SCIENCE EDUCATION LESSON PLAN FORMAT rev 11.

20
Names Lisa Maddox and Courtney White Subject Physics
Unit Name and Unit Name: Forces and Motion (Leave this
Week (Leave this blank for
Driving Unit Driving Question: How did the Dragon spacecraft blank for EDSC to
of EDSC 442C)
Question return safely to Earth in August? 442C)
Anchoring Phenomenon:
Gravity on Earth
Students will be exploring how SpaceX had to design their Dragon capsule to come back to Earth safely.
Students will be looking at the forces that are used for astrophysicists to use in space travel. They will be
exploring this phenomenon with a more common experiment like an egg drop.
Anchoring
Phenomenon or Anchoring Activity:
Students are the new employees of SpaceX and are asked to design a capsule that would safely return to Earth. Since
Design Problem the program does not have unlimited money, the experiment will be done with an egg and a shoe box. Students will
(with Anchoring be given 10 items in addition to this: 5 pipe cleaners. 10 popsicle sticks, two balloons, 20 paper clips, a small pack of
Activity for the tissues, 20 toothpicks, 10 rubber bands, roll of tape, a foot of string, a piece of foam. These items simulate what could
be used in a life-size operation of the Dragon capsule coming to Earth, students will be shown how these home items
unit) are related to the realistic experiment.

Students will later relate their experiment to the Dragon capsule from August by a video presentation to the class.

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/dragon/
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/dragon.html#.X5rONkeSk2w

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among
NGSS Performance the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could
Expectation include tables or graphs of position or velocity as a function of time for objects subject to a net unbalanced force, such
as a falling object, object rolling down a ramp, or a moving object being pulled by a constant force.]
Provide the Standard and Element(s) that Students Will
Where in the lesson can this be found?
be Engaging In
PS2.A: Forces and Motion: Newton’s second law
Disciplinary Core
accurately predicts changes in the motion of Lesson Intro, Lesson Body, Lesson Closure
Ideas (DCIs)
macroscopic objects.
Science and Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Lesson Body
Engineering Analyzing data in 9-12 builds on K-8 and progresses to
Practices (SEPs) introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the
comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of
models to generate and analyze data.
● Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or
models (e.g., computational mathematical) in
 order to make valid and reliable scientific
claims or determine an optimal design solution
Connections to Nature of Science: Science Models,
Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural
Phenomena
● Theories and laws provide explanations in
science.
● Laws are statements or descriptions of the
relationships among observable phenomena.

Modeling
● Asking Questions
● Constructing Explanations & Designing
Epistemic Solutions
Practice(s) ● Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating
(Bundled SEPs) Information
● Developing & Using Models
● Analyzing and Interpreting Data
● Using Mathematical & Computational Thinking
Cause and Effect
Cross Cutting ● Empirical evidence is required to differentiate
Lesson Closure
Concepts (CCCs) between cause and correlation and make
claims about specific causes and effects.

3D Learning
Objective (Lesson- Students will analyze and interpret empirical evidence from observing the freefall of a pencil to develop a model in the
Level Learning form of a force body diagram to make claims about the effect of Newton’s second law on the motion of the pencil.
Expectation)
Lesson-Level Students will experience the phenomenon of freefall firsthand as they gather empirical evidence through observing
Phenomenon their own pencil drop in order to develop their force body diagram model.

Connections to CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.4
other standards Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases
(CCSS ELA, CCSS
Math) as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 11-12 texts and
topics.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.8
Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying
the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of
information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR
text complexity band independently and proficiently.
 HSN-Q.A.2
Define appropriate quantities for the purpose of descriptive modeling.
MP.2
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP.4
Model with mathematics.
Target Vocab to be
gravity, Newton’s 2nd law, motion, freefall
Developed

LESSON
The 5E Model
TEACHER DOES STUDENT DOES
Lesson Intro
Intro to gravity and how it affects all objects. Have Students will be exploring gravity and what forces are at
(Engage)
students start to discuss what has gravity and what is play. They should be thinking about what is acting on the
TIME: 5 min acting on it. Teacher should facilitate discussion. object.
Lesson Body In groups, students will drop their pencil to explore gravity.
(Explore, Explain, The teacher will ask students to break into groups to In observing the motion of their pencil, students can draw
Elaborate) drop a pencil from their desk and develop a drawn a model or force body diagram of what forces are taking
model as to what forces are acting on the pencil. place. Most of the time will be spent designing the FBD
TIME: 40 min and how forces interact, specifically gravity.
A few students will volunteer to share their model to the
Lesson Closure
Students will be brought back as a whole class. The entire class. They will have a class discussion on what
(Evaluate)
teacher will question the students on what forces they students did similar to each other. There can be
TIME: 5 min came up with. recommendations for how students can improve their
model.
ASSESSMENT

HOW IT INFORMS
FEEDBACK STRATEGY
TYPE PURPOSE IMPLEMENTATION TEACHING

Feedback will be given by The teacher will be walking

The purpose is to know
how students are
thinking about forces and
what ideas they have
Entry Level about forces acting on
objects. This lets students
explore and access prior
knowledge about how
things work.
This will be having students
drop the pencil from their
desk and thinking about
what forces are acting on
the pencil to make it fall
back to the desk. Students
will be documenting their
thoughts on what forces are
acting in this system.
students. The students will
be placed into groups to
discuss the forces they
believe are acting. Students
can communicate with each
other to discuss which
forces they have in
common.
around the classroom as
students are working
individually and when they
are in groups. This gives the
teacher information on
what students believe and
any misconceptions they
have.

The purpose of a
formative assessment is
finding out if students
have learned the material
required and taught in
PM (Formative)
the lesson. Have students
grasped the major
concepts that were
implemented in the
classroom.
The purpose of a
summative assessment is
to let the students show
their creative side.
Students will get to
Summative
express their creativity in
a video presentation
explaining all the forces
of motion that they have
learned through the unit.
DIFFERENTIATION
English Learners
ELL students will be put
into a group where their
teammates can help
translate the information.
This is so no student gets
lost and can evaluate the
experiment to the best of
their ability.
Students will be given the
opportunity to revise their
model of the pencil
dropping after group work
and class interjection. The
students will be creating a
model of a pencil dropping
and the forces acting on it.
This will be turned in for a
grade.
Students will design a video
presentation that
implements their pencil
dorp model, egg drop
model, and relating this to
Dragon coming back to
Earth. This will include
physics vocabulary,
engineering design, and
explanation of the forces at
play.
Striving Readers
This lesson is beneficial to
striving readers because
there is no reading material
required. They may have
difficulty in evaluating other
students' work and
providing feedback to these
students.
Feedback will be given by
the teacher. This is not the
final submission of the unit,
so students will get an
opportunity to revise their
work. Feedback will be put
onto their model and
handed back to the
student. Then we will
discuss as a class how to
draw a model.
Feedback will be given in
two different ways. There is
a rough draft that the
students will submit for
feedback to develop deeper
thinking about forces that
interact with an object in
freefall. The second
feedback will be given after
the final presentation in the
form of a grade.
Students with Special
Needs
Students with Special
Needs can either be put
into a group with other
struggling students or with
advanced students. If they
are put with struggling
students, the teacher can
spend more time with this
group and answer
additional questions. If
these students are placed
with advanced students,
This informs the teacher if
students are fully grasping
the concept of gravity and
how the forces work on an
object in freefall. Depending
on how students respond,
the idea of modeling and
gravity may need to be
revisited as a class.
This informs the teacher of
student engagement in the
unit. This will have to use all
the lessons used in the unit
to develop a model of
forces acting on an object in
freefall. If students are
struggling with this
assessment, then the
teacher needs to address
the issues that are coming
up in the presentations and
offer students the ability to
recreate their presentation.
Advanced Students
Advanced students will
have the ability to show
their creativity. They are
drawing a force diagram of
how a pencil is falling, they
will need to expand their
minds and think about what
forces are at play. Since
students will get
opportunities to revise their
model, these students can
perfect their drawing and
 they can have someone
take extra time to explain use their creative side.
the concept to them.

Materials in the classroom that are needed:

Materials Needed
Pencil and paper are needed to perform the experiment and to draw the model.
and Links to
Instructional
Resources Since students are being introduced to the concept of forces and motion, there are no videos that will be presented.
The teacher should have the students explore their thinking before giving information like equations or video
simulations.
At the end of the lesson, students will come back to the whole class environment and reflect on what forces they
identified. A few students will present their model. The class as a whole will reflect on the similarities and differences
Reflection, of the models. Through the process, students will reflect on how their model can be improved. At the end of the
Summary, lesson, the teacher will summarize the lesson. The rationale for the lesson is for students to prepare a preliminary
Rationale, model of a freefalling pencil in order to assess their prior conceptions and engage them in higher level thinking in
Implementation preparation for learning about the mathematical models of Newton’s Second Law. The lesson will be implemented
through engaging students in developing their own preliminary models based on the pencil free fall collaboratively
within their lab groups and then through whole class consensus discussion.