Daily Zip Line PBL Plans, Spring 2016, Week #1

BJ Hemphill
(may not use all the activities, but a majority are needed to facilitate higher level and critical thinking skills)
Monday
Opening Question: What
do you know about zip
lines?

Tuesday
Display picture of the
Apollo astronauts in
space and walking on the
moon

Table talk/draw: draw a

zip line, share ideas and
write them down in their
science journals

Write on chart paper:

gravity, weight, mass,
velocity

Ask for volunteers to

share their ideas and
write responses on chart
paper. (leave up and use
as a pre-assessment)

Gravity: A Force of
Attraction - (information
text and leveled skills
worksheets for directed
reading

Follow-up question:
What kind of forces
would decrease or
increase the speed of a
zip line?

Whole class discussion:

What do you think would
happen if there were no
gravity on Earth? How
would our daily lives be
affected without gravity?

Group discussion:
brainstorm ideas and
compare with another
group close to them
Video: Young Engineers
You Tube
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=-jncwft6UwY
Debrief with what
students noticed, or
wondered about the
video. Get the students
excited about their
project.
EL Strategies
Multilingual Glossary
Word Wall
Journal writing
Whole and small group
Discussions
Diagrams

Clarify the direction of

gravity TE 371
What is the difference
between weight and
mass?

Wednesday
Complete leveled
worksheets about
Gravitational Force
Observation - You hold a
ball in your outstretched
palm. the ball is not
moving. What two forces
are acting on the ball?
When an object starts to
move, what sort of force
is acting on it? Why does
Earth attract a bear with
more force than it
attracts a squirrel?
QUIZ - graded
9 question quiz for a
Force of Attraction
Reinforcement
worksheet:
A Weighty Problem
Realia - the differences
between a spring scale
and balance scale

How would you describe

velocity?
After pg. 372 - teacher
demonstration of mass
(different sized objects)
EL Strategies
Small group discussion
White board responses
Summarize reading
selection

EL Strategies:
Scan photographs &
illustrations, Realia
Vocabulary and Section
Summary skills
worksheet (give to ELs to
study)
Write down unfamiliar
words

Differentiation:
Graphic organizers

Differentiation:
Leveled worksheets

Thursday
Technology:
Internet resource:
Scilinks.org
Topic: Matter and Gravity
Students will research the
Scilinks page to answer
relative questions about
gravity
Technology:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/w
ww/K-12 (Four Forces on
an Airplane - intro to
Newton's Laws)
Students will read
technical information,
discuss the main ideas
with their group, complete
vocabulary (fundamental)
terms and write those
ideas or definitions down
in their science journals

EL Strategies
Before reading,
brainstorm and predict
what the illustration is
showing them
During the reading ask
them questions
Copy the illustrations
down in their science
journals
Differentiation:
Orally tell each other what
new information they
gathered

Friday
Activity outside students gather in a
circle to listen to the
scenario - imagine two
people are parallel to
each other on a platform
and are about to zip line
down a 300 ft line
towards another
platform. They are both
the size height, which
one will arrive at the
ending platform first?
Students will brainstorm
and generate ideas,
illustrate a diagram in
their science journals
and write what they
predict
Demonstration: Falling
Objects: Each group gets
two balls similar size, but
different masses.
Students will predict
which will land first.
Students will hold the
objects at should height
and drop them. Observe
what happens, and write
those observations down
in their science journals.
Go back to the classroom
share out what they
observed

EL Strategies:
Demonstrations
Hands on Activities
Writing science journals

Differentiation:
Systemic and explicit
instruction

Self instruction

Interpret graphics
Visual representations

Visit other NASA links self edification

Differentiation:
Cooperative learning
Peer tutoring

Daily Zip Line PBL Plans, Spring 2016, Week #2

BJ Hemphill
(may not use all the activities, but a majority are needed to facilitate higher level and critical thinking skills)
Monday
Gravity and Motion
Students will pair share,
read, and information
text to complete leveled
worksheets (throughout
the week)
Big Ideas: Gravity can
be an unbalanced force
that causes predictable
change in motion
Air resistance is a force
that opposes the motion
of object through air
Projectile motion has
two components:
horizontal motion and
vertical motion (gravity
affects only vertical)
Acceleration is the rate
at which velocity
changes over time,
Falling objects
accelerate toward Earth
at a rate of 9.8 m/s2.
Math practice:
calculating velocity v
=gxt
Gravity provides the
centripetal force that
keeps objects in orbit solar system
EL Strategies:
Interactive reader and

Tuesday
Review of vocabulary
words: flashcards:
gravity, weight, mass,
velocity, acceleration,
resistance, projectile,
unbalanced force,
constant rate, terminal
velocity

Wednesday
Quick Lab (A, B, or C)
Parachutes and Air
Resistance (outside
activity) one class
period. In this activity,
students will explore how
air resistance affects
falling objects.

Video: short clip of

skydivers, students will
note the various
positions the divers use
to maneuver before they
open their chutes

First: Students will use

15 cm of string to tie four
washers securely
together. One person will
drop the washers from
shoulder height. The rest
of the students, observe
and record. Next,
students will design and
build a parachute with
the materials the
following materials: a
plastic bag, a sheet of
newspaper, tape, and
four 30cm pieces of
string. Once their
parachutes are
completed, they will drop
it from shoulder height,
observe and record their
observations.

Students will discuss the

divers body maneuvers
and what each
accomplishes
(air resistance - terminal
velocity varies according
to movements that
increase or decrease air
resistance) write about
their observations in
science journal
Students will continue
working on informational
text about free fall and
air resistance

EL Strategies:
Flash cards
Visual videos

Questions to answer:
How did the motion of
the washer differ
between the two trials?
What forces were acting
on the washers and the
parachute during the two
trials? Were the forces
on the washers balanced

Thursday
CFU Assessment: What
forces are acting on an
object when it is falling at
terminal velocity?
gravitational force, down;
air resistance, up
Quick Lab (A, B, or C):
Centripetal Force and
Circling Marbles. This
activity allows students to
explore how a centripetal
force is need to keep an
object such as a planet,
moving in a circular path.
The path is call an ellipse.
Centripetal: towards the
center
Use tape to join the end
of a 3 cm x 48 cm strip of
poster board to form a
ring.
Place the ring on the floor.
Put a marble inside the
ring, and push the marble
so that it travels along the
inside edge of the ring.
While the marble is
moving, lift the ring and
observe the marble's
motion.
Questions: What provided
the centripetal force on
the marble?
What happened to the
marble when the

Friday
Students will prepare for
a formal assessment on
Monday - Section review
individual responses
Understanding concepts:
Analyzing: How does air
resistance affect the
acceleration of falling
objects?
Comparing: How does
the unbalanced force of
gravity affect the
horizontal and vertical
velocities of an object in
projectile motion?
Critical thinking: Predict
the motion of a planet if
gravity between the sun
and the planet stopped
acting. Explain your
answer
Math Skills: Using
equations. A rock at rest
falls off a tall cliff. What
is the rock's velocity as
the rock hits the ground
3.5 seconds later?
Challenge: Making
inferences: The moon
has no atmosphere.
What would happen if an
astronaut on the moon
dropped a hammer and a
feather at the same time.
Explain your answer

study guide
Differentiation:
Connection to language
arts - Greek letters
change in velocity

Observation
Discussion
Differentiation:
Group work
Visual videos
Discussion

or unbalanced? How do
you know? During which
trial was the force of air
resistance greater?
Explain your answer.
EL
Strategies/Differentiat
e
Observation, Explore
Leveled Datasheets (A,
B, or C)

centripetal force was

removed. What would
happen to the planets if
gravity did not exist?
EL Strategies:
Discussion, observations
Create, write
Differentiation:
Video Cam
Leveled Datasheets (A, B,
or C)

EL Strategies: Optional
variation of the test
Differentiation:
Optional variation of the
test. Students generate
questions to ask

Daily Zip Line PBL Plans, Spring 2016, Week #3

BJ Hemphill
(may not use all the activities, but a majority are needed to facilitate higher level and critical thinking skills)
Monday
Students will have ten
minutes to review with a
partner or individually
before the assessment.

Tuesday
Debrief the test, answer
any misconceptions, or
questions students are
still not sure of

Wednesday
Student groups work
together to complete
leveled worksheets for
Newton's Laws

If they finish before the

allotted time:

Begin Newton's Laws of

Motion

Quietly read a book

Opening question: If you

are sitting still in your
seat on a bus traveling
straight ahead on a
highway or road at
constant speed, are the
forces acting on your
body balanced or
unbalanced? Balanced,
your body and the bus
are moving in a straight
line at constant velocity

Display Newton's Law

poster and keep up
during this section of
informational reading

Solve Forces in Motion

puzzles, twisters, &
teasers

If the driver suddenly

brakes, are the forces on
your body balanced, or
unbalanced? How do you
know? Unbalanced,
friction between you and
the seat is a force that
causes your velocity to
change along with the
velocity of the bus

Newton's First Law

Objects at Rest
Objects in Motion
Friction and Newton's
1stLaw
Inertia and Newton's 1st
Law
Mass and Inertia
Give students ample
time to read, summarize,
and complete leveled
worksheets
Discuss the illustration of
the bumper cars and
amusement park rides

Thursday
Quick Lab: First-Law
Skateboard (outside
activity) one class period
Datasheet (A, B or C)- in
this activity, students will
explore the effects of
balanced forces and of
unbalanced forces on the
motion of an object.
Students will explore,
observe, and write their
responses in the science
journals
Activity (student led)
Place an empty aluminum
beverage can on top of a
skateboard.
Ask a friend to catch the
skateboard after you push
it. Now, give the
skateboard a quick, firm
push. What happened to
the can? the can falls over
after the push
Put the can on the
skateboard again. Push
the skateboard gently so

Friday
Prediction: have students
read the statement of
Newton's 2nd law of
motion Without reading
any further, have
students try to explain
the second law in their
own words.
Newton's Second Law
Acceleration and Mass
Acceleration and Force
After this portion students choose either
activity:
Quick Lab (A, B, or C) Testing Newton's Second
Law
In this activity, students
compare the
accelerations of two
falling objects that have
different masses
Internet Activity Newton's Rap
go.hrw.com keyword:
HY7FORW

EL Strategies:
Briefly discuss the
questions with a partner
Review individually
Differentiation:
Assessments A, B, C

Write vocabulary words

on the whiteboard:
Friction
Inertia

EL Strategies:
Word wall academic
vocab
Discourse

EL Strategies:
Paired Summarizing
Interactive reader and
study guide
Flash cards & Word Wall
Differentiation:
Idea Web
Students create an
outline of Newton's Law

Differentiation:
Concept map or web
mapping

that it moves quickly but

so that the can does not
fall. Ask your friend to let
the skateboard travel a
short distance and then to
stop it quickly. What
happened to the can? The
can falls over forward
when the skateboard it
stopped.
Explain how Newton's 1st
law applies to what
happened in each case.
EL Strategies:
Demonstrations
Hands on Activities
Differentiation: Change
the variables, observe,
report back

This activity helps

students remember
Newton's Laws of Motion.
(this activity cannot be
saved - it is published via
hrw.com)
10 pts. quiz on Monday
1st and 2nd Laws
EL Strategies:
Prediction
Summarizing
Hands on activities
Differentiation:
Technology, Labs (A, B,
or C)

Daily Zip Line PBL Plans, Spring 2016, Week #4

BJ Hemphill
(may not use all the activities, but a majority are needed to facilitate higher level and critical thinking skills)
Monday

Tuesday

Assessment - Quiz
Briefly describe
Newton's First and
Second Laws and give
an example of each
(10 mins)

Group product - each

group will be given
one of Newton's Laws.
They will try to explain
the laws in their own
words. Then, each
group will create
activities or draw
illustrations to
demonstrate how their
law works. Each group
will present their ideas
to the class.

Collect, share ideas

and thoughts
Begin complete
leveled worksheet or
create an outline of
Newton Third Law
All Forces act in pairs.
Use illustration to
reinforce the idea of
action-reaction pairs.
Big Idea: all forces act
in pairs

CFU Assessment What are the action

and reaction forces
acting when a
gymnast does a single

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Video: Design Squad Nation - Zip Line

http://pbskids.org/designsquad/video/diy-zip-line/
ZIP LINE challenge. Design and build something that can carry a Pin-Pong ball from
the top of a zip line string to the bottom in four seconds or less. Students will
brainstorm, design, build, test, evaluate and redesign (if necessary). Run the zip line
between the back of a chair and a stack of books. Making sure the high end is about
two feet above the low end. They will test the carrier by putting it on the Zip Line.
Zip Line design and instructions page
FINAL SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT - to show they have mastered the performance
expectations. Students who can demonstrate understanding can: Apply Newton's
Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding
objects. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's
motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that
gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting
objects.

Discuss Figure 6 swimmer - the action

force and reaction
force are a pair. The
two forces are equal in
size but opposite in
direction

handstand on a bar?
Assessment #3 - Short
response assessment
that shows the
student has
internalized and has a
grasp on newly
acquired knowledge of
Newton's Laws.

This will be accomplished by successfully creating, designing, collaborating,

evaluating, testing, analyzing, and publishing the results of their experiments.

EL Strategies:
Illustrate
Pair share/read
Differentiation:
Cause and Effect
Technology - visit
NASA website (self
instruction)

EL Strategies:
Group work, assign different jobs, have group discussions, question each other,
clarify any misconceptions, continue to encourage
EL Strategies:
Poster Board
Presentations
Differentiation:
Oral Presentations
Illustrations

Differentiation:
Students can choose to do extra projects throughout the PBL period of 4 weeks.
Create a poster board to go along with their presentations. Use technology to
expand their knowledge. Assist others if asked (assist not tell how to arrive at an
answer). Redesign to decease the speed to 7 seconds. Visit PBS Design Squad for
ideas of other projects - report back to the class.