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For guidelines to follow
when critiquing this lesson plan, click here: GUIDELINES. |
Basic Information About the Class
Content area: Science
Unit
Topic: Motion and Forces (This is a
new unit that the class is just starting today. It will include lessons on
Measuring Motion, Acceleration, The Nature of Force, Action and Reaction,
as well as the current lesson—Friction and Gravity.)
Lesson Topic: Friction
and Gravity
Content Area Lesson Objectives: As a result of
this lesson students will be able to do the following:
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Identify the factors that determine the strength
of the friction force when two surfaces push against each
other. |
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Describe the difference
between weight and mass.
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State the law of
universal gravitation.
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Lesson
length: one 75-minute class
period
Students:
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Twenty-five 7th
grade students
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Reading abilities: Approximately 1/3
are reading above grade level, 1/3 are reading at grade level, and
1/3 are reading below grade level. Poorest reader is reading at the
4th grade reading level.
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Textbook:
Padilla,
M. J., Miaoulis, I. & Cyr, M. (2000). Science Explorer: Motion,
Forces, and Energy. Prentice Hall: New Jersey. (Students will be reading pages 55-61, a chapter entitled "Friction
and Gravity.")
Step-By-Step
Plan
(Introduce New Chapter)
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Say to students, "We have finished
our unit on Weather and Climate. Today we are going to start a new
unit on Motion and Forces."
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(Introduce the KWL Strategy)
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Tell
students that they are going to be filling out a sheet called a “KWL
sheet.” (Students have
never used this strategy before.)
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Hand out a
KWL chart to each student. Tell students that the K stands for
“Know,” and in that column they will write down what they know about
the topic of the text. The W stands for “Want to Know,” and in that
column they will write down what they Want to Know about the topic
of the text. And the L stands for “Learned.” In that column they
will write down what they Learned about the topic of the text.
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Tell students that they will be
reading about two different forces of motion. Tell them to write
down everything they already know about FORCES OF MOTION in the K
column. (Have them work on this independently. Give them a few
minutes to do this.)
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When
everyone has stopped writing, tell students to write down everything
they want to know about FORCES OF MOTION in the W column.
(Again, have them work on this independently. Give them a
few minutes to do
this.) |
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Have
students put their KWL sheets to the side for now.
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(Reading Strategy Lesson: Headings and
Subheadings)
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Tell
students that you want to talk to them about something that good
readers do when they read textbooks. Tell them that good readers use
headings and subheadings to help them identify the organization of a
text, as well as to anticipate what the text is going to talk about
next. Have a full class discussion about what headings and
subheadings are, why they are included in textbooks, and how they
can help a reader understand what he or she is reading. Ask
students what they already know about headers. Have them share their
thoughts about how headers look and sound compared to the paragraphs
that follow them. How long do they tend to be? How big? Then do the
following:
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Ask a
student to identify the first paragraph heading they come to
in the chapter. Have another student identify the next
heading. Have students talk about how they identified these as
headings.
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Ask
students to talk about what they think the paragraphs will be
about that follow each of the headings in this text. Ask them
why they think so.
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Have
students identify some of the sub-headings in the text. Have
students explain how this text differentiates a heading from a
sub-heading. Ask for student volunteers to explain the
difference between headings and sub-headings with regards to
their function in a text.
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(Vocabulary)
Hand out a vocabulary
sheet to each student. Have students read it over silently. Ask if
there are any questions.
(Silent Reading)
Have students read the
chapter. Tell them that it is important that they really concentrate as
they read so that they can better understand what they have read.
(Wrap-Up)
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When it is
clear that everyone has completed the reading, tell students to fill
in the “L” column on their KWL sheets. They should indicate what
they learned from the reading in the “L” column. Collect students’
KWL sheets at the end of class. (Be sure to read these over so you
can see if students answered their W questions completely.)
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Explain to
students that tomorrow they will be going outside to do an
experiment with the forces of gravity and friction. Tell them that
before tomorrow they should think of different ways to test the
factors that they read about that affect friction and gravity.
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(Assign Homework)
Have students
open their books to page 55 (the first page of the chapter).
Read the directions for the experiment with the nickel
and quarter to students out loud while they read along. (This is where it
says “Discover” at the top of the page.) Ask if there are any questions
about how to do the experiment. Tell students that their homework for
tonight is to try this experiment and answer the questions about it.
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