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Emma Annonio, Reagan Bowen, Brianna McConnell, Tallia Maness, Abby Mattison

Forces and interactions are rooted in the physics branch of science. A major component of forces and interactions is the motion  of an object. Teaching students about the motion of an object is critical to their understanding of movement in the universe. Throughout a students educational career, there are several components of motion that they need to build upon and understand in order to comprehend the bigger picture of motion and how it operates all around us and  how it works in our daily lives. Forces, velocity (or speed), energy, and mass each contribute to this understanding of motion. With time, these topics are taught to students in a way that they eventually have a more complex awareness of not just motion of an object but also forces and interactions that occur in our universe.
AM

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What topics need to be taught before and after your topic at each grade level?

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What topics need to be taught before and after your topic at each grade level?

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Kindergarten:
Prior to this lesson students should have a good understanding multiple topics. One topic they should have background knowledge of is that objects can be moved by push or pulls. Another topic they should have prior knowledge on before this lesson is that objects also move in different directions and ways. To build upon this foundational knowledge students should also have an understanding that pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of the objects motion and could start or stop it. By having this prior knowledge, the lesson that will follow will build upon what they know and solidify these concepts.  Following kindergarten the topic of forces and motion is not explicitly taught, but students can use their new knowledge and apply it to other topics covered in second grade. One of these topics include matter and its interaction in which students are taught that objects can be broken down and re-assembled to create a new object.
Third Grade:
Prior to a third grade lesson on forces and motion there are some topics that students should be familiar with. Students should be familiar with the terms unbalanced and balanced and be able to apply that information to what balanced and unbalanced forces are. Students should also be aware that objects have both strength and direction. Another topic that should be briefly covered before this is the concept that when objects come in contact with each other they can exert forces on each other. By having this prior knowledge students will be able to build upon what they already know with the topic of motion of an object.
Following third grade this topic is not explicitly taught at the fourth grade level. Although motion of object is not touched upon in 4th grade, students can use the knowledge they have learned and apply to other topics that are covered. Some other areas that they can use they newly acquired knowledge is on the topic of energy where students learn that changes in energy occur when objects collide. They can also apply their knowledge on the topic about waves and their application in which students learn that waves can cause objects to move.
BM

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How might you use this information as a new teacher?

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How might you use this information as a new teacher?

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As a new teacher this information may help to formulate different lesson plans for students based on their grade level. This will help to distinguish what the students should already know and what they don't so that way the lesson isn't too hard or on the other hand too easy for them. On the other side of this is the fact that some students may not remember all of the information about this specific topic. Given this information a new teacher can see what the student has learned in a past grade and take that and briefly reteach it before moving forward with the more advanced lesson. A good thing to keep in mind as a new teacher is also how you want to approach teaching the lesson; do you want more hands on learning? lectures? etc. These are all things to think about as you go through these topics.
TM

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How would you differentiate your instruction at each level?  Why would you make the modifications you described?

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How would you differentiate your instruction at each level?  Why would you make the modifications you described?

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At the Kindergarten level I would make sure that the lesson is very hands on given that often information is remembered and processed more sufficiently when the student is doing the task given to them instead of idly standing by and listening. This is why we would implement an outside experience for the Kindergartners so that way they can enjoy the lesson and with that be actively engaged. Also adding in that conversation aspect of the lesson opens up students minds to different ideas of what pushes and what pulls on the playground. For third grade I would add more lecture to my lesson but still have that hands on activity. This hands on activity would have more objects to test than the Kindergarten class. I would do this because often when Kindergartners get multiple objects that can be too much for them to handle. You could still take the students outside but instead of having them just look at the playground and discuss they could also have a separate activity inside where they learn what they push or pull in a classroom or home setting.
TM

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What developmental differences (in students) need to be addressed at each level? 

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What developmental differences (in students) need to be addressed at each level? 

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The developmental differences in Kindergartners and Third graders are quite different impacting how and what content is taught. Looking at Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, children are in the Pre-operational stage from Preschool through second grade. At this stage and during this age range, students are just beginning to learn how to read and communicate through written language meaning that students are not able to do work independently yet. To teach Motion and forces in Kindergarten, the teacher will have to recognize that content instruction has to be largely demonstrative and conversational based as the students will not be able to write out hypotheses, procedures, or even think at the level needed to do these things. At this stage, it is difficult for young students to understand perspectives that are not their own, meaning writing out hypotheses and comparing them, might not be the most effective way to teach Newton’s Laws of Motion. Children enter the concrete operational stage around age 7 and remain here through age 11. This is just about the time that students enter third grade. Students have increased their fluency of reading and writing, have been introduced to experimentation, and have gained the ability to critically think. Children are better able to understand relationships between topics meaning that they are able to hypothesize and compare those hypotheses with classmates. Lastly, they are able to reverse their thinking meaning they can predict and think about what might happen in the future using prior knowledge. Students will now be able to learn about Motion and forces more independently or collaboratively within groups. They are able to think more critically about how forces impact everyday life and ask higher level questions inquiring about this; students can then go on and test these inquires using the foundation they have built throughout schooling.
EA

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Activities to support your topic Kindergarten 

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Activities to support your topic Kindergarten 

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For a kindergarten activity, the students will be observing different objects on the playground and identifying if the force used to make them move is either a push or a pull. Students will have prior knowledge from a previous lesson that a force is the push or a pull of an object. This activity gives students the opportunity to recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes things move, especially on the playground! Using the playground as the venue for this activity is important so the students can begin connecting the concept of motion to their everyday lives. I would begin by taking the students out the playground (if the weather allows), if this is not possible, students can still brainstorm what they like to do when at the playground inside. I would remind students that this is not recess, but a science investigation. We are observing. Once sitting in a circle towards the middle of the playground where most objects are visible, I would ask students to look around and think of activities or objects they use when playing on the playground. After the students have brainstormed, they will pair up with a partner or group of three and share with their partner/group what they like to do when at recess. I remind the students to discuss whether the activity they shared involved either pushing or pulling. Example of conversation starter I would give the students: “If I were talking to my partner I would say, when I am at recess, I like to go down the slide. When I slide down the slide all by myself, am I being pushed or pulled?” I could also provide an alternate example as if someone pushed me down the slide and have students discuss that scenario as well. Students will get 5-8 minutes to have these discussions. The purpose of having students share with one another about their experiences provides the opportunity for them to begin using vocabulary such as motion, force, push, and pull in conversations relating to situations they are familiar with. It helps connect the concept of motion in a fun and engaging way to help develop more concrete ideas.

To reinforce observations made outside, after taking the students back to the classroom, they would also complete an independent practice recording sheet where they would draw objects they discussed about in one column and circle whether the force used is push or pull in the second column. Below is an example of a recording sheet I created.

RB

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How much of the topic is taught at each grade level? How in depth is it?

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How much of the topic is taught at each grade level? How in depth is it?

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Kindergarten:
At the kindergarten level motion of an object is explicitly taught. For this grade level is goes very in-depth with the information that it taught. There are two standards at this level that discuss motion of an object. In the standard, K-PS2-1, it lists a variety of disciplinary core ideas that go along with this topic. One of these core ideas is on forces and motion and discusses the following; pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions,  and pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed of its motion and can start or stop it. In the disciplinary core ideas it also discusses types of interactions such as when objects touch or collide they push one another and as a result can change motion. The last core idea that discussed is relationships between energy and forces which explains that a bigger push or pull makes things speed up or slow down more quickly. In another standard, K-PS2-2, it discusses ways to analyze data to determine if a design solution is intended to change the speed or direction of an object. In this standard it goes more in depth with two disciplinary core ideas; forces and motion, and defining engineering problem. For both core ideas it discusses more -in-depth curriculum to be taught that will supplement the main idea being learned in the standard. Since both  standards lists so many disciplinary core ideas it expresses that this topic it taught highly in depth at this grade level.

Third Grade:
At the third grade level motion of an object is also explicitly taught. There are two standards at this grade level that explicitly discuss motion of an object. One standard, 3-PS2-1, discusses the effects that balanced and unbalanced forces have on an object. Within that standard it also has two disciplinary core ideas; forces and motion, and types of interactions. Both of which go more in-depth in the material that students should be learning along with this topic. In the other standard, 3-PS2-2, it discusses how observations and/or measurements of an object's motion could provide evidence that a pattern can be predicted in the future. In this standard there is one disciplinary core idea that is associated with this topic. This core idea very in-depth in forced and motion of an object discussing the patterns of an object can be observed and measured. These standards express that in third grade students will go more in-depth in motion of an object. A lot of this topic is learned in this grade and the information learned goes very in-depth.

BM

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Activities to support your topic 3rd Grade

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Activities to support your topic 3rd Grade

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Once students have entered third grade, they have a better understanding of experimentation, how to formulate hypotheses, and make predictions. For a third-grade activity, students will conduct an experiment by dropping different sized/weighted balls from the same height (golf ball, ping pong ball, tennis ball, baseball etc.), observing what effect gravity has on the weight of an object. While working in a group of four, students will predict which ball will hit the ground first when dropping two balls at the same time from the same height. One student will hold a meter stick vertically with the bottom touching the ground, two other students will hold a different ball in line with the top of the meter sick, and the fourth student will be in charge of telling the other students when to release the balls by saying “go” and will sit on the ground watching to see which ball hits the ground first. Students will switch places after each trial (four total trials: ping pong ball & golf ball, baseball and tennis ball, tennis ball & golf ball, ping pong ball and baseball). Common misconceptions they might have would be the heavier ball will hit the ground before the lighter ball, or the larger ball will hit the ground before the smaller ball. However, students will discover after multiple trials of testing two different balls that two objects dropped at the same time from the same height should hit the ground at the same time. They will record their findings and discover that gravitational force acts continuously on an object as it falls, understanding that all things fall to the ground due to the pull of gravity. Compared to kindergarten, third graders are now applying Newton's laws of motion to earth's systems.
RB

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Does your topic have multiple components? How are those components sequenced? 

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Does your topic have multiple components? How are those components sequenced? 

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Within this topic, motion of an object, there are multiple components. These components include forces and interactions, types of interactions, and relationships between energy and forces. At the kindergarten level all three of these components are introduced to students. Students are introduced to forces and motion by learning that pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions and that pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of its motion and can start or stop it. For types of interactions students learning that when objects collide or touch each other, they push on one another and can change motion. Lastly when students learn about the relationship between energy and forces, they learn that a bigger push or pull makes things speed up or slow down more quickly. At the third grade level students are still being explicitly taught about motion. At this grade level with are taught more about two components rather than all three discussed before. This is different compared to the material that they learn in kindergarten because they are not learning as many components, but focusing on two topics more in depth. One component they learn about it forces and motion which discusses how each force acts on one particular object an has both strength and direction. Another component they learn about it types of interactions which discusses how objects in contact expert forces on each other. In third grade students are taught more in-depth material about motion that build upon the prior knowledge they already have.

BM

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Kindergarten
K-PS2-1 - Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.

3rd Grade
3-PS2-1 - Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

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Kindergarten:
In kindergarten, the students have been investigating for a few years on their own but they now are being encouraged to do so with more structure and potentially more intent. Prior to observing the effects of various strengths and various directions on the pushes and pulls on the motion of an object the students should have some experience with science and conducting an investigation with support from the teacher. They need to know about strength and how to exert less or more  of it. They also need to be able to differentiate pushing and pulling and different directions. Language such as forward, backward, side to side, or left and right might be helpful for the students to already know and use when experimenting. After observing and building an understanding of the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object, the students would next apply their knowledge by creating a "design solution," such as, a marble following a particular path, or dominos set up in such a way that the speed and direction of the object(s) can be manipulated through different structures (a ramp, a turn, etc.).

3rd Grade:
Prior to the third grade standard on balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object, there are several standards in first grade that address light and sound waves. This will be expanded upon in the third grade standards so it is important that this foundation is already built. Additionally, there are a series of second grade standards about processes that shape the Earth. Specifically, the concept of erosion relates to the effects different strengths and directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. This application of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object helps student understand how this concept works on a larger scale, in our universe. This is important to further grasp the concept and to ensure that students can  expand upon prior knowledge. At the third grade level, the student should have an understanding of planning and conducting an investigation and be able to do so more independently than at the kindergarten level. The students would also need an understanding of balanced and unbalanced in order to observe how it impacts the motion of an object. After making these observations, the students will take the knowledge that they have thus far about motion and be able to make predictions based on observations and measurements of patterns that will serve as evidence to these predictions.  Another third grade standard is "asking questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other." The students need use their new knowledge on the patterns that predict motion and balanced and unbalanced forces to understand this new concept. Their prior knowledge on waves and energy may be helpful here as well. The final third grade standard that relates to forces and interactions is applying ideas about magnets by creating a practical use for them whether it's to attract or repel two objects. Without the prior knowledge of magnetic interactions and balanced/unbalanced forces the students would not be able to design this product. The student must use all of their knowledge up to this point in order to complete this task.
AM

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How does your topic spiral through curriculum?

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How does your topic spiral through curriculum?

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Spiraling through curriculum is an approach to education where certain topics throughout curriculum is revisited several times. To understand how our topic ‘Motion of an object” within the curriculum for “Forces and Interactions” one must understand the three key principles attributed to this approach. Cyclical is the first principle meaning that the same topic will be returned to throughout a student’s school. The second principle, increasing depth aims to increase the complexity of the topic and deepen the level of learning during each time the topic is revisited. The last principle, Prior Knowledge, aims to utilize and build off of a student’s prior knowledge of a topic during each re-visitation of the topic.

In Kindergarten, students are introduced to what forces are and where they are in everyday life. This curriculum is first introduced by explaining how pushes and pulls have can have different strengths and directions, colliding objects can change motion, and the bigger the push the faster an object is going to move. In third grade, students build on this knowledge, learning that these principles of motion they have been investigating throughout school were discovered by a scientist names Issac Newton who called them Laws of Motion. Students already have the prior knowledge of how these Laws work but now they are able to build on their content knowledge and increase their scientific vocabulary by being introduced to terms such as “acts on,” “at rest,” and “exert.” In Kindergarten these principles may be demonstrated though a person pushing an object, stopping a ball from rolling, or pushing objects together to collide. These demonstrations begin to build the foundation of motion and forces for young students. In third grade, this foundation is built on by introducing new vocabulary and ore complex and interactive demonstrations. Third grade students may be asked comprehension and critical thinking questions before a demonstration to predict what will happen, using their prior knowledge. In 5th grade, these principles are no longer taught, but is a part of the student’s foundation and understanding of Motion and forces. These older students are now learning about Earth’s gravitational forces. Students now begin to apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to the earth’ systems continuing to build off of the foundation of Motion they built in Kindergarten.

EA