Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

Lesson
Title/Focus

Forces, Loads, and Stresses

Subject/Gra
de Level

Grade 7 Science

Unit

Topic 4 Structures and Forces

Date
Time
Duratio
n
Teache
r

April 20, 2015

45 min
Kathy Kawade

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcomes:
Specific
Learning
Outcomes:

2. Investigate and analyze forces within structures, and forces applied to them:

Identifytension,compression,shearingandbendingforceswithinastructure;anddescribehow
theseforcescancausethestructuretofail(e.g.,identifytensileforcesthatcauselengtheningand
possiblesnappingofamember;identifybendingforcesthatcouldleadtobreakage)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Become familiar with vocabulary and concepts from Topic 4.
2. Have a hands-on experiment to understand internal forces.

ASSESSMENTS
LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED
MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

ScienceFocus 7 textbook

Licorice for each student

Smartboard Prezi presentation on
Leaning Tower of Pisa

PROCEDURE
Body
Learning Activity
#1

Review of Force: A push or pull, or anything that causes

a change in the motion of an object.
Discuss: Can anyone tell me what External means?
So:
External forces are forces on structures, or stresses, that
act on a structure from outside the structure. Gravity is
one such force, acting on all things all the time.
An External force is a Live load. These are forces that
are changing or non-permanent forces acting on a
structure. Any examples? (wind, people, furniture,
snow on roof)
Impact force (things that collide with any structure) This
is also another type of live load, which is an external
force. Any examples? The truck that hit Tim Hortons
here in Taber.
Dead loads are permanent forces acting on a structure.
Includes the weight of the structure itself, which
includes gravitational force. Over time this dead load
can cause the structure to sag, tilt, or pull apart. (See
Leaning Tower of Pisa Prezi slide.)
Internal Forces, or stresses, are within the materials
from which a structure is made. All of the external forces
that we just discussed, produce internal forces or
stresses, within the materials from which the structure is
made.
*Now we are going to do an activity to look at what may
be happening inside any type of structure, which are the

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Time

40 45
min

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

Internal Forces. I am going to hand out a piece of licorice

to everyone in the class. Dont eat the licorice!!! We
need to use it. You can eat your licorice at the end of
class. Now everyone should take the piece of licorice.
This licorice is our structure. We are going to turn it in
different directions.
Take the licorice and twist each end in a different
direction. What is happening to the licorice? If we
twist hard enough we can break it right in half.
The scientific name for this is Torsion Force. Can
you think of any other examples in real life of this
type of twisting?
Hold your licorice in both fists in front of you. Pull
one hand toward you and push your other hand
away. This is called Shear Force.
Hold each end of your licorice and stretch them
by pulling your hands apart. This is called Tension
Force.
Bend the licorice in half. What is happening on the
underside of the bend? The scientific name for
this is Compression Force. But, look closely at the
bend. What is happening at the top of the bend?
The top of the bend is called Bending Force. Its a
combination of Compression and Tension because
you must have both for this to happen.
Look at your licorice. See all the damage to it? Do you
know what this damage from our Internal Forces
is called? (Deformation)
These stresses can change the shape or size of a
structure and is called deformation. This deformation
can lead to damage to the structure that can be
repaired, or failure of the structure, either immediate or
at a future time.

Learning Activity

So lets think about what we have just done.

First we reviewed the definition of force. Who can
remember the definition?
We talked about the forces that could be working inside
something, inside a structure. What do we call that?
(Internal Forces) What were the specific things we
saw happening with the licorice? (Stretching apart tension, pushing together - compression, twisting
torsion, and breaking apart shearing).
All together these forces are called internal forces.
End the discussion by having the students do a few
questions from an overhead. Match the following
examples with one type of internal force:
Sitting on a marshmallow
Using a pair of scissors to cut a piece of paper
Playing tug of war with a rope
Twisting a towel
Vocabulary for Topic 4 if time permits.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

#2

Sponge
Activity/Activities

Discuss the train collision on page 305 of textbook now that we

know what all the terminology means.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe