Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Erica Lis and Amanda Johns Date:

Group Size: 17 students Allotted Time: 25 minutes Grade Level: 3rd

Subject or Topic: What is a Force? - Matter and Motion Unit

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

3.2.3.B1 -Explain how movement can be described in many ways.

3.2.3.B2 -Explore energy’s ability to cause motion or create change.

S4.C.3.1 - Identify and describe different types of force and motion resulting from these
forces, or the effect of the interaction between force and motion

S4.C.3.1.1 - Describe changes in motion caused by forces (e.g. pushes or pulls, gravity,
friction)
Learning Targets/Objectives:
Students will be able to identify objects that have a balanced force or unbalanced
force by participating in an activity.

Assessment Approaches: Evidence:

1. Observation 1. The teacher will listen to students'
2. Formative Assessment responses and take notes to check for
3. Summative Assessment understanding of the content.
…. 2. Students will complete a google forms
after the lesson about balanced and
unbalanced forces.
3. None for this lesson.
…
Assessment Scale:
Formative Assessment Grade
5 points - student answered all 5 questions correctly
4 points - student answered 4 of the 5 questions correctly
3 points - student answered 3 of the 5 question correctly
2 points - student answered 2 of the 5 questions correctly
1 point - student answered 1 of the 5 questions correctly
0 points - student answered none of the questions correctly
Subject Matter/Content: Science - Force and Motion
Prerequisites: force, push and pull forces
Key Vocabulary:
● balanced force - when the forces acting upon an object are equal and in the opposite
direction, results in no motion, keep objects in one place
● unbalanced forces - when the forces acting upon an object are unequal and results in
motion
● gravity - a force that pulls objects towards the center of the earth

Content/Facts:
●

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:

Welcome engineers! So far we have learned about what a force is and a very common type of
force that we do every day. Can anyone remember what those two forces are called? (Allow
student responses) Yes, push and pull. We also determined when an object is in motion or is
not in motion. An object is in motion only when a force is applied to it.

Today we will be talking about two more types of forces called balanced forces and
unbalanced forces. We will look and talk about real life examples and decide if the object is
balanced or unbalanced.

Development/Teaching Approaches

A balanced force is when the forces acting upon an object are equal and in the opposite
direction. For example, when you are standing, there is a balanced force between you and the
ground. The ground is pushing us up and we are being pulled down by a force called gravity.
Teacher places a book on a table. This would be another example of a balanced force because
the table is pushing the book up while gravity is pushing the book down. Therefore the book is
not in motion, it is staying in one place.

An unbalanced force is when the forces acting upon an object are unequal and result in
motion. Think about when you play tug of war and one side is all adults and the other side is a
bunch of third graders. Who do you think is going to win that war? (Allow student responses)
The adults, of course, because they are bigger and will have a stronger force resulting in an
unbalanced force.

The teacher will go through a google slides and have students look at visual representations
of certain objects. Students will then apply knowledge to determine if objects are balanced or
unbalanced.
After finishing our lesson on balanced and unbalanced forces, the teacher will instruct the
students to go to the Webquest and complete the Google Form for this lesson.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:

Today we learned that if an object is experiencing a balanced force, the object is not in
motion and if an object is experiencing an unbalanced force, the object is in motion
and the force is unequal. One force is stronger than the other. The next time we meet
we will be learning about a really famous scientist who came up with these 3 really
cool laws.

Accommodations/Differentiation:
● Students with IEPs will be accommodated as necessary as well as having their aides in
the classroom.
● Students with 504’s will be redirected if needed.

Materials/Resources:
● computer
● google slides - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11za10y1LdHPQu1-
zV5l-6FFIblNcT527ygUmLH7fYF4/edit?usp=sharing
● google forms -
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclt5Z2ZopnhUOFTGIy4nHrxjJy0yk
0WUmIzAOB4PDj1GUFvA/viewform
● webquest

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts