This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 5th Grade Science.
This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 5th Grade Science.
In this STEM lesson, students will use the engineering design process to design and construct rocket-powered racing cars with which to investigate Newton's Laws of Motion. Each student will construct his or her own car from food trays, and will use inflated balloons to power the car (thrust). Students conduct three trials and measure the distance traveled by the cars. Between trials, students modify their designs to improve performance and solve any "mechanical" problems that crop up. At the conclusion of the activity, students submit a report on their racer design and how it performed in the trials.
In this lesson, students design roller ball race tracks from recycled cardboard boxes and construction paper. Students will experiment with balls of various sizes and weights, different surfaces and ramp levels.
Students will design a fun and safe roller coaster with at least one loop. Students start by simulating a coaster with Amusement Park Physics. Here they learn about giving their coaster the maximum energy needed to complete the course. Their coaster design is rated for safety and fun. After simulating a coaster and understanding how to design a safe and fun coaster, students use the design process to create a prototype coaster for an amusement park.
In this video, students learn that anytime there is a change in motion force is the responsible party. It has to overcome inertia to act on an object. Inertia keeps an object either sitting still or moving at a constant speed.
In this video, students learn that gravitational force is the constant force of attraction between the masses of two objects. The attraction between objects and the Earth is called gravity. Weight is caused by gravity: it is the measurement of gravity's force on an object's mass.
In this video, students learn inertia means that an object in motion will stay in motion in the same direction, or will stay at rest, unless another force acts upon it. For an object to change direction or stop moving, something has to overcome inertia.
This web page includes templates for making simple paper helicopters that students can drop and watch them spin and fall slowly to the ground. These "rotocopters" model the way that maple, ash, and other trees disperse seeds through a helicopter method (possible life science connection). Students can make their own rotocopter and then change one variable to see how it affects the flight time. Possible variables include: type of paper, size of rotocopter, weight of paperclip, number of blades, etc.
In this lesson, students will use their energy to understand inertia. Students will run a distance of 10m and attempt to stop exactly on the finish line. They will then discuss why it was difficult to stop their motion.
In this lesson, students learn about vocabulary such as gravity, force and speed, and then apply those meanings as they participate in small cooperative groups to test different variables such as weight, speed and elevation. Students record and compare such data as time it takes for toy cars to roll down a ramp, the distance a toy car travels and they determine the averages for time and distance.
In this activity, students jump with and without weights to demonstrate that gravity has more effect on heavier objects.
In this activity, students will model the movement of cargo in the bed of a truck in order to experience Newton's first law of motion. Students will be given eleven different scenarios that the truck and the cargo encounter. The students will predict where the cargo will be after the scenario is applied, explain their prediction in terms of Newton's first law of motion and then test and explain the results of the scenario.
Students make a water bottle rocket. They investigate the variables that affect the height and distance travelled by the rocket.
In this lesson, students investigate the question: "What will happen if objects with different masses are dropped at the same time?" Students hypothesize about the nature of falling objects, design an experimental test to answer the question using everyday objects, analyze data to form conclusions, and infer that mass does not affect the speed of falling objects. This activity culminates with the teacher demonstration (dropping a bowling ball and a golfball) to show that mass does not affect the speed of falling objects.