Kelsey Zeutschel

Lesson Plan Template

Title of activity- Iditarod. Forces
Concept covered in activity- Newtons 2nd Law
Grade level or other prerequisites for activity- High school physics (11th and 12th grade)
Standards:
National Standard- Analyze data to support the claim that Newtons second law of motion describes the
mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.
Colorado State Standard- 1.1 (HS) Newtons laws of motion and gravitation describe the relationships
among forces acting on and between objects, their masses, and changes in their motion but have
limitations
Learning objectives: SWBAT

identify Newtons 2nd Law

explain how an object can be moving while having the sum of all forces equal to zero.

Materials: White board, markers, string, block, scale.

Preparation: Have one block on a table attached to a string, attached to a scale.
Procedure/activity
Student Activity

Teacher Activity

Engage

Watch a video on the Iditarod, recall

information from previous class, and
re-draw their FBD of the sled in the
Iditarod.

Start out with having students recall the Iditarod

video, and show the clip again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NXc44GZGEY
Before showing the clip ask students to recall what
forces they drew of the free body diagram (FBD)
for the sled in the last class. Ask them this time to
think about the size of the forces in all directions.
When the video is done, ask students to draw
another FBD of the sled in the Iditarod in their
science notebooks.

Explore

Students pair up with their neighbor

and discuss ideas, after they have
agreed on a common idea, they share
it with their table group. As a table
group they will draw one FBD to
demonstrate their idea, and put it on
the board. Have student groups

Ask student to pair up with the person next to them

and discuss the magnitude of the arrows in all
directions. Ask them, is there a direction where the
magnitude is greater? Why? After they have done
this, have students pair in table groups and come up
with on FBD for the table. Have them draw their
table groups FBD on the board. Lead student

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present their drawing on the board,

and classmates can revise or give
opinions.

discussion about what is on the board, let them

share their ideas about what is correct.

Explain

Students give explanation of what

acceleration is and what mass is.
Students answer what a weight is.
Each student observes that as you pull
on the weight to put the block in
motion, the force climbs, until the
block begins to move. Once the block
is moving at a constant speed across
the table, the scales reading is
constant. Students answer this
question on a piece of paper. if the
block has a constant force acting on it
to make it move, and the block is
moving at a constant acceleration.
How big is the force of friction? the
same as the force pulling on it?
Bigger? Or smaller? Students again
pair up, group up, and share with the
class. Two groups of students will
participate in an informal debate about
whos answer/idea is correct. [great
way to reinforce the importance of
making evidence-based claims in
science]

Introduce the idea that a according to Newtons 2nd

Law, F=m*a. Ask students what acceleration is.
(this has previously been covered), and ask students
what a mass is. Then ask students what a weight is,
is this a mass or is it something else? Make sure
students understand that a weight is a force. Using
the preassembled block attached to string attached
to weight, ask students to observe what happens to
the numbers of the scale as you pull on it to move
the block. Ask students the question if the block
has a constant force acting on it to make it move,
and the block is moving at a constant acceleration.
How big is the force of friction? the same as the
force pulling on it? Bigger? Or smaller? Draw a
FBD of this situation on the board to help students
conceptualize while they answer the question, with
a ? by the frictional force arrow. After having
students tell the class of their thought, bring two
groups in front of the class (one with the right
answer, and on with the wrong answer) let them try
to convince each other that they are right. If
necessary, ask guiding questions like, how does
this relate back to Newtons 2nd Law? Ask student
to return to their seats.

Elaborate

Students listen, ask questions, and

answer what the sum of all forces is,
in a FBD.

Review again what Newtons 2nd Law is, and draw

it on the board. Ask class what the sum of all forces
means in respect to a FBD? Explain that the sum of
all forces is equal to the sum of all the arrows
pointing off of the FBD (this is a review from last
class). Since Newtons 2nd Law states that F=ma, if
the acceleration on an object is 0 then the sum of
the forces on that same object is also 0. If an object
is accelerating, then the sum of the forces is not
equal to zero, and force is greatest in the direction
that the object is accelerating.

Evaluate

Each student draws three FBDs of an

Iditarod sled, one moving at a constant
velocity, one decelerating and one
accelerating, and they must give a

Ask students to draw three FBDs. One of an

Iditarod sled that is fresh out of the start gate
(accelerating), one that is in the middle of the race
(constant velocity), and one that is after the finish

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brief written explanation to why they

drew the magnitudes the way they did.

line (decelerating). Also ask them to write two

sentences to explain their answer for each.

Assessment
Formative

Informal- classroom discussion, drawing diagrams on the board.

Formative- Students drawing and turning in three FBDs. One is of an Iditarod sled at constant
velocity, and the other is of an Iditarod sled fresh out of the start gate (accelerating). The written
statement allows a check on further comprehension of Newtons Laws.

Summative- none
Rubrics for grading:
3 points

2 Points

1 point

0 point

All 3 FBDs and

explanations were
complete

Two FBDs and

explanations were
complete

One FBD and

explanations were
complete

None of the FBDs and

explanations were
complete

All FBDs were correct

Two FBDs were correct

One FBD was correct

No FBDs were correct

All explanations were

correct

Two explanations were

correct

One explanation was

correct

No explanations were
correct.

Anticipated misconceptions/ alternative conceptions:

The direction that forces act on objects.

The idea that if an object is moving, it has to have a net force acting on it.

Accommodations/modifications of activity

give students extra time (can come in before/after school).

Make it really visual for ELL students.
Hand back corrected student work from last class, give students a chance to come in before/after school
to try a similar activity to make up points.

Zeutschel, 2014