Name: Katie Hardy

Cooperating Teacher: Ms. Showker, 4th Grade, Peak View Elementary

Date/Time to be Presented: March 23rd, 2016 at 2:15pm
Date to be Submitted: By March 16th, 2016

ELED 432 Lesson Plan

A. TITLE OF LESSON: Exploring Force through Toy Cars in Stations

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
By the time this lesson will be completed, I would have been in my fourth grade practicum
classroom for at least 7 weeks. Throughout those 7 weeks, I will be observing and interacting
with the students in my practicum, and will see their different attitudes towards science. I may
also conduct a mini survey to see what the students already know about force. I will also work
with my cooperating teacher to gain her input on her students attitudes towards science, and see
what strategies she may use to make science culturally relevant.
This lesson is appropriate because they havent discussed force since first grade (according to the
VA standards of learning). This activity also fits the standards and will address some of the
essential knowledge they need to learn to meet this standard. Force is a topic that students will
come back to in more advanced grades, so this could be a great introductory lesson for them to
grasp the concept. In relation to the curriculum sequence, this would possibly be either an
introductory or middle of the unit lesson. The curriculum at Peak View is very fluid, as long as
they address all of the standards, what they teach when is up to the fourth grade team.
Students learn best when they are working with tangible items that they can work with. This
lesson can also be used to help students work through the scientific method, and think critically
about what will happen by making predictions. Students will also be working in groups, which
can help develop their social and group work skills.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand
1. Motion has direction
and speed
2. Motion can change
based on factors like
mass
3. Friction is a force that
opposes motion
Know Do
The student will describe Students will complete data
the relationship between collection sheet to illustrate how
the direction and speed changing the height of a ramp
changes the motion (mainly
speed) of a toy car.
The student will examine Students will complete data
how mass can change the collection sheet to illustrate how
motion of an object. changing the mass impacts the
motion of a toy car
The student will discover Students will complete data
how friction impacts an collection sheet to illustrate how
objects motion. changing the material of a ramp
will change the motion of a toy
car.
 D. ASSESSING LEARNING

For each mini-experiment a child completes, they will complete a data collection sheet to
illustrate what happened in the experiment. For example, to show the change of height and
how it impacts a toy cars motion, a student will create a line graph to show whether the
speed increased from the height. Each experiment will have a graphic organizer for a student
to complete to organize their thinking and help guide them through the scientific process.

Objective Assessment
1. The student will Complete data collection sheet. Sheet will have predictions,
describe the trials, results, and questions asking for students to identify
relationship between the independent variable, dependent variable, and constants.
the direction and IV: height of ramp
speed DV: time for car to travel
2. The student will Complete data collection sheet. Sheet will have predictions,
examine how mass trials, results, and questions asking for students to identify
can change the the independent variable, dependent variable, and constants.
motion of an object. IV: mass of the car
DV: time for car to travel
3. The student will Complete data collection sheet. Sheet will have predictions,
discover how friction trials, results, and questions asking for students to identify
impacts an objects the independent variable, dependent variable, and constants.
motion. IV: ramp material
DV: time for car to travel

E. RELATED VIRIGNIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

Science

4. 2) The student will investigate and understand characteristics and interactions of moving
objects. Key concepts include
a) Motion is described by an objects direction and speed;
b) Changes in motion are related to force and mass;
c) Friction is a force that opposes motion; and
d) Moving objects have kinetic energy
4.1) The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and
the nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which
d) Appropriate instruments are selected and used to measure elapsed time
f) Independent and dependent variables are identified
i) Data are collected, recorded, analyzed, and displayed using bar and basic line
graphs

Curriculum Framework: In order to meet this standard, it is expected that students will

Describe the position of an object.

 Collect and display in a table and line graph time and position data for a moving object.
Explain that speed is a measure of motion.
Interpret data to determine if the speed of an object is increasing, decreasing, or
remaining the same.
Identify the forces that cause an objects motion.
Describe the direction of an objects motion: up, down, forward, backward. Infer that
objects have kinetic energy.
Design an investigation to test the following hypothesis: If the mass of an object
increases, then the force needed to move it will increase.
Design an investigation to determine the effect of friction on moving objects. Write a
testable hypothesis and identify the dependent variable, the independent variable, and the
constants. Conduct a fair test, collect and record the data, analyze the data, and report the
results of the data.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED

Enough to make 2 of every station (8 kids per station, working in 4s)

o Materials to make ramps (poster boards)
o Toy cars
o Weights to change mass of toy cars (bundles of pennies?)
o Materials to change ramp- tin foil, wax paper, tape, etc.
o Rulers to measure height
o Clocks or stopwatches to time

G. PROCEDURE

Preparation of the Learning Environment

While the students are in Specials/Resource classes, I will set up the experiment stations that
they will work with. There are four stations that need to be set up:

Station 1: Height
o This station will have 2 cars, 2 boards, 2 stopwatches, 2 rulers, and books to
change the height of the ramp
o There will be 2 experiments set up at this station so that way two groups can
be working at once
Station 2: Mass
o This station will have 2 cars, 2 boards, 2 stopwatches, 2 bundles of pennies,
and books to keep the boards up (but the amount of boards will not change)
o There will be 2 experiments set up at this station so that way two groups can
be working at once
Station 3: Friction
o This station will have 2 cars, 2 boards, 2 stopwatches, material to change the
texture of the ramp
 o There will be 2 experiments set up at this station so that way two groups can
be working at once
As the students come back from their specials class, they will be instructed to not touch anything
and to go back to their seats and wait for instructions.
Introduction (About 10-15 minutes)

To begin this lesson, I will tell students that they will be completing multiple experiments
today that focus on a common theme: force.
o To help introduce the concept of force, I plan on showing the students a small clip
(4 minutes) from an episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iKhLGK7HGk
o I will tell the students that instead of diving right into taking notes on force, we
will instead conduct a few experiments where they can see force in action, using
toy cars.
Next, I will lead a whole class discussion on conducting experiments, paying particular
attention to the difference between independent variables and dependent variables, as
well as what constants are.
o After mentioning the terms IV, DV, and constants, I will ask students to complete
a table talk to help get students to remember these terms that they learned earlier
in the year.
o Students will share what they remember, and if any clarification is needed, I will
give definitions to these terms.
After the whole group discussion, I will explain each of the three stations and the
expectations for each. At each station, each student will complete a data collection form
before, during, and after they complete the experiment.
o In the BEFORE section, each student will need to make a prediction, as well as
identify the IV, DV, and constants.
o In the DURING section, each student will need to record the time of each trial
they complete of the car going down the ramp. The exception to this is the
connection station, where students will write their connections on poster paper
o In the AFTER section, each student will need to give a brief statement that
explains what they found in their experiment. Also, there will be a section of the
form dedicated to students to write down connections they find between the
lesson they just completed, and their own lives.

Implementation

To begin this part of the lesson, I will have the students already broken up into groups of
4; these groups will have been created with the consultation of the cooperating teacher.
o The groups will be broken up into 4, put there will be 2 groups at each station.
Each group of 4 will work on each station for a time period of 7-8 minutes
As students are working in groups, I will be walking around and checking in to see how
students are doing and answer any questions they may have.

Closure
 After students have completed all 3 rotations, I will ask all the students to go back to
their seats, and compare their findings to their peers at their table groups. After a couple
of minutes, I will ask if any student or table group would like to share their findings, and
what they learned from this activity.

Clean-Up

Because this lesson is the last thing students will complete on this day, students will be
focusing on packing up their own stuff and getting ready for dismissal. I will be
responsible for cleaning up all the materials.
H. DIFFERENTIATION

Because this lesson has students working in small groups, these groups will be
prearranged before this lesson will be taught. The groups will be created with
consultation of the cooperating teacher, and will focus on mixing students from a variety
of levels and attitudes towards science.
I will be circulating around the room while the students are working in their small groups,
and will answer questions as they arise. If I notice a student struggling to follow
instructions or identify the different characteristics of the experiment, I will work one-on-
one with that student to help get him/her on track.
For those students who finish early, they can spend more time on making connections to
the experiment they just completed to their own lives, and can think about where they see
force occurring daily.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT
IT?
There are a couple of aspects of this lesson that could cause some difficulties when it is actually
completed in practicum. For each problem identified, I will also describe a possible solution.

First of all, this lesson has students working in small groups and completing multiple
experiments in a 45 minute max time block. Students may have difficulty completing
these experiments in the time limit, even though the experiments themselves are not super
extensive. If students are having difficulty completing each experiment, I may have each
student complete at least one of the experiments, and then share their results with the
other students at their table. While it may not have each student complete each
experiment and make connections, as was the original objective of this lesson, students
will at least get practice with completing an experiment and identifying the independent
and dependent variable of those experiments.
Students may also have difficulty working in small groups. Students may be distracted by
working with others, or may need some assistance with getting work done in small
groups. In my introduction to this lesson, I will try and prevent this kind of thing from
happening by stressing the importance of working with others and focusing on the task at
hand. However, if need be, I could change this small group, hands on lesson to a whole
 group demonstration if students cannot handle this amount of responsibility in working in
groups.
Another facet of this lesson that could impact this lesson from being successful is how
students use the equipment that is needed in the experiments. Students may end of
wanting to play with the cars, instead of using them for the experiments, the cardboard
ramps could fall apart, or they may be some difficulty finding space for all of these ramps
to fit in the room comfortably. My plan is to work with my cooperating teacher in the
advance for placing the stations in the room, but I may try and move some of the stations
in the hallway if it really becomes an issue.
LESSON IMPLEMENTATION REFLECTION
Out of the lessons I had to teach for my methods classes this semester, this one was by far
the most successful and the one I was happiest walking away from. The lesson I planned took
way longer than anticipated however, and luckily I am fortunate enough to have a cooperating
teacher who wanted me to keep the lesson going, probably because the students were completely
engaged and were conducting experiments. The lesson took longer because of two separate
things: the introduction and one of the experiments. As stated in the lesson, I had planned on
reviewing different parts of the scientific method, especially independent variable, dependent
variable, and constants. This was per the request of my cooperating teacher, who mentioned that
they hadnt used those terms since the beginning of the year. Because they havent reviewed
them since the beginning of the year, it took a lot longer to review them for the sake of this
lesson. Also, the penny station, where the students add pennies to a car to see the effect of more
mass on a toy car down a ramp, took a lot longer than anticipated. While I was able to tape
pennies to cars fairly quickly, I forgot to think about how long it would take for students to do.
The other stations would finish before the mass station, so luckily there was a challenge section
on the data collection sheet for those who finished early could complete, but it is something to
keep in mind for next time.
My assessment for this lesson was the data collection sheet/packet I had students
complete at each station they went to. At each station, the students had to make a prediction,
identify the independent variable, dependent variable, and constants, collect data, and make a
conclusion of what happened in this experiment. Looking through their sheets, most students
were able to collect data and identify the different aspects of the experiment and identify what
happened when changing the independent variable. One thing that I added at the end of my
lesson was to ask students what changes could be done in the experiment to get different results,
or just to test in general, and some students wrote some really neat ideas like changing the type
of car or seeing how completing an experiment on the floor instead of a ramp. While the lesson
was occurring, I was walking around and making observations, and was pleased to see that all
students were engaged in the lesson, and seem to have fun doing science! At the bottom of this
reflection, some pictures are attached, which can further illustrate how engaged the students
were!
A developmentally appropriate practice that I could do a better job with the next time I
teach this lesson would be to actually model what the experiment would look like at each station.
That way, I could provide a better visual for those who needed it, instead of just giving oral
directions. By doing this at the beginning of the lesson, I could also model the expectations for
the behaviors I expect during the remainder of the lesson. Behavior was not a problem during
this lesson with my practicum students, but it could come in handy with another group of
students.
Based on the assessment data I collected, I would make my next focus would be to break
down the different aspects of the standard this lesson addressed (Science 4.2). A day or two
could be spent on motion is described by an objects direction and speed, then a day or two on
changes in motion are related to force and mass, then a day or two on friction is a force that
opposes motion, and another day or two on moving objects have kinetic energy. I would
reference the experiments they completed from this lesson in my instruction and could maybe
even redo some of these stations when it was related to another lesson, like station 3 (changing
the texture of the ramp) when I would teach about the concept of friction. This lesson was a great
introduction to the unit of force and energy, and is something I would love to do in my own
classroom, if I were to teach fourth grade.
As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, I have observed that children can really
learn from doing hands-on activities, especially when it comes to science. Another thing that has
been reinforced for me based on this lesson was how well grouping can work in an upper
elementary classroom. When the students worked in groups, they were working cooperatively,
and were supporting each other in their learning. The students in my practicum class work really
well together and it is refreshing to see how they love to help each other. Another thing that I
asked to children to do in this lesson was to make a connection of what they saw in the
experiment to their own lives, and once again, I was surprised by some of the creative responses
they came up with, liking biking or skateboarding down a hill, NASCAR racetracks, etc.
Planning and teaching this lesson also reinforced my understanding of how much responsibility
children can take in their own learning. Most of this lesson was them conducting the experiments
themselves; I wasnt the one who changed the independent variable or used the stopwatch.
Children can handle more than some people expect, which is something I will need to keep in
mind when I have a classroom of my own.
As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, I have relearned how powerful hands-on
activities can be to teach scientific ideas to children. I also observed that teaching can include
just be a facilitator during a hands-on activity like this one, and instead of having a teacher-
centered classroom, instruction can be taught by conducting student-centered activities which get
them involved and engaged. A teacher would still be there to assist students or clarify
misconceptions, but he/she wouldnt be the person dominating how the students learn. A hands-
on lesson like this is a great way to teach a variety of learners, which can be hard to do with just
lecture or videos.
As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, I learned that I can teach science through
experiments. I have never had the opportunity to teach a lesson like this before, and it exciting to
see my practicum students get excited about doing experiments and making science fun. At the
end of the lesson, I asked my practicum students whether this was an activity I should do in my
own future classroom, and to hear a choral statement of YES! was neat and reassuring. Also, I
was I learned that I can plan and teach an effective science lesson. I was initially nervous to
teach a lesson on this standard, since force and motion, or physics in general, is something that I
struggled with growing up through my schooling. However, based on the data I collected and the
feedback I received from my practicum students and my cooperating teacher, I know have more
confidence in teaching science concepts like physics to elementary school students.
PICTURES