Forces

The lesson aims to explain how unsupported objects fall towards the Earth due to the force of gravity. The students will be asked questions such as:

• Can I describe gravity as a pull, or attractive force?
• Can I explain that gravity pulls objects towards the centre of the Earth, and if they are in the air, it would make objects fall?
• Can I calculate weight?

The lesson also includes cross-curricular links to history, ICT, and math. In history, students will have the opportunity to find out why the leaning tower of Pisa was important in the study of gravity. In ICT, students will research the gravitational constants of various celestial bodies, and in math, students will perform unit conversions and calculations, and produce graphs of their experimental results.

Misconceptions that will be addressed in this lesson:

• Heavier objects fall more quickly
• Objects are attracted to the ground
• There is no gravity in space
• Gravity is the same everywhere in the universe

Keywords:

• Gravity
• Descend
• Newton
• Air-Resistance
• Mass
• Weight

Influential scientists that will be mentioned in the lesson include:

• Aristotle
• Galileo Galilei
• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein

In this lesson, students will learn about the effects of friction on moving surfaces. The objective of this lesson is for students to be able to identify that friction occurs when two surfaces slide against each other, understand that friction slows objects down, and describe the relationship between the amount of friction and the rate of deceleration. This lesson aligns with the Year 3 science curriculum on Forces and Magnets and has cross-curricular links to Design and Technology and Mathematics.

Students will be introduced to the science behind friction through a teacher demonstration of the "Handkerchief and the Cup" activity. They will then participate in the "Does Mass Affect Friction?" activity where they will test the amount of friction on different surfaces with varying amounts of mass. The results of this experiment can be graphed for mathematical analysis.

Misconceptions and Corrections

It is important to note that students may have misconceptions about friction. Some students may think that lubricants eliminate friction, when in reality, they only reduce friction. Additionally, students may believe that friction is not useful when in fact, it is essential in slowing down machines. Finally, students may believe that smooth surfaces have no friction when all materials show friction to a certain extent.

Keywords

• Friction
• Decelerate
• Smooth
• Rough
• Surface

Influential Scientists

This lesson highlights the work of several influential scientists in the field of friction including Leonardo da Vinci, Guillaume Amontons, Charles Augustin de Coulomb, Charles Hatcbett, Theodor Reye, and David Tabor.

Important Lesson Guidance

It is important to note that before the lesson, you will need to collect 32 plastic bottle caps and punch holes in the center of each cap. The "Does Mass Affect Friction?" activity requires materials such as Tupperware tubs, masses, string, force meters, a 100ml measuring cylinder, and aluminium foil. The experiment is performed in groups of four and the results can be recorded in a table for analysis. It is important to keep the balloon cars for Lesson 5.3.

In this lesson, students will learn about the effects of air resistance. The objectives are to explain air resistance as a type of friction, describe the effects of air resistance, and suggest ways of increasing or decreasing air resistance. This lesson aligns with the Year 5 curriculum of identifying the effects of air resistance, water resistance, and friction in forces.

Previous Learning

Students in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1) are not required to learn about forces, although they may have learned that parachutes slow down the speed of falling. In Key Stage 2 (KS2), Year 3 students learn about forces and magnets and how things move on different surfaces, and Year 5 students learn about forces in more detail.

Cross-Curricular Links

• Design and Technology: Students will make helicopters and rockets.
• Art: Students can color and decorate their rockets.
• Mathematics: Students can create graphs of their experimental results.
• History: Students can write a report on the use of paratroopers in World War 2.

Misconceptions and Corrections

• Misconception: Air resistance is not friction. Correction: Air resistance is a type of friction where the particles of an object strike air particles as it moves through air.
• Misconception: There is air resistance in space. Correction: No air particles exist in space, so there is no air resistance.
• Misconception: Fins on rockets reduce air resistance. Correction: By themselves, fins do not reduce air resistance, but they stabilize the rocket, and an unstable rocket will exhibit greater air resistance.

Important Lesson Guidance

Teachers should ensure that students have the necessary equipment for the lesson, including balloons from a previous lesson and hairdryers from home. The eggs used in the activity should not be cooked.

Activity: Save the Egg!

In this activity, the whole class will participate in a teacher demonstration. Students will observe the differences in descent speed between three different sized parachutes made from bin bags and string, with an egg in a resealable bag as the payload. The larger the surface area of the parachute, the slower the descent and the greater the air resistance.

Science Explained

Air resistance is a frictional force that slows objects as they move through the air. It acts in the opposite direction to the opposing force, in this case, gravity. The surface area of the object moving through the air affects the amount of air resistance it experiences. In the Save the Egg activity, students will see that the large parachute descends slower and helps keep the egg intact upon landing.

Possible Questions

• Why does the large parachute descend more slowly?
• What type of force is air resistance?
• Is air resistance useful

This lesson focuses on the concept of water resistance, its effects on moving objects, and ways to reduce it. Students will learn about the forces that act between moving surfaces and how they affect the movement of objects. The students will be introduced to the influential scientists who have studied water resistance and friction, and will be taught about the differences between water resistance and friction.

The lesson is divided into three activities: making and testing boats, watercraft shape research, and the quickest submarine. In the first activity, students will create different boat shapes and measure the water resistance using a force meter. In the second activity, students will research the shapes of different watercraft and compare them with ancient and modern watercraft. In the third activity, students will create submarines and compare their speeds.

Keywords

• Friction
• Water Resistance
• Surface Area
• Decelerate
• Water Particles
• Drag
• Float
• Sink

Misconceptions

• Water Resistance is not friction
• There is no water resistance for floating objects

It is important to note that water resistance is a type of friction, where the particles of an object strike water particles as it moves through air. Also, objects in contact with water still experience water resistance.

Important Lesson Guidance

In this lesson, students will be conducting experiments with water troughs, so it is important to have plenty of paper towels ready. The cleanup procedure for the water trough experiments is described in the lesson plan, but if students forget to place their troughs on the corner of the table, they will need to use a jug as a scoop instead.

In this lesson, students will learn about the basic concepts of levers, pulleys, and gears, and how they are used to make mechanical work easier. They will learn that by using these mechanisms, a smaller force can have a greater effect. The lesson will cover four main objectives:

• State that machines can make mechanical work easier.
• Explain that the longer the lever, the less effort needed to lift a load.
• Explain that adding pulleys reduces the effort required to lift a load.
• Describe the effect of a larger cog on a smaller cog.

This lesson is suitable for students in year 3 who have already been introduced to forces and magnets. The lesson plan also has cross-curricular links with design and technology, mathematics, and history. Students will make a simple lever and graph their experimental results, and learn about the history of pulleys and their usage in ancient civilizations. The lesson plan includes activities that will help students understand the concepts of effort, load, energy, fulcrum, pivot, mechanical, pulley, gears, cog, and rotation.

Influential scientists such as Archimedes, Hero of Alexandria, Franz Reuleux, and Simon Stevin will be introduced in the lesson. The teacher will need to purchase a gear set as it is not possible to make them in class. The class will participate in a demonstration to show the effort required to lift a load can be reduced by using pulleys. The lesson will also include an activity where students will learn how the classroom door functions as a lever and how the position of the fulcrum affects the effort required to move a load.

In conclusion, this lesson is a comprehensive introduction to the basics of levers, pulleys, and gears and how they can be used to make mechanical work easier. Students will learn how simple machines work and be able to apply their understanding to real-world scenarios.