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A project-based course on Newtons laws for talented junior high-school students

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2015 Phys. Educ. 50 410
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Papers
iopscience.org/ped

A project-based course on
Newtons laws for talented
junior high-school students
ElonLangbeheim
Arizona State University, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Tempe, Arizona,
AZ5411,USA
E-mail: elangbeh@asu.edu

Abstract
Research has shown that project-based learning promotes student interest
in science and improves understanding of scientific content. Fostering
student motivation is particularly important in accelerated science and
technology programmes for talented students, which are often demanding
and time-consuming. Current texts provide little guidance on ways to employ
challenging, open-ended investigations in physics suitable for the more
capable students. This paper presents a project-based approach for teaching
Newtons laws in a programme for talented eighth-grade students. Evidence
from student work demonstrates that project-based learning is a feasible
classroom practice, challenging yet fulfilling for both students and teachers.
S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/PhysEd/50/410/mmedia

1.Introduction
Policy makers in many countries believe that the
education system should provide opportunities
for capable students, especially those from minority or disadvantaged populations, to go beyond
traditional levels of science education [1]. In the
US, this idea led to the establishment of public
magnet high schools, and more recently, middle schools, for talented students [2]. In Israel,
the technology and science excellence student
reserve (TSESR) programme, developed by the
ministry of education in 2010, allocates funding
for additional hours of physics and mathematics instruction in 7th9th grades as well as curricular materials and professional development
workshops for teachers. The programme is targeted particularly at schools that serve underrepresented populations in the scientific community.
410

Physics Education 50 (4)

As in magnet schools, participation in the TSESR

track is selective and voluntary. Students enroll
based on their previous performance in math and
science but are free to leave the track at any time.
Participants in the TSESR track study more
hours than their non-participating peersa burden that might deter some students from taking
part in the programme. Indeed, such demanding
programmes can lead to attrition: one recent study
showed that students who attended a science and
technology magnet middle school were less likely
to enroll in a science and technology magnet
high school than students from non-magnet middle schools [3]. These findings indicate that programmes that supplement science learning at the
middle school level may have negative effects,
discouraging students rather than motivating them.
This suggests that accelerated science programmes

2015 IOP Publishing Ltd 0031-9120/15/040410+6$33.00

A project-based course on Newtons laws for talented junior high-school students

cannot rely solely on the continuous personal motivation of students, but must find additional ways to
encourage students to participate.
This paper argues that project-based learning
can serve as a remedy for this problem. Projectbased learning is an inquiry-centered framework that is based upon two central features: it
engages students in exploring a driving question that organizes and guides inquiry activity,
and it involves them in construction of artifacts
that pertain to the driving question [4]. Abundant
evidence supports the notion that project-based
learning yields better content knowledge and
learning skills than traditional, lecture-based
teaching [5, 6]. In addition, there is evidence that
self-directed learning activities such as hands-on
inquiry promote student interest in science [7, 8].
A central drawback of project-based learning,
however, is that the pursuit of open-ended investigations requires more time for covering content and greater teacher expertise. It is therefore
particularly suited to magnet programmes such as
TSESR, which provide more instructional time
than the regular curriculum and require continued
student motivation to participate despite the burdensome demands.
Practical examples for project-based curricula in physics such as the Nuffield A-level
investigations have been suggested and implemented at the high-school level [9], however,
at present there is little practical guidance for
planning and conducting project-based inquiry
courses for junior high-school level physics.
One example, the project-based inquiry science
(PBIS) curriculum [10], includes two modules
for junior high-school physics. However, student
investigations in this curriculum or similar ones
[11] are very structured and therefore likely to be
insufficiently challenging for the more capable
students. This paper addresses this gap through
a case study of an 8th grade science curriculum
in which students pursued independently planned
and executed projects in groups. The curriculum,
taught as part of a TSESR programme in an Israeli
all-girls school, focused on Newtons laws. The
paper proceeds as follows: it first describes the
course outline, followed by examples of student
work and the challenges the teacher faced in supporting them. Finally, it provides evidence of the
courses success, drawing on students performance and drop-out rates.
July 2015

2. Curriculum learning objectives and

structure
The project-based curriculum encompassed 30
1.5h-long lessons focusing on Newtons laws. It
included two major investigations, each driven
by a general question. The first project focused
on Newtons 1st law, equilibrium of forces and
Hooks law. Its driving question was: How do
structures adjust their shape in relation to the
forces that act on them or within them? The second project addressed Newtons second law using
the driving question: How do motion patterns of
objects change when altering the forces that act
on them or their masses?
The courses main components were guided
by the curriculum objectives of Israels ministry
of education. These include the requirement that
students define various types of forces (contact
and non-contact), produce free body diagrams,
and use Newtons laws to explain force balance
(or imbalance) in various scenarios. Most of the
curriculum is conceptual [12], supplemented by
simple calculations of net forces from basic free
body diagrams. The project-based curriculum for
the TSESR students goes beyond the standard
content mainly in its quantitative explorations of
Hooks law and Newtons 2nd law.
Each project unit was preceded by a series of
lessons that presented the necessary content and
methods for the investigation1. The project itself
began with a brainstorming session in which various objects such as springs, toy cars and magnets
were offered as systems for investigating the general
driving question. In the following lesson, students
were asked to write a description of their system and
a specific research question related to that system.
The next five lessons encompassed the investigation itself, in which students worked in groups on
setting up their experiments, taking measurements
and constructing posters of their reports. The posters were created according to a generic template
provided by the teacher, resembling a standard academic poster pattern. The initial drafts of the posters were then hung on the walls of the classroom
and presented by each group to their peers. The
peers were asked to provide feedback, which was
consolidated by the teacher and forwarded to the
1

Some of the activities that preempted the projects were

adapted from an activity packet distributed by the ministry of
education to the TSESR teachers.
P h y s i c s E d u c at i o n

411

E Langbeheim
Table 1. Curriculum outline with the time allocated to each activity.

Unit 1Forces,
equilibrium, and
Hooks law

Lesson outline

Activities

Introduction: what is
mechanics? What are forces?
How can we measure forces?

Discussing classroom expectations, describing

several phenomena (e.g. opening a parachute
when skydiving) and relating it to mechanics
(1 lesson). Hands on investigation: how can we
measure the mass of an objects (1 lesson)?
Introducing the concepts of a force, the spring
as an instrument for measuring forces and
Hooks law (2 lessons).
Introducing equilibrium of forces and its
depiction using free body diagrams (2 lessons).
Watching the movie October Sky (Johnston
1999) and discussing meaningfulness of the
student project in the movie (2 lessons).
Introducing the driving question of the project
through an example (1 lesson).
Bazar of objects/equipment (1 lesson).

What are projects? What is

their goal?
Project 1: structures and forces
Choice of system and topic
for investigation
Conducting experiments
Reporting results and
discussing them

Unit 2Effect of
mass and forces on
motion patterns

Introduction: what is
acceleration?
What affects the acceleration
of objects?
P
 roject 2: motion patterns and
forces
Choice of system and topic
for investigation
C
 onducting experiments
Reporting results and
discussing them

groups. The posters were then revised based on the

peer feedback and a final version of the poster was
submitted to the teacher. An outline of the complete curriculum is shown in table1.

3. Curriculum implementation and

outcomes
In order to provide a comprehensive description of the project work and its outcomes, the
paper focuses on the first unit projects only. A
short description of these projects can be found
in table2. Examples of projects from the second
unit related to analysis of motion patterns using
video analysis is abundant in the literature [13]
and therefore not elaborated here.
412

P h y s i c s E d u c at i o n

Exploring the system and formulating a

research question (1 lesson).
Taking measurements and presenting them to
the teacher (2 lessons).
Using a template PowerPoint poster to
articulate and share the investigation and results
(3lessons).
Investigation: producing different motion
patterns of a cart on a track using ticker-tape
(2 lessons).
Conducting experiments in which the
acceleration of objects is measured (2 lessons).
Defining Newtons 2nd law and applying it in
worksheet problems (2 lessons).
Introducing the driving question of the project
(1 lesson).
Choosing a system, exploring it and formulating
a research question (2 lessons).
Making movies of a motion pattern and
analyzing the movies using the tracker
software (3 lessons).
Using a template PowerPoint poster to share the
investigations in the classroom (3 lessons).
Final exam (1 lesson).

3.1. Initial guidanceselection of topic and

research questions
Students were free to put themselves in groups of
two or three students. After forming the groups,
they were asked to choose their system and
research question. Most groups needed an entire
class session to choose their system of interest and another lesson to pinpoint their research
questions. In their summary of studies on projectbased learning, Krajcik and Blumenfeld [14] write
that having the students come up with their own
driving questions is extremely difficult because
the questions have to fulfill criteria of feasibility
and alignment with the national standards for the
curriculum. Indeed, almost all of the groups in
July 2015

A project-based course on Newtons laws for talented junior high-school students

Table 2. Short description of student projects.
Project name

Brief description

1. Magnets trading places

Thirteen permanent magnets were divided into two groups. The magnets
were then placed horizontally on the table, some were fixed to the surface, and the rest were free to move as shown in figure3. The minimal
stable distance between the two magnet groups was then measured.
Two ends of a slinky were attached to two tables, allowing the centre
of the slinky to bend downward as shown in figure2. By changing the
number of loops attached to the table, the students measured the height
of the lowest point for each decrease in the overall length of the slinky.
The change in the average radius of several swollen hydrogel spheres
that were kept in a test tube was measured versus the weight that compressed them.
The buoyancy force that the water exerted on a piece of submerged clay
was measured as a function of salt concentration in water.
The changes in height of a structure built from triangular prisms (figure
1) were measured as the structure was compressed by varying weights.
The weight of a magnet was measured by a spring scale, each time
changing the distance from a fixed magnet placed underneath.
A box full of marbles was slanted to discover the maximum angle at
which objects placed on the marbles would remain stable on the incline
and not fall.
Weights were attached to helium balloons of various sizes until reaching
a point of balance at which the balloons would not move upwards nor
downwards.

2. The shrinking slinky

3. Squeezed hydrogel spheres

4. Salty buoyancy
5. The paper logs structure
6. Weighing magnets
7. Stuck on a bumpy, inclined
plane
8. Up pull of helium

this study needed assistance from the teacher in

articulating a research question that pertained to
their system. One exception was a group that built
its own system independently from scratch. This
group built a structure out of paper logs that were
folded to the shape of a triangular prism. It then
tested the structures elasticity by placing weights
of varying mass on top of it and measuring its
height (see figure1).

3.2. Ongoing support of student

experimentation and scrutiny of results
Once the research question was formulated and
approved by the teacher, the groups went on to
measure the effect of forces on their systems. This
part of the project required the least support from
the teacher, as most of the groups were able to
perform the measurements themselves. In a few
cases, they needed assistance. For example, two
students who measured the effect of water salinity
on the magnitude of the buoyancy force that the
water exerted on a piece of modeling clay, were
unable to detect a visible change in the magnitude
of the force because the spring scale they used
was not delicate enough to capture it. In this case,
the students did not know that a more sensitive
spring scale could be used and the teacher had to
draw their attention to this solution.
July 2015

Figure 1. The experimental setup in the Paper logs

project.

3.3. Verbal and pictorial presentation of the

work in student posters
Writing conclusions and explanations is considered in the literature to be the most challenging
aspect of project-based learning [12]. Writing can
be facilitated using scaffolds that exemplify how to
construct explanations with a generic form. In the
8th grade physics course the students were asked
to summarize their project using poster templates
P h y s i c s E d u c at i o n

413

E Langbeheim

Figure 2. The non-linear relationship between the height from the floor and the free loops as measured in the
Shrinking slinky project.

that contained the name of the project and the

participants, the purpose of the investigation, the
setup, the forces that act on the system, the procedure, the results and a conclusion. A sample poster,
produced by the Magnets trading places group is
provided as a supplement to this paper (see stacks.
iop.org/PhysEd/50/410/mmedia).
Some of the results were easy for the students
to explain. For example, the height versus weight
measurements in the Paper logs project revealed
a linear pattern that corresponded nicely to Hooks
law, which students had studied beforehand.
Other results were more challenging for the students to interpret. For example, in the Shrinking
slinky experiment, the students attached a slinky
horizontally between two tablesand changed its
free size by varying the number of loops attached
to the tables,as shown in figure2.
The measurements yielded a non-linear relationship between the height of the lowest point of
the slinky from the ground and the overall length
of the slinky indicated by the total number of free
loops. The non-linear relationship between the
number of loops and the elongation of a slinky is
well documented in the literature [15]. The students were not expected to provide a quantitative
explanation for their results, rather, to explain in
words that the non-linear relationship is caused by
the simultaneous change of the weight of the suspended, free slinky, and the spring constant itself.
414

P h y s i c s E d u c at i o n

Figure 3. The configuration of the magnet dipoles in

the Magnets trading places project. The left set of
magnets (m1) is fixed and the right set of magnets (m2)
is free to move.

3.4. Challenges for the teacher

Sometimes student investigations yielded unexpected results that were difficult to interpret even
for the teacher. For example, in the Magnets
trading places project, the students investigated
the impact of a certain division of 13 magnets into
two groupsm1 and m2, on the minimum distance r between them in which equilibrium was
maintained (see figure3).
The findings were surprising because contrary to the non-linear dependence of the magnetic force on the distance [16], the ratio between
the measured magnets separation distance and
the number of magnets in each pilewas almost
linear. Indeed, the simultaneous changes in the
number of fixed and free magnets when the total
amount of magnets remained constant, caused
a change in magnetic force that was almost linearly proportional to the distance, as shown
July 2015

A project-based course on Newtons laws for talented junior high-school students

in the supplementary material (stacks.iop.org/
PhysEd/50/410/mmedia).
3.5. Students persistence and assesement
All of the 19 students who began the course persisted
until the end of the year. However, one students
attendance was inconsistent, leading the school
to terminate her participation in the programme.
Student assessment in the course was based mainly
on their participation, contribution and performance
in their projects. The assessment rubrics used for
evaluating the project were similar to the ones used
in the A-level Nuffield investigations [17].

4.Summary
This paper demonstrates that project-based inquiry
can be used for teaching physics at the junior highschool level. The students were not discouraged by
the rigour of the physics their investigation entailed,
and almost all of them persisted in the programme.
As in other accounts of project-based curricula, the
students require substantial support and most of
their investigations were far from being independent. Although not entirely open-ended, this type
of instruction provides scientific challenges for the
students and the teacher that requires some investigation beyond the regular curriculum, but within
the teachers reach. This is a pioneering study of
a new curriculum and there is still room for further study and improvement. Nevertheless, I hope
that these examples will encourage other physics
teachers who teach talented students in junior high
schools to adopt a similar approach.
Received 10 November 2014, in final form 13 January 2015,
Accepted for publication 6 March 2015
doi:10.1088/0031-9120/50/4/410

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Elon Langbeheim is a postdoctoral
fellow at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers
College of Arizona State University in
the US. His research focuses on inquirybased learning of physics in secondary
schools.

P h y s i c s E d u c at i o n

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