Intel® Teach ProgramEssentials Course

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Unit AuthorFirst and Last Name Cindy KruegerSchool District La Habra City School DistrictSchool Name Washington Middle SchoolSchool City, State La Habra, CaUnit OverviewUnit TitleGet “LOST” in Forces and MotionUnit SummaryDuring our LOST unit we will be studying the different forces around us that create motion and it’s effect on buoyancy. Students will participate in activities to gain a better understanding of the laws of motion and buoyancy. Before each concept is taught a short (5 – 10 minute clip from the show “LOST” will be shown), various mind maps will be used in discussing what was viewed and how it relates to 8th grade standards on forces and motion, then an activity will be done by the students to reinforce the learning. As a culminating activity, the students will design and test a raft to get off the island. Finally, they will write an essay describing what forces were used in the raft design, what difficulties were faced, and how they overcame them. The writing component of the unit is taught and reinforced by the 8th grade language arts teacher.Subject AreaTwo California 8th grade science standards will be addressed during this unit:

I. Forces – unbalanced forces cause changes in velocity, the students will know*a force has both direction and magnitude*when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the cumulative effect of all the forces*when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object does not change*how to identify separately two or more forces acting on a static object, gravity, etc*when the forces on an object are unbalanced the object will change its motion*the greater mass of an object the more force is needed to achieve the same motion

II. Density and Buoyancy *density is mass per unit volume *how to calculate the density of substances *the buoyant force on an object in a fluid is an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces *how to predict whether an object will float or sink Grade Level The forces and motion unit is designed for 8th grade science students, however it could be modified to high school level physicsApproximate Time Needed This unit can be taught daily during 50 minute class periods for a duration of 3 to 4 weeks

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Unit FoundationTargeted Content Standards and Benchmarks 8th grade science standards #2 – forces and #8 – density and buoyancy. See above “subject areas”Student Objectives/Learning OutcomesDuring this unit students will state and apply Newton’s laws of Motion. Students will give examples of different kinds of forces, learn how to determine the net force of an object, and compare balanced and unbalanced forces. After becoming proficient in the understanding of motion and forces; students will apply and describe how fluids exert pressure, analyze how fluid depth effects pressure, learn how to determine what allows for buoyancy.Curriculum-Framing Questions

Essential Question Can all scientific laws can be applied in life?

Unit Questions

How are Newton’s Laws of Motion used in the every day life? Why do we need to understand forces to better understand buoyancy?

Content Questions

What are Newton’s laws of motion?What allows for buoyancy of an object?What is Archimedes Law?

Assessment PlanAssessment Timeline

Before project work begins Students work on projects and complete tasks

After project work is completed

*video clip of outcome of crash (season 1 – LOST)*brainstorm on graphic organizer the problems/solutions faced by survivors*introduce forces/motion vocabulary to be used during unitPretest

Float/sink tree diagram with text, pages 424-429

Cornell “Archimedes”

Activity – “floating cans” with writing & density calculations

May the force be with you – notes on Newton’s Laws & forces

View clip of episode 7 (season 1 – LOST)

Diagram unbalance/balance forces as shown in the video clip, also describe how the forces of friction & gravity were used

Friction graphic organizer

Scenario from LOST – apply type of friction shown in the scenario

Write about it

Design and present a brochure showing the scientific concepts learned during the unit

Participate in the “clay boat” activity

View video clip of episode 9, “Exodus” (season 1 LOST)

Using the brochure, create a cycle graph on a possible raft design

Create blue prints of a posible raft

Create/test raft Demonstrate &

present your raft to the class

Assessment SummaryStudent assessment will be on-going throughout the unit “LOST” in Forces and Motion. To begin the unit, students will brainstorm as a group problems and solutions – this will be put on a tree graphic

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Intel® Teach ProgramEssentials Course

organizer. After the initial brainstorming, academic vocabulary words will be introduced to the students, these will be used throughout the unit. Several different types of graphic organizers will be used to introduce a new concept and relate it to everyday life. As a follow-up and check for understanding, each graphic organizer will be followed by either a group activity/lab or an individual short write. As a culminating activity, each student will be responsible for designing a brochure addressing the different concepts learned during this unit. After the brochure has be turned in and graded, the students will work in small groups to brainstorm a design for a raft, draw blue print plans, and build and test the raft for efficiency. The goal is to design and build a raft that successfully uses the forces in order to achieve buoyancy. As a final assessment each individual student will do a technical writing assignment incorporating academic vocabulary and application of scientific concepts learned/used throughout the unit.Unit DetailsPrerequisite Skills*Students will need to have a basic understanding of common forces used in their every day lives and how they are applied. This will include a basic understanding of frictional forces, buoyancy (floating and sinking), as well different forces effect each other.*Scientific method*Basic computer skills which should include keyboarding and word processingInstructional Procedures

Teacher resource wiki

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the Essential Question, “Can all scientific laws be applied in real life”. They will do this by creating a brochure addressing the scientific concepts and laws taught during this unit. Students must use the vocabulary learned during this unit, provide graphics to reinforce the learning, give specific examples (may be an explanation of activities/labs, and apply to the “LOST” scenario. This information will later be used in designing/building their own raft and the technical writing assignment, which will be used as a final assessment for the unit.Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction

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Special Needs Students

IEP’s for special need students will be addressed and the resource specialists will be used to help give the students individual attention in order to meet individual needs. While working in groups, the special needs students will be placed with gifted students and assigned a “study buddy” to help reinforce new concepts. At the beginning of the unit, students will be given a timeline in order to better understand the long term goal of the unit and pace themselves in accomplishment of unit assignments.

Nonnative Speakers

Nonnative speakers (in our district – Spanish speakers) will be grouped with another second language student who is proficient in English. Spanish language science texts and dual language dictionaries will be available for use during the unit. During the unit realia will be shared showing the different concepts along with pictures from magazines and other sources. Vocabulary will be modified, the students will cut pictures from magazines or draw pictures that are representative of the vocabulary so they may better understand the concepts being taught. Graphic organizers are a regular part of the unit and will be utilized in order to better understand the concepts being taught.

Gifted/Talented Students

Students will research the history of various laws of motion, including Archimedes. Students will use various internet sites to gain a better understanding of these laws. As part of the culminating activity building a raft, the students will do actual calculations to determine buoyancy by measuring the weight of the raft, the amount of water displaced and finding whether or not the raft has postive/negative/neutral buoyancy and making adjustments as needed. A calculator will be needed. Students will also be responsible for designing and sharing a lab activity to test buoyancy. All of the above research should be included in their brochure. Calculations of buoyancy will be part of the raft blueprint design. Students may make a pictorial diary of their research and application during the raft building. They may use either a digital camera or a video camera. This diary may be imported into their brochure and/or shared with the class in the form of a power point presentation.

Materials and Resources Required For UnitTechnology – Hardware (Click boxes of all equipment needed)

Camera Computer(s) Digital Camera DVD Player Internet Connection

Laser Disk Printer Projection System Scanner Television

VCR Video Camera Video Conferencing Equip. Other      

Technology – Software (Click boxes of all software needed.) Database/Spreadsheet Desktop Publishing E-mail Software Encyclopedia on CD-ROM

Image Processing Internet Web Browser Multimedia

Web Page Development Word Processing Other      

Printed Materials Holt Physical Science textbook, graphic organizers, posters depicting various forces (including buoyancy)

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SuppliesLab materials needed to implement various activities throughout the unit, including a large tank for the “floating cans” lab and a small childs wading pool to test the final project – a raft to get off the island.

Internet Resources

www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_law.htmlen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton’s_laws_of_motionwiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_Friction_used_skateboardingwww.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Archimedeswww.encyclopedia.comwww.abc.go.com/shows/losthttp://citationmachine.net/ kruegercindy6@gmail.com

Other ResourcesStudents will participate in a variety of experiments/activities to further understand the concepts taught in this unit. It is suggested to show short clips (10-15 mins) exerpts from season 1 – ABC “LOST” from CD

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