they will be tested
over it on the exam. I think it was very helpful for the students to have Newtons cradle and I wish that I could have one for each
partner group so that they could explore the law themselves. Newtons cradle was also a good example because it gave the
opportunity to discuss that science is about making models and that no model is perfect. In this example air resistance causes the
metal balls to eventually stop moving. It was also fun for the students because they got to apply the knowledge to real life scenarios
such as birds flying, rocket ships and fish swimming. The students seemed especially engaged with the video and these examples and
tried to come up with their own.

9-15-14