Name: Brittney Tuttle

Lesson Title: Road Race

READINESS
I.
Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A.

Goal(s)
1. Students will be able to classify how surface effects an objects speed and
direction.
2. Students will be able to gather evidence and observational data using hands-on
experimentation.

B.

Objective(s)
1. After the lesson, students will be able to identify which surface allows an object
to move at the fastest speed and with the most consistent direction by constructing
their own experimental tracks using a variety of surfaces and participating in class
discussion.
2. Upon completion of the lesson, students will be able to gather observational data
using recording sheets and group collaboration.
3. After the lesson, students will be able to identify how the surroundings around an
object, such as surface, can affect the object in predictable ways by participating
in class discussion.

C.

Standard(s)
Content Standards:
2.1.4 Observe, sketch, demonstrate and compare how objects can move in different
ways (e.g., straight, zig-zag, back-and-forth, rolling, fast and slow).
2.1.6 Observe, demonstrate, sketch and compare how applied force (i.e., push or
pull) changes the motion of objects.
Process Standards:

II.

Conduct investigations that may happen over time as a class, in small groups,
or independently.
Make and use simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the
senses.

Materials
Anticipatory Set:
o Video clip from Aristocats where the double-seated motorcycle is
attempting to chase after the stolen cats
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9hZpIdEss

III.

Start at 1:20
Mini-lesson:
o Detective folders
o Magnifying glasses
o Hypothesis sheet
o Pictures of roller coasters, paved race tracks, dirt tracks with hills, a
pothole, and a gravel road
o Vocabulary cards (smooth, bumpy, rough, direction, speed, surface)
o Toy car
Group Activity:
o Paper towel rolls
o Masking tape
o Tubes
o Rods
o Construction paper
o Levers
o Bumpy surface (carpet)
o Smooth surface (table)
o Rough surface (sand paper path)
o Timer
o Ruler
o Group recording sheet
o Directions
Closure:
o Results sheet
o Exit slip

Management
a.

Time: Total: approximately 45 minutes

Anticipatory Set: 5 minutes
Lesson Presentation: 15 minutes
Groups: 15 minutes
Closure: 10 minutes

b.

Materials: (listed above)

c.

Space:

Throughout the lesson, the teacher will utilize the space around the reading carpet, the
kidney table, the area beside the coat closet, the area beside the teachers desk, and
students individual desks. During the anticipatory set and the mini-lesson, students
will be seated at their individual desks. During the station groups, students will move

to their designated areas to build their racetrack. After the students have completed
the group activity in their designated area, they will re-gather at their individual desks
for the closure of the lesson.
d.

Students:

Teacher will be patient and guiding in her questions. Students will learn how to
cooperate with each other during the interactive games built within the lesson plan.
The teacher will enforce a behavior management system. The system will involve
giving students classroom dollars to reinforce good behavior during the lesson
and stations while taking away classroom dollars to monitor bad behavior. The
teacher will use a clapping method to gain student attention and to monitor transitions
integrated into the lesson.
The teacher will pre-plan the grouping of the students. The groups will be consisted of
four heterogeneous groups that include various learning styles, ability levels, and
interests. In this way, students will be able to practice collaboration skills and
investigate ways to utilize each group members strengths to contribute to the whole.
Each member in each group will be responsible to record group observational data on
a recording sheet. Job roles will be assigned, and the teacher will do this by writing
their role on the directions sheet posted at the station. For group management, if
students have a question, they are to raise up their magnifying glass signaling to the
teacher that they need assistance. This will keep them from roaming the room or
shouting for teacher assistance.
Racetrack Groups

IV.

Group 1 (Blue)

Group 2 (Green)

Nathan
Caleb
Michael
Maylee
Kalef
Zylah

Delaney
Cyrus
Tessa
Alex
Aiden
Naomi

Group 3
(Purple)
Addie
Kelsey
Leo
Kirsten
Olivia
Bryan

Group 4 (Red)
Gavin
Lucy
Jack
Berkley
Jesse

Anticipatory Set

The teacher will introduce the lesson by showing the class a video clip from the Disney movie
Aristocats where the man is trying to escape from the dogs, causing his motorcycle to drive on
multiple types of surfaces, speeds, and directions. Okay, I am going to show a video to you!
While watching the video, think about all the different places his motorcycle goes! After
the teacher presents the video, she will ask the students the following questions:
1. Where were some places that his motorcycle went?
2. What kind of different roads did he have to drive on?

3. Was his motorcycle ride bumpy at times? At what times?

4. Have you ever had a bumpy ride like the one shown in the video? What kind of road
were you driving on?
The teacher will write students answers on the board and review the students observations with
them. She will then move forward in her lesson presentation.
V.

Purpose:

After the anticipatory set, the teacher will state the purpose to the students. Today we will put
on our detective spy gear and figure out how different road surfaces can affect how a car
moves and how fast the car goes! We must know this because detectives have to figure out
the fastest way a criminal escapes when leaving a crime scene. For instance, detectives have
to think about what road the criminal took to get away the fastest! We also have to learn
about surfaces because when we are driving or riding our bike, we have to figure out which
road will get us to a place the fastest. We have to figure out why certain roads make us go
faster! The surroundings around the car, such as the road, can affect how fast and what
direction the car goes. Surroundings matter!
PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION
VI.

Adaptation to Diverse Students

The teacher will adapt the lesson to accommodate for the individual needs of each student.
During the mini-lesson presentation, the teacher will have vocabulary cue cards for students that
struggle with reading and auditory processing.
During the workstations, students will interpersonal multiple intelligences will be given the
opportunity to collaborate in a group setting. For more analytical learners, they will be provided
with recording sheets to examine the data visually and analytically. For kinesthetic learners, they
will be able to construct a track using hands-on materials. For students that struggle with reading,
simplified and visual directions will be provided at each station.
For high ability learners, higher-order of level questions will be asked and discussed in groups.
Also, the teacher will encourage high-ability learners to explore relationships beyond surface,
direction, and speed by addressing air resistance and path direction during discussion.
VII.

Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

Mini-lesson:
After stating the purpose of the lesson, the teacher will begin her lesson presentation. During the
lesson, the teacher will review essential vocabulary with the students, provide explicit instruction

on the relationship between surface, direction, and speed, and present the problem that needs to
be solved through discovery-based problem-solving.
The teacher will begin by referencing the video presented during the anticipatory set. Okay,
after watching that video, we talked about some of the places the man drove his motorcycle,
and how where he was sometimes made his ride bumpy or sometimes smooth, depending
on where he was at. I would like everyone to take your hand and feel the top of your desk.
What do you feel? The teacher will take student answers and guide them toward the definition
of smooth. Yes, the top of your desk is smooth! Smooth is an adjective and means that an
object has no bumps, or is even all the way across. The top of your desks are smooth! The
teacher will write smooth on the board and ask the students to repeat the definition. What is
smooth? Good! The teacher will present a picture of a paved road. Do you think that this
would be a smooth road? Why? Good! Now, we can call the top of our desks another
words. The top of our desks is a type of surface. (The teacher writes surface on the board.)
Surface, in the situation we will use today, is the uppermost layer of an object. So the top of
the desk is a surface because it was the top layer of the desk! Surface is the uppermost, or
top layer of something. Can someone tell me the definition of a surface? Good! Lets all
repeat it together! What are some examples of surfaces?
The teacher will continue to introduce the words rough, bumpy, direction, and speed and writing
the words on the board while asking students to repeat the definitions. After each descriptive
word, she will present a pictures that correlates to road surface. For rough, she will present a
picture of a pothole, and for bumpy she will present a picture of a gravel road. She will ask
students why these pictures match up with the word. After the teacher explains the definitions of
smooth, surface, rough, bumpy, direction, and speed, she will explicitly explain how surface is
related to direction and speed.
In the movie, when the man was driving his motorcycle on the dirt road with potholes, he
was bumping around more wasnt he? Was his motorcycle going straight, or was he moving
all over the road? Yes, he was moving around! His surroundings, the bumpy road, were
effecting him! Surroundings matter! When a road is bumpy, the object on the road has to
hit all of those bumps, making it move. But when a road is smoother, there arent bumps
that the object has to hit, so it does not move as much, making it go faster! Surroundings on
the road help us determine our speed and direction! Today, we are going to be detectives
and figure out which road the criminal got away on. The criminal went on the road that
was the fastest and straightest for his car. So we have to figure out, what kind of surface
makes the car go the fastest and the most straight? Do you think the fastest road was the
bumpy one, the smooth one, or the rough one? Open your detective files and get out the
paper that says Hypothesis and Results on it. Under hypothesis, circle whether you think
the fastest road was the smooth one, the rough one, or the bumpy one. Explain why
underneath.
The teacher will have the students record their hypothesis on their sheets located in their
detective files. After the students have recorded their hypotheses and explained why, the teacher
will move forward with explaining the group activity.

Modeling of Stations:
The teacher will present the stations to the students. When she is finished explaining the task, she
will ask the students to repeat the directions back to her to determine student understanding.
Okay, we are going to break up into groups. There is a blue group, green group, purple
group, and red group. Open up your detective files, and there should be a star sticker on
the bottom left corner of your folder. Whatever the color that star is, is what group you are
in. Raise your hand if you are in blue! Green! Purple! And Red! Okay those are your
groups.
With your group, you are going to test out how surface can affect the cars direction and
speed. For smooth, you are going to use a table or desk to see if the car stays straight, or
moves left and right. Someone will push a car on the table. Another person will time how
long it took for the car to reach two feet, which is marked with a ruler. One person from
your group will record your results on this sheet of paper. Your jobs are written in your
detective file. One person will be the measurer, one the pusher, one the timer, one the
recorder, and the others are observers. For rough, you are going to use the sandpaper, and
record the direction and speed of the car when you push it on the sandpaper surface? Is it
faster or slower than when you push it on the smooth surface? Time how fast it took the car
to go two feet, and if it changed directions. Another person from your group will record
these results on the sheet as well. Lastly, you will test your car out on a bumpy surface. For
the bumpy surface, you will push the car on the carpet and observe how the direction and
speed changes. One person will time how fast it took the car to go two feet, and if it
changed directions at all. Another person from your group will record these results on the
sheet. Each group will have one recording sheet to fill out. Can someone please tell me what
you are to do in your groups?
After you have tested your surfaces, you will build a track! Will your track have a smooth
surface, a rough surface, or a bumpy surface? Build a track that you think will make the
car go the fastest. There are materials provided at the stations. Do no build your track until
after you have tested each surface and recorded the results on your paper. Will someone
please explain to me what you are to do AFTER you test the surfaces and record the results
on your paper? Good! Whatever surface you think makes the car go the fastest, use
materials to make a track. If you think smooth goes the fastest, use materials that are
smooth. If you think rough is the fastest, use materials that are rough. And if you think
bumpy is the fastest, use material that are bumpy!
Okay, you will need your detective folder and a pencil. Take your detective file and pencil
to the place where your group is testing the surfaces. I will be walking around to help. If
you have a question, please raise your magnifying glasses, and I will come to your group as
soon as I can!
Job Roles (will be assigned to students in their detective file): Measurer of length, the timer, the
recorder, the pusher of object, and the observers.

While students are constructing paths and tracks with varying surfaces, the teacher will move
around the classroom and ask the groups the following questions:
1. What happens to the car when you push it on a smooth surface? Rough? Bumpy?
Does it go faster or a little slower? Does it move from left to right, or does it stay
straight?
2. If a criminal had to get away quickly, and there was a bumpy road or a smooth
road, which road would he chose? Why?
3. Why do your parents take the interstate to get where they are going the fastest?
4. Are your hypotheses changing? How? Why?
VIII.

Check for understanding:

To check for understanding throughout the lesson, the teacher will ask comprehension questions
and analyze student answers. She will observe the students interactions with each other during
the group station activities, as well as their thought processes when observing and analyzing the
data of the relationship between surface, direction, and speed. During direct instruction, the
teacher will ask the students to repeat the definitions of the vocabulary terms determine their
understanding of what the words represent. In addition to asking the students to repeat the
definition, the teacher will observe student behavior when they are individually measuring and
configuring the race tracks. If students appear to be struggling, the teacher will assist them at
their stations, or prompt collaboration among the group to aid in the solving of the problem. The
teacher will use the recording sheets and observational data of each group to determine each
students ability level regarding the understanding of surface, direction, and speed relationships
and data recording skills.
Based on checklist data and observation: If 80% of the students show mastery of content, move
forward in the lesson and unit. Address the 20% in a small group setting for reinforcement and
re-teaching, scheduled for a meeting time sometime throughout that week. If less than 80% show
mastery, then re-teach the lesson to the whole class, using different instructional strategies.
VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
After the students are given time to create tracks in their groups, the teacher will have them regather at their desks for the closure. During the closure, the class will hold a discussion
concerning how surface effects direction and speed, and why this is so. The teacher will take
informal observational data to determine whether the students were able to meet the objectives of
the lesson. The teacher will ask the following questions:
1. Which surface made the car go the fastest? Why was this?
2. How did you build your track? Why?
3. How does surface impact the direction? The speed?
4. How do the surroundings of the road effect the car on the road? Do surroundings
matter? Why?

After class discussion, the students will fill out their results chart and compare their results with
the hypothesis they recorded during the mini-lesson. I would like you to take your sheet out
that says Hypothesis and Results and write down your results of the experiment. Did the
criminal get away on a straight road, bumpy road, or rough road when he was trying to get
away the fastest? Explain why.
To conclude the lesson, the teacher will instruct students to complete an exit-slip explaining their
results and why surface affects an objects direction and speed. Thank you for being great
detectives today! I would like you to get out the plain sheet of paper that is in your detective
folders. On this sheet of paper, write something that you learned today and how you got
your results. What did you learn? How did you get the results for the mystery? After you
are done writing, you may put the paper back in your folder and sit quietly until I dismiss
you to put the folders in the tray.
PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT
Formative:
For formative assessment, the teacher will use informal observational data, hypothesis and
results sheets, group recording sheets, exit slips, and class discussions to determine student
mastery of the objectives. Lastly, the teacher will assess the students knowledge of the content
by observing and examining their answers of higher-order questions asked throughout the lesson.
Summative:
For summative assessment, the teacher will ask questions about the relationships between
surface, direction, and speed on a unit exam. The teacher will also maintain a detective file for
each student as a portfolio assessment, where the students will keep all their observation data,
recording sheets, worksheets, and writing assessments within the file to be assessed by the
teacher at the end of the unit.
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1.

How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why
not?

2.

What were my strengths and weaknesses?

3.

How should I alter this lesson?

4.

How would I pace it differently?

5.

Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?

6.

What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a.

Blooms Taxonomy

b.

Gardners Multiple Intelligences

7.

Were students receptive to the track building? How well did the groups work
together?

8.

How much teacher guidance was needed while students were participating in their
groups?

9.

Was transitioning between the different activities smooth?

DIRECTIONS: CAR GET-AWAY STATION

Open up your detective file and find out what your job is.
Jobs:
1. Pusher

2. Recorder
3. Timer

4. Measurer

5. Observer

Push the car 2 feet on a smooth surface (table) and time how long it took the car to
race 2 feet. Then do the same thing for the bumpy (carpet) surface and the rough
(sandpaper) surface.

After you have your recordings, make your own track that would make the car go
the fastest!

HYPOTHESIS AND RESULTS SHEET

Name: ________________________

Circle your hypothesis and results. Which surface make the car go the fastest and
straightest? Explain why you circled the one you chose.

Hypothesis

Smooth

Bumpy

Rough

Explain: ___________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Results

Smooth

Bumpy

Rough

Explain: ___________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

RECORDING SHEET
Group Color: _______________________________

Record how fast and what direction the car moved based on the surface.

Time (seconds)

Smooth

Bumpy

Rough

Direction (did it change? How?)