Kelsie Wall

ELED 3221--003
Date: March 19, 2018

INDIRECT INSTRUCTION (STRUCTURED DISCOVERY) LESSON PLAN FORMAT

The Force of Gravity

Elementary Science
_____________________________________________________________________________

Big Idea: Force and Motion (Physical Science)

Grade Level: Fifth Grade (5th)

Rationale: Students are learning this material because everything that they encounter on a daily
basis is caused by force and motion acting on objects. The students are realizing how the
components of force and motion impacts their lives and the scientific community. Students are
able to use this concept of learning to apply with scientific discoveries and creating new
predictions or hypothesis. For example, without gravity everything would fly right off of the
ground. Force and motion keeps students alive and healthy. Gravitational force extends its
importance and content to many other aspects like the solar system, weather, and other scientific
concepts. These reasons allow students to scaffold a deeper knowledge about the section of
force and motion based on gravity affecting the motion of objects. In Kindergarten, students are
expected to build understanding of the position and motion of objects and organisms within the
environment. In First grade, students are expected to build understanding based on forces (push
and pull) cause changes in the motion of an object(s). In Second grade, students are expected to
build understanding how force and motion create sounds and vibrations. In third grade, students
have created an understanding based on motion and factors that affect motion. In fourth grade,
students are expected to know how various forces affect the motion of objects.

NC Essential Standard(s):
5.P.1 Understand force, motion, and the relationship between them.

5.P.1.1 Explain how factors such as gravity, friction, and change in mass affect the motion of
objects.

Next Generation Science Standard(s):

5-PS2-1 Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed
down.

Instructional Objective:
Students will be able to explain how gravity affects the motion of objects and how objects are
pulled towards the Earth by analyzing the information critically and describing their ideas or
thinking process. Student will also justify how gravity impacts our daily lives. Students are
expected to earn 8 out of 10 points or 80%.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills:

Student’s background knowledge and skills is the positioning of objects and changes that occur
due to motion. The students should also be able to recognize that mass and force causes changes
in motion (gravity, normal force, applied force) and how force and motion create sounds and/or
vibrations. They should understand that gravity is a fundamental force, which influences the
environment that surrounds them daily and pulls or pushes objects to or near Earth. The teacher
needs to know that force causes changes in an object. Force causes motion through the use of
pushing or pulling, which causes changes in acceleration, deceleration, and velocity. Velocity
causes the object to change either its speed, direction, or both. There are two different types of
forces, contact forces and directional forces. Contact forces are considered normal force, applied
force, friction force, and other forces. Directional force is considered gravitational, magnetic, and
electrical. The teacher must also understand that changes in speed causes changes in velocity,
which is also known as acceleration.

Materials/Resources:

Smart Board
Computer and/or Laptop
Worksheet - “Free-Falling Objects”
Scales
Timer
Objects for Explore: ball, metal weight, orange, rock, and paper
Anchor Chart
Foldable
Rope
Notebooks/Journals
Pencils or Pens
Paper

Online Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHB5l-I_Yvc
https://unctv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.ess.eiu.galmoon/galileo-on-the-
moon/?#.WpdcJ4JG3Vo
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/galileo-science-experiment-weight-and-gravity-
11016248
https://unctv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.galileoexp/galileo-his-
experiments/?#.Wpi--4JG3Vo

Source of your lesson:

Silver Valley Elementary School is using a STEM based science curriculum. A teacher, Miss.
Everhart, provided an example of a student’s work and edition to the topic/section that they
covered during the year within their science unit. The material and resources that the teacher
provided corresponded to the NC Essential Standard and Objective 5.P.1.1. I also gathered ideas
from various websites, which is included in my materials, that shared experiment ideas, content,
and other scientific information.

Estimated Time: One hour during Science period or block

Accommodation for Special Needs/different learning styles:

For English Language Learners, I will provide a vocabulary list that includes pictorial support
that corresponds to the vocabulary words introduced throughout the evaluation part of the lesson.
During the engage part of the lesson, I provided a video that reads aloud the book called “I Fall
Down” to support the students with different learning styles and with disabilities (visual,
struggling readers, and etc.). I also provided a video in the explain and elaboration part of the
lesson to support visual and auditory learners. Throughout the explore and elaboration part of
the lesson plan, I allowed the students to experience and perform an example of the concept.
This provided an opportunity for the students who are kinesthetic style learners. I also asked
questions throughout all sections of the lesson plan to encourage usage of vocabulary words,
critical thinking skills, and engagement.

Safety considerations:
Students are required to not handle any toxic materials or dangerous objects throughout the
lesson. I will provide clear instruction throughout the lesson on what is expected, how to
properly handle equipment and take responsibility for their surrounding work area. This
responsibility includes making sure the area is clean, organized, and other accountable actions.
Kelsie Wall
ELED 3221-‐003
Date: March 19, 2018
______________________________________________________________________________

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5 E’s. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. Additionally, I expect you to include possible
questions and anticipated student responses to your questions for each section.

Engage: 5 Minutes
Students will congregate at the classroom meeting area in front of the room, which the Smart
Board is located. The teacher will present the book called, “I Fall Down” by Vicki Cobb to
gather prior knowledge from the students. The following link provides access to the of the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHB5l-I_Yvc. The book describes the scientific relationship
between gravity and mass or weight. This allows the teacher to accommodate for the students
that need extra assistance, like hearing disabilities or English Language Learners, by using visual
representations and subtitles. The teacher will ask the following questions to gather ideas about
student’s previous knowledge and possible answers:

● What do you believe this book is about or the main idea? Why?
○ Gravity! Gravity causes objects to pull towards the earth.
○ The book is about baseball. The front of the cover has a baseball on it.
● What characters or objects do you believe you may see?
○ I believe you may see a baseball, a boy, and other objects.
○ Food.
● What are you wondering about after looking at the cover and the back of the book and a
few of the pages?
○ I wonder how baseball is connecting to falling on the ground.
● What is gravity?
○ Gravity allows us to not float in the air.
○ A force that pulls objects towards the Earth.
● Where is gravity?
○ Everywhere!
○ All around us!

After asking each of the questions based on background knowledge based on book content, the
teacher will have the students perform a “turn and talk” with their peers sitting around them to
discuss their prior knowledge based on gravity. The teacher will allow the students to discuss for
a few minutes and then allow time for students to share ideas or thoughts. The teacher will write
these ideas on the board, which she/he will return to later throughout the lesson to show the
progression of students’ knowledge. The students will return to their seats to begin exploring the
concept with a new, interactive activity.

Explore: 10 Minutes
The teacher will ask the students to get out of their chairs and stand behind it. The students will
be assigned into groups of four, which is the same students at their tables. The teacher will then
introduce the experiment to the students. Students will use the Galileo’s experiment, which is
named after the scientist that performed this specific experiment. This experiment involves
taking objects with various sizes and weight and dropping them from the same distance to see
which object will hit the ground first. The teacher will ask the following question: “What do you
think we will be doing with these objects?” Possible answers that the students may or may not
give is the following:
● We will be dropping the objects to see which one hits the ground first.
● Experimenting with the objects based on gravity!

The teacher will then hold up the various objects and provide the students the opportunity to
predict which objects will either fall faster, fall slower, or fall at the same time. The teacher will
ask the following questions: “Between these two objects, what do you believe will happen? Will
the objects fall at the same rate, will one fall faster, or will one fall slower?” Possible answers
that the students may or may not give is the following:
● The first object will fall at the same rate as the second object.
● The first object is heavier, so it will fall faster than the second object.
● The first object is smaller, so it will fall slower than the second object.

Teacher will then introduce the activity. Students will then be handed a worksheet, which they
will use during the explore section of the lesson. Students will work collaboratively and
communicate with their peers in their small groups to record weights, make predictions, and
record results of various objects. Students will be asked to drop the items at the same distance to
be able to receive accurate results. Each group will share their findings with the rest of the class.
After the students explored the concept, the teacher will ask questions to gather ideas and
thinking processes. Some of the questions that teacher might ask during the exploration is the
following:

● What are some observations about all of the objects?

● Are there two objects that may or may not hit the ground at the same time or at different
times? Why?
● What are some relationships that you notice within your findings?

Teacher will show a brief interactive activity called “Galileo: His Experiments.” The teacher
will ask the students to predict which object will hit the ground first and have them support their
predictions. The teacher will then select the student’s choice to determine if their prediction was
supported or not supported. Some questions that the teacher may ask is the following:
● How did you determine your prediction?
● Why do you believe this effect on the object(s) occurred?

These exploration activities are to encourage the ideas and understanding of Galileo’s findings
that all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. The activities also are to help create
the understanding that absence of forces like air resistance is when this concept is supported.
Explanation: 15 Minutes

After the students have explored and created an understanding based on gravitational forces
pulling objects toward the Earth and the effects it has on objects. The students will use the data
that they have collected and ideas from the class discussion to determine the “big idea” of the
experiment through the use of technology called Padlet. The teacher and the students will then
create an anchor chart based on gravity by using the students’ responses and scientific content.
Before creating the anchor chart, the students will be given time to discuss with their peers their
“big idea” that they shared on Padlet. Some examples of questions that the teacher will ask to
help generate ideas or student discussions is the following:

● How does gravity affect the velocity or speed of an object?

○ Gravity pulls the object down or towards the Earth.
○ Controls the speed the object(s) travels.
○ Larger the object, the larger force of gravity.
● How is mass a factor in the experiment?
○ Mass is how much stuff there is or how large the object is.
○ The larger the object, the more the object weights.
● What would happen is air resistance was a factor in the experiment?
○ The objects wouldn’t fall at the same time.
○ The larger object would hit the ground first.

Students will be asked to use all the information that they just learned to come up with a
conclusion to their scientific findings. Some of the questions that the teacher may ask the
students and possible answers are the following:

● What is gravity?
○ A force that pulls objects towards the Earth.
○ Allows us to not float in the air.
● What is mass? How is mass relevant?
○ How much stuff there is or how large the object is.
○ Determine the amount of gravitational force.
● What is acceleration? How is acceleration relevant?
○ Rate of speed.
○ Determines the rate of speed the object is traveling at.
● How does gravitational force affect an object?
○ Pulls objects towards the Earth depending on the mass and distance.
● How does Newton’s Law of motion relate to this topic?
○ The speed of an object or acceleration depends on the mass and the amount of
force acting on the object.
● What would happen if gravity didn’t exist?
○ There would be nothing!
○ Nothing would stay on the ground and everything would float.

The teacher will introduce the book “I Fall Down” from the engagement section of the lesson
plan to help the students understand the scientific relationship between gravity, mass/weight, and
air resistance, and etc. The teacher will present the virtual read aloud from the link provided and
ask the students questions regarding their thoughts or ideas and understanding. Some of the
questions that the teacher may ask is the following:
● What connections did you make from the experiment you participated in and the book
content?
○ No matter the weight or mass of the object, gravity pulls the objects at the same
rate.
● How does gravity affect the motion on objects?
○ Gravity pulls objects towards the Earth.
○ Allows objects not to float in the air.
● How is the content from the book related to our everyday lives?
○ Gravity pulls us and objects towards the Earth.

The teacher will have the students fill out their foldable, which focuses on the vocabulary words,
that is provided to them as resource during the explanation section of the lesson. The teacher
will praise the students for all their hard work and participation throughout the lesson so far.
Teacher will transition the concept by introducing the importance of force in our daily lives and
various places or ways gravity is seen besides on Earth.

Elaborate: 15 Minutes

To elaborate on the concept, the teacher will begin by splitting the students up into three stations.
Students will be asked to jot notes down at each station, which they will use their ideas and
understanding during a quick discussion at the end. The first two stations are activities from
“Getting a Feel for Gravity,” which is located on the following site:
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/classroom-activities/en/. These two stations may need to be
performed in a larger area or outside. The first station is called “Borrowing Energy from a
Planet,” which demonstrates how differences in mass between objects (the planet and the
spacecraft) allows for the spacecraft and the astronaut to reach its destination in an efficient time
frame. The second station is called “Creating a Force Field,” which demonstrates how
gravitational forces reach out into space. The last station will be students watching the following
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kantd0EIxEE. This video provides details and steps
to becoming an astronaut. Students will need to jot notes down on what they notice in relation to
gravity, reasons astronauts train to go into space, and other interesting details throughout the
video. Students will be able to discuss and share with their peers within their station group.
Questions that the teacher may ask based on the different stations is the following:
● After stepping into space for a little bit, how is gravity relevant to space and other
planets?
● How is gravity similar and different on Earth than other planets in space?

The stations and the video mention other vocabulary and scientific information based on our
Solar System. The students will participate in a think-pair-share on what their thoughts about the
new terms and scientific content means and connections that they can make. Once the students
have had a few minutes discussing with their peers, we will come back together as a class. The
teacher will ask a few students to share their group’s or their own thinking process based on the
discussion.
Students will be able to return back to their seats to prepare for their final assessment to complete
the lesson.

Evaluate: 10 Minutes
Formal Formative Assessment: Students will individually complete the worksheet called, “Free-
Falling Objects.” This worksheet requires the students to use their conceptual understanding to
be able to identify which table has the correct data based on the scenario. Then, the students will
be required to explain their thinking through a short description which supports their ideas and
thinking process based on the answer that they chose. On the back of the worksheet, students
will include one sentence stating why they believe gravity is important in our daily lives.
Students will be asked to use the new vocabulary that was introduced during the lesson in their
short descriptions. English Language Learners and struggling readers will receive a list and
pictures of the vocabulary words. This will look like the following:

Force and Motion

Vocabulary Words

Gravity Mass Weight Acceleration Newton’s Force Motion

2nd Law
of Motion

Students will work individually for ten minutes to complete the worksheet and explanation. An
example of an evaluation assignment that meets all of the requirements is the following:
Rubric to determine level of mastery:

Beginning Developing Mastery

Vocabulary/Language The student provides The student provides The student provides
Usage very few written written vocabulary written vocabulary
vocabulary and/or and/or language in and/or language in
language in their their explanation to their explanation to
explanation to support their answer. support their answer.
support their answer. The student used two The student used
The student used one vocabulary words in three or more
or less vocabulary their written vocabulary words in
words in their written description (1 Point). their written
description (0 Points). description (2 Points).

Explanation/Descripti The student provides The students provide The student provides
on an explanation or an explanation or an explanation or
description based on description based on description based on
their answer but is their answer, but it is their answer and it
incorrect (0 Points). partially correct (2 accurate (4 Points).
Points).

Correct Table/Answer The student didn’t The student didn’t The student circled
circle the correct table circle the correct table the correct table that
that represented the that represented the represented the
problem (0 Points). problem (0 Points). problem (4 Points).
Closure:

After the students complete their evaluation assignment, they will participate in a Brain Dump in
their journal or a daily notebook that allows the students to have easy access to in the future.
This will conclude the lesson, which allows the teacher to walk around the classroom and record
and recognize what the students have comprehended throughout the lesson based on the content.
This also allows the students to have an opportunity and a place to record their knowledge and/or
thoughts about the concept. The teacher will be seeking for vocabulary usage, connections being
made, and other comprehension skills that the students may decide to use. The teacher will then
ask the students if there are any questions remaining.