Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETS•S—Template I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name Rama Balachandran

Position Teacher, TAG Chair

School/District Riverwood International Charter School, Fulton County

E-mail mailrama_in@yahoo.com

Phone

Grade Level(s) 10th,1th and 12th grades

Content Area Physics

Time line 3 blocks of 90 minutes each

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.

Content Standards:

This lesson plan is based on the Georgia Standards for Excellence in Physics. This lesson plan
attempts to incorporate the GSE standards of learning science where Students investigate physics
concepts through experiences in laboratories and field work using the science and engineering practices
of asking questions and defining problems, developing and using models, planning and carrying out
investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking,
constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining,
evaluating, and communicating information.
The specific content standards for this lesson plan is as follows:
SP1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the relationship between distance,
displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time.
a. Plan and carry out an investigation of one-dimensional motion to calculate average and instantaneous
speed and velocity.
• Analyze one-dimensional problems involving changes of direction, using algebraic signs to represent
vector direction.
• Apply one-dimensional kinematic equations to situations with no acceleration, and positive, or
negative constant acceleration.
b. Analyze and interpret data using created or obtained motion graphs to illustrate the relationships
among position, velocity, and acceleration, as functions of time.
c. Ask questions to compare and contrast scalar and vector quantities.

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NETS*S Standards :

This lesson plan is focused on providing a learning experience which encourages critical thinking,
application to real world problem solving and creative expressions with using technology. The goal
is to allow for students to investigate a real world problem very relevant to their interests and use
the physics knowledge to investigate the problem and finally come up with a creative solution to the
problem on their own.
The following NETS standards are the most relevant to this lesson plan.
1. Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative
products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
2. Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively,
including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of
others.
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media
3. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific
tasks
d. Process data and report results
4. Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve
problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions

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Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

Unit Summary: This unit in physics explores one dimensional motion including constant and accelerated
motion and different representations of analyzing and representing it using equations, graphs, motion maps and
verbal descriptions.
Lesson Plan summary: This lesson plan allows for students to learn and understand what kinematic variables
are sued to describe motion and the mathematical relationship between these variables in describing the
motion. As part of this assignment in addition to lectures and discussions, students would conduct a couple of
exploratory investigations in small groups that helps them understand the concepts of motion. One of these
would be to explore motion graphs by modeling motion using of a motion sensor that collects data in real time
and graphs their motion. This allows students to understand and interpret motion graphs by witnessing firsthand
the type of graph that represents different types of 1-D motion. The culminating assignment is based on
analyzing a real world problem- “how does texting impact driving “? Students analyze a situation where the
driver spots a deer in the middle of the road about 70 m in front of the car. Students then have to create a
scenario choosing their own place, time, situation including the car and the driver. Students will then investigate
to get realistic data about the braking acceleration of the car model they choose, the reaction time of the driver,
the speed allowed in the situation and use it to build their problem. As part of getting ready for the problem
solving, students conduct an experimental investigation using free fall to determine their own normal reaction
time and their reaction time while they are texting. They are also encouraged to visit simulation sites which allow
them to determine their reaction time to a visual stimulus. They use this data and other research data to arrive at
a solution as to whether the deer is saved or not, under both conditions when the driver is driving focused and
when the driver is texting. Students will then represent the data and the analysis of the problem using multiple
representations that include motion maps, graphs, mathematical equations and descriptions. They will also
conduct their research on the fines for texting and driving in the state their problem situation is based. And
finally, they will create an informed PSA presentation on the dangers of texting while driving quoting scientific
evidence and publish it to a wider audience.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and should have many acceptable answers.

The driving question for this assignment is “How does texting impact driving?
Students are expected to answer this question with scientific evidence of texting impacting reaction time and
hence the stopping distance of a car while braking due to a sudden and unexpected event. At this point of time,
students have an introduction to the kinematic variables describing motion and the equations of motion. They
would also have had some practice with problem solving in constant motion situations and in accelerated motion
situations.
This would hence be relatively a new situation where students will apply both knowledge to solve the problem.
Some other guiding questions would be
How does the reaction time play into the stopping distance?
What assumptions did you have to make about the problem scenario to construct the data needed to solve it ?
How does texting impact the reaction time?
Does texting impact the reaction time the same way for all drivers?
Should texting while driving be considered as a punishable offense and if so what punishment is justifiable?
What are the different ways in which you can represent the problem scenario with the data analysis?
How can you effectively communicate scientific information to a wider audience in order to send a strong
message ?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess

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what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

Students will be assessed on their understanding, creativity and their ability to communicate scientific
information to a wider audience. Formative assessment of their understanding at each critical stage of setting up
the scenario and collecting the data will be done so as to give feedback about the authenticity of the story
situation and the reliability of their data. Students will complete their practical investigation of finding the reaction
time of every person in their group including while texting in order to understand and appreciate how texting
impacts their reaction time. Feedback will be provided at this stage about their data analysis and their estimate
of their estimate of the reaction time from the investigation. They will then create their own story of the problem
and check with the instructor. At this juncture, feedback will be provided about the data they have collected and
the authenticity of the problem situation. For example, students should choose the speed of the car based on the
location of the drive, considering if it is a highway or interior roads , etc;
This learning experience allows for differentiation in the content, process and product.
In relation to the content, students that have a firm grasp of concepts can make the situation as complex as they
can by considering a moving deer and factoring that into the problem. Students can also make the investigation
more comprehensive by collecting data about texting while driving incidents and other factors that impact the
reaction time for a driver. This being a real world situation is complex and messy and allows for students to
branch out in different ways exploring the basic question in creating their own story of the problem. With relation
to the process, students have different ways of trying to get data for their reaction time- they can base it off their
investigation or try the online simulation sites to collect data or even look for research data pertaining to a
specific situation. They will use the school search engine to research reliable sources of information for their
data. They also have a choice in their final product- they can deliver their PSA in any audiovisual electronic
format- a pamphlet using publisher, a narrated PowerPoint slide show, a video, a website or other. And for
publishing their final PSA to a wider audience, they will use the flip grid to post their video messages or the
wikispace created by the instructor and post their complete presentations.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resources—online student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etc—help elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)

Students will be using a variety of technology to support and enhance their learning experiences. All resources
and materials were shared through the class notebook of Microsoft Office tools to which all students had
access to. Student reports for the investigation were given feedback through One Note as well. For their
investigations, student will be working with sensors and data logging equipment that allow them to collect data
in real time. Students will also be using simulations from online to investigate their reaction time. For graphing
representations, students will be using excel or other online graphing software. Since they will be working in
groups of three, students will use the Collaboration Space available under One Note of Microsoft to share data
and brainstorm ideas for their presentation. For their final product, students can explore a wide variety of online
audiovisual tools and in particular new video editing software. These will include powerpoint, officemix, sway,
prezis, and video apps like windows movie maker, wevideo, and Animoto. For communication, they will use
weebly, and flipgrid to post their PSA videos and total presentations.

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

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 Students must have been introduced to kinematic variables and equations. This lesson helps them to integrate
all the basic concepts into solving a real life problem situation.
In the first 90 min block class, students will explore “modeling motion” with the motion sensor.
Students will model different types of 1D motion with the sensor and make observations about the graphs plotted
in real time on the sensor. They are given some guiding questions to help them with their observations. As a
challenge activity, students then have to model motion in such a way that they reproduce the exact same graph
that is given to them. They will finish the exploration by writing a quick reflection on what aspects were more
difficult to match in the graph and why. There were help hints and corrective feedback provided for groups that
struggled with the matching and there was also an extension fun and creative activity for groups that finished
early- they were asked to make up a story that matched the graph.
The second exploration was to determine their reaction time by using a falling meter stick. Students worked in
pairs and helped each other collect data for determining their individual reaction time by using free fall concepts.
Quite a few student groups had made errors with unit’s consistency and came up with an estimate that was not
realistic. It was a great opportunity to remind them about the importance of always looking at the results to see if
it is a feasible answer to the problem. This allows them to check their own work and look for inconsistencies.
With this background established, students were ready to apply their knowledge to a real life problem – They
worked in small groups of three and came up with their own setting for the scenario and researched for data that
fitted the scenario. They then worked to solve the problem under both situations – normal driving and texting
while driving.
The last part of the activity was to conduct research on texting while driving. This allowed them to collect real
data about the impact of texting on the reaction time of drivers and if it varied with the age or any other factor of
the driver.
They then used this research information to come up with their own creative PSA message against texting while
driving. Students had the choice to make it in the form of a pamphlet or video or audio message or in any other
form.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

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 In all of my classes, a lot of socrative discussions and questioning strategies that make the learners think critically
about the concept are used. There are never more than three students in a group for lab explorations and this
allows each individual to be very hands on with the investigation instead of just being a passive onlooker. There
were about 10 stations with dataloggers and motion sensors attached set up at different areas in the room
allowing each group enough space to work on the activity. Since the reaction time exploration allowed students to
get their own individual data for their reaction time, it gave each one of them an opportunity to work on the data by
themselves, while still allowing them to collaborate with their partner in comparing results. All Students had
access to their devices at all times in the class and to the internet for research purposes. They also had access to
all Microsoft Office 365 tools including the One Note collaboration space and other presentation tools like Office
Mix, Sway and Powerpoint. They used their cell phones to make the video and students were allowed to use
different spaces so as to avoid interference with other groups in making the video.
There were some issues with the datalogger device and I had to split and redistribute some students into other
groups or resolve it by allowing the group to work on another group’s device after they had finished work. The
reaction time exploration did take a longer time than expected, because students in pairs had to allow for each
other to complete data from different trials, This created a time constraint that carried into the remaining part of
the lesson and therefore a lot of student groups had to finish the video making at home over the weekend. This
might have created some problems in students coming together to work with each other, though some of this was
rectified by allowing students to come in before or after school to work on it and also by giving a time extension so
as to allow them more time in planning to come together in finishing the last part of the project. Some student
groups had trouble with the digital tools and needed help – like adding narration to powerpoint, mixing multimedia
into one movie . These were overcome with the time extension and out of class help with digital tools.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities – Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

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 Research shows that authentic and engaged learning happens when students are working on real life based
problems that are relevant to them. I chose a situation that is very relevant to the learners of the digital age as it
helps them understand firsthand the dangers of texting while driving. And since most of them are to be drivers
soon, the issue was immediately relevant increasing their personal engagement with the assignment. Research has
also shown that allowing students to be creators of new products allows them to take ownership of their learning
experience. I provided them this opportunity through the creation of the PSA message. Since real life problems are
messy and complex, students had to apply critical thinking in each phase of the learning experience in evaluating
their data, making judgement about the results of their calculations. Since each group came up with their own data,
there were different solutions to the problems based on the setting of the scenario. In conducting research,
students also learnt about the reliability of the sources and the interpretation of data from various sources. The
creative component allowed them to explore and exploit various technological tools in coming up with their own
product based on their reflection of the results of their investigation and data analysis.
Another big aspect of the learning experience is collaboration skills. Throughout this lesson, students had to work in
groups and they had to learn to find ways to share information and update each other through the use of common
digital collaboration spaces. They had to learn to overcome challenges in creating collaboration spaces for
individual groups, and to respect other group’s spaces.
This lesson also allowed for students to communicate scientific information to a wider audience other than their
peers. Communicating scientific information in the form of maps, mathematical equations and graphs was a
challenge to some student groups. They had to use their data and create meaningful motion graphs for the
situations as well as draw motion maps. This allowed student groups to reflect deeply on the gap between knowing,
understanding and communicating the same. There were challenges in uploading their presentations, as the format
of the presentations varied widely because of the availability of student choice. It was difficult to provide a common
platform to upload all the different types of presentations and my initial thoughts of using flip grid to post the videos
did not work so well. Students used the One Note collaboration space to post their projects, but for communicating
to a wider audience, I had to create a wikispace to allow for student projects and this entailed me creating and
setting up pages for students to upload their projects.

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

The entire learning experience allowed for flexible grouping of students. There was scope to differentiate in
the content, process and product and also allows for learners to choose different roles based on their skillsets
and abilities. Within a group, there was the physics expert checking the accuracy of the report and the
creative person coming up with the story line and the organizer looking for the best way to organize and
present information in the report. There was teacher help provided and scaffolding for the explorations to
groups that needed it and feedback throughout the exploration activities to make sure that students had
correct conceptual understanding. It also allowed for enrichment by extensions to student explorations and
choice in the complexity of the problem scenario developed by the learners. Students were constantly
encouraged and reminded that while data collection is collaborative, data analysis can be independently
carried out which then allowed student groups to share their individual interpretations and brainstorm together
about the results of their investigation. Minor accommodations needed to be made in special situations – like
allowing for a student on crutches to be the person monitoring the data logger and providing feedback instead
of modeling the motion in front of the sensor. Allowing time extensions and flexible grouping of students were
used to accommodate students with individual needs.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
• Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
• In what ways was this lesson effective?
• What went well and why?

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 • What did not go well and why?
• How would you teach this lesson differently?)

Student engagement with the topic was very good. Since most students were on their way to getting a
driving license and texting is a very relevant social issue, they were hooked to the lesson and were
interested in solving the problem. They found the creation of the PSA message exciting and challenging.
Time was a huge constraint and challenge as this took additional time over the usual time allocated for the
planning. Generally speaking, this has always been a challenge with PBL as students do not have enough
experience with this type of activities, but hopefully this will get better as they participate in more of the
same.
The explorations went very well, especially the activity with the motion sensors allowed students to see the
visual graphs plotted as they were modeling the motion. However, this concrete conceptual understanding
was not transitioned to interpreting additional and more complex motion graphs and some students did need
more help and practice in interpreting graphs.
In hindsight, even though allowing for student choice helped them exercise their creativity in multiple ways
according to their skill sets and created a wide variety of products, it was challenging to provide feedback
and a common grading rubric. Next time, I will probably make the PSA video a separate assignment and to
be done in class and asking all groups to post it on flip grid, so that peer viewing and feedback is easy. The
One Note collaboration space does allow for posting for student projects for commenting and feedback,
however permissions cannot be set to just view without editing and this poses some constraint. It does not
allow for submissions to be turned off after the due date. Creating a wikispace site allowed for posting for
student projects, but this requires students to join yet another space in addition to myriad of learning
platforms they had to sign up for from their different classes.
Another important activity that we did not have time to complete was peer grading and reflection. Since I am
still grading the projects, I will allow for this to happen after I have completed grading. I think this is an
important component that should happen in class before the final submission of the project activity. This way,
it will enable meaningful and constructive feedback from peers that can be used to improve the
presentations. To save time, I will allocate peer groups in random, so that each group receives comments
from two other groups at least and this will be done as a group activity.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
I would perhaps advice instructors to create a choice board of technological tools that all allow for integration of
multimedia and limit students to choose from one of the given tools. This forces student groups to learn new
tools that they have not used in the past and also allows the teacher to frame a rubric that is fair to all the
presentations made with any of these tools.

Attachments:

Motion Sensor Exploratory activity

Reaction time Exploration
Assignment Instructions
Grading Rubric

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