Spotlight Project: Projectile Motion

P R O J E C T
Name of Project:
Subject/Course:
Other Subject Areas to
Be Included:

O V E R V I E W

0ROJECTILE-OTION
-ATH!LGEBRA))4RIGONOMETRY
0HYSICS

Duration:
Grade Level:

page 1

WEEKS



P B L S T A R T E R K I T / P L A N N I N G A N D P R E PA R I N G / 7 7

Project Idea
Summary of the
challenge, investigation,
scenario, problem, or
issue:

3TUDENTSWORKINTEAMSTODESIGNANDCONSTRUCTABALLISTICDEVICETHATLAUNCHESANOBJECTINAIGHTPATHTHAT
FOLLOWSAPARABOLA4HEYUSELOWCOSTMATERIALS06#PIPEPLYWOODRUBBERBANDSETC TOBUILDTHEDEVICEWHICH
MUSTBECAPABLEOFREPEATEDRINGS3TUDENTSUSEKNOWLEDGEOFQUADRATICFUNCTIONSINORDERTOHITATARGET%ACH
TEAMCONDUCTSMULTIPLETESTSANDUSETHEDATATHEYRECORDTOREDESIGNTHEIRDEVICEIFNEEDED3TUDENTSMAKEAN
ORALPRESENTATIONUSING0OWER0OINTSLIDESTOSUMMARIZETHEIRNDINGS

Driving Question

(OWCANWEBUILDADEVICETOLAUNCHAPROJECTILEANDCALCULATEITSMOTIONINORDERTOHITATARGET

Content and Skills

Standards to be
addressed:

3TUDENTSWILLBEABLETO
5SETWO DIMENSIONALEQUATIONSOFMOTIONFORPROJECTILEMOTION
TOCALCULATEINITIALVELOCITYTIMEINTHEAIRHORIZONTALDISTANCEAND
MAXIMUMHEIGHT
5SETRIGONOMETRYTORESOLVETWO DIMENSIONALVECTORSINTOITS
VERTICALANDHORIZONTALCOMPONENTS

21st Century Skills

explicitly taught and
assessed (T+A) or
encouraged by project
work, but not taught or
assessed (E):
Culminating
Products &
Performances

T+A

Collaboration

c
8

Presentation

c
8
c

Critical Thinking:

Group:

Individual:

$ESIGN0ROPOSAL
#OMPLETE"ALLISTIC$EVICE
-AIN4EST2EPORT

'RAPHQUADRATICEQUATIONANDNDX INTERCEPTSY INTERCEPTSAND

VERTEX
!PPLYFACTORINGQUADRATICFORMULAANDGRAPHINGCALCULATORTONDX
INTERCEPTSOFAQUADRATICGRAPH
#!#ONTENT3TANDARDS !LGEBRA))4RIGONOMETRY
0HYSICSIJ
T+A

c
8

Other: #RITICALAND#REATIVE4HINKING0ROBLEM3OLVING

!NGLESOF%LEVATION2EPORT
/RAL0RESENTATION

Presentation Audience:

c Class
c School
c Community
c Experts
c Web
c Other:____________________

P R O J E C T
7 8 / P L A N N I N G A N D P R E PA R I N G / P B L S T A R T E R K I T

Entry Event to
launch inquiry
and engage
students:
Assessments

Formative
Assessments

Summative
Assessments

Quizzes/Tests

c
8

Practice Presentations

c
8

Journal/Learning Log

Notes

Preliminary Plans/Outlines/Prototypes

c
8

Checklists

Rough Drafts

Concept Maps

Online Tests/Exams

Other:

Written Product(s), with rubric:

Other Product(s) or Performance(s), with

Oral Presentation, with rubric

c
8

rubric:______________________________________________
Peer Evaluation

c
8

Multiple Choice/Short Answer Test

c
8

Self-Evaluation

c
8

Essay Test

Other:

____________________________________________________

(End of Project)

Reflection
Methods

page 2

!CTIVITY0APERWADTOSSINGCONTESTTRYTOHITWASTEBASKETTOSSINGOVERSTUDENTSOFVARYINGHEIGHTS
ANDDISCUSSIONOFPARABOLAS
6IDEO3CENESFROMLASTYEARSPROJECTNALTESTSOFPROJECTILELAUNCHDEVICES

(During Project)

Resources
Needed

O V E R V I E W

On-site people, facilities:

LARGEOPENAREAFORCONSTRUCTINGANDRINGBALLISTICDEVICESOTHERTEACHERSANDAIDESAS
AVAILABLETOHELPWITHCONSTRUCTION

Equipment:

MEASURINGTAPE,#$PROJECTOR

Materials:

LOWCOSTMATERIALS06#PIPEPLYWOODRUBBERBANDSETC WHICHMAYBEPROVIDEDORTHAT

STUDENTSMAYCOLLECT

Community resources:

NONE

(check all that

will be used)

Journal/Learning Log

Focus Group

Whole-Class Discussion

Fishbowl Discussion

Survey

c
8

Other:

Spotlight Project: Projectile Motion

Spotlight Project Sample: American Archetypes

5 8 / P L A N N I N G A N D P R E PA R I N G / P B L S T A R T E R K I T

PROJE CT
Project:

T E AC HING

A ND

!MERICAN!RCHETYPES

L E A R N I N G

G U I DE

Course/Semester:

Knowledge and Skills Needed by Students

Scaffolding / Materials / Lessons to be Provided

to successfully complete culminating products and

performances, and do well on summative assessments

by the project teacher, other teachers, experts,

mentors, community members

"USINESSCOMMUNICATION

3TUDENTSWRITERESUMESANDCOVERLETTERSINSTRUCTIONINCLUDINGSAMPLES
ANDTEMPLATESPROVIDEDBYCOUNSELORPEEREDITINGOFDRAFTSFINALEDITSBY
COUNSELOR

/NLINERESEARCHSKILLS

%VALUATINGWEBSITEACCURACYACTIVITYONLINEANDWORKSHEET 
%FFECTIVESEARCHENGINE TECHNIQUESACTIVITYLEDBYTEACHER

0OWER0OINTAND%XCEL

)NSTRUCTIONINSOFTWAREUSEPROVIDEDBYCOMPUTERAPPLICATIONSTEACHER

-ARKETINGTOOLSANDTECHNIQUES

7EEKLYVISITSBYLOCALBUSINESSPARTNERSWITHEXPERTISEINMARKETINGAND
PRODUCTDEVELOPMENT3TUDENTSBEGINEMAILEXCHANGESWITHEXPERTS

0RESENTATIONSKILLS

6IDEOREVIEWOFSTUDENTS
PRESENTATIONS
-OCKPRESENTATIONBYINSTRUCTOR

2EPORTWRITING

53HISTORYCONTENTKNOWLEDGE

*IGSAWACTIVITYTOLEARNPRESENTATION
RUBRIC
0EERASSESSMENTUSINGRUBRIC OF
PRACTICEPRESENTATIONS
$IRECTSMALL GROUPINSTRUCTIONONTHEFEATURESOFREPORTWRITINGBYINSTRUCTOR
0EEREDITINGOFDRAFTSFINALDRAFTSBYTEACHER$IRECTSMALL GROUPINSTRUCTION
ON-,!#ITATIONSINCLUDINGONLINEBIBLIOGRAPHYGENERATORS *IGSAWACTIVITYTO
LEARNREPORTWRITINGRUBRIC
4EXTBOOKREVIEWLECTURESRESEARCH BASEDWORKSHEETSOBJECTIVEWEEKLY
QUIZZESONLINERESEARCH

Spotlight Project Sample: Design and Attract

P R O J E C T
Project:

$ESIGNAND!TTRACT

MO NDA Y

Start Date:
TU E SD A Y

%XPLANATIONOF0ROJECT
$ETAILS0ROCEDURES
%XPLANATIONOFRUBRICSFORMAJOR
PRODUCTS
2EVIEWSAMPLESOFPROFESSIONAL
PRODUCTSINRELATIONTORUBRIC
4EAMMEETINGTASKLIST
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

P B L S T A R T E R K I T / P L A N N I N G A N D P R E PA R I N G / 6 5

#HECKPOINT#OLLECTNOTESON
INITIALIDEASFORMATERIALS
#HECKPOINT4EAMSMEETWITH
OTHERSTOCRITIQUEWORKIN
PROGRESS
4EAMWORKTIMEDISCUSS
FEEDBACKFROMCRITIQUE
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

4EAMWORKTIME0REPARE
ANDPRACTICEPRESENTATIONOF
MATERIALS
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

W E E K

W E E K

T HU RSDAY

F RIDAY

,ESSON$ESIGNTHEORY
4EAMWORKTIMECONTINUE
ASSESSMENTOFCLIENTNEEDS
BEGINBRAINSTORMINGIDEASFOR
MATERIALS
(OMEWORKCOMPLETECLIENTNEEDS
ASSESSMENTDUE-ON
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

#HECKPOINT1UIZON$ESIGN
4HEORY
4EAMWORKTIMEBEGINDESIGNOF
MATERIALS
2EVIEW2EVISE+NOW.EEDTO
+NOWLIST
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENTMEETING
WITHTEAMLEADERS

O N E

T W O

,ESSON4YPOGRAPHYREVIEW
4EAMWORKTIME#ONTINUE
CREATINGMATERIALS
2EVIEWREVISE+NOW.EEDTO
+NOWLIST
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

P R O J E C T

4EAMWORKTIME&INISH
CREATINGMATERIALSPLANNING
PRESENTATION
#HECKPOINT3UBMITMATERIALSFOR
TEACHERREVIEW
&INALREVIEWREVISIONOF+NOW
.EEDTO+NOWLIST
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

W E E K

$ESIGN3OFTWAREREVIEW
TAUGHTPRIORTOPROJECT
,ESSON!SSESSINGCLIENTNEEDS
4EAMWORKTIMEBEGIN
ASSESSMENTOFCLIENTNEEDS
(OMEWORK2EADINGONASSESSING
CLIENTNEEDS
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

P R O J E C T

#HECKPOINTCOLLECT#LIENT
.EEDS!SSESSMENT
4EAMWORKTIME#ONTINUE
DESIGNINGMATERIALS
(OMEWORKNOTESONINITIALIDEAS
DUETOMORROW
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

&EB

W EDN ES D A Y
P R O J E C T

'RABBER-EMOFROM
-IDDLEBURG5NIVERSITY
+NOW.EEDTO+NOWLIST
0ROJECT4EAMS!NNOUNCED
$ISCUSSIONOFEXPECTATIONSFOR
TEAMWORK
&IRSTTEAMMEETINGROLES
CONTRACTINITIALTASKLIST

C A L E N D A R

#HECKPOINT1UIZON
TYPOGRAPHY
%XPLANATIONOFRUBRICFOR
PRESENTATIONOFPRODUCTS
4EAMWORKTIME#ONTINUE
CREATINGMATERIALS
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENTMEETING
WITHTEAMLEADERS

#HECKPOINT4EAMSMEET
WITHOTHERSTOCRITIQUEWORK
INPROGRESS
4EAMWORKTIME#ONTINUE
CREATINGMATERIALSPLANNING
PRESENTATION
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT
(OMEWORK#ONTINUECREATING
MATERIALS

T H R E E

4EAMWORKTIME0REPARE
ANDPRACTICEPRESENTATIONOF
MATERIALS
$AILYTEAMASSESSMENT

0RESENTATION$AY

3ELFAND0EER!SSESSMENT
0ROJECT$EBRIEFAND
CELEBRATION