MYP unit planner

Unit title Forces & Motion

Teacher(s) McMurray, Lathrop, Beavers

Subject and grade level 8th Grade Physical Science

Time frame and duration Quarter 3- 4 Weeks

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and

unit question

Area of interaction focus Significant concept(s)

Which area of interaction will be our focus? What are the big ideas? What do we want our
Why have we chosen this? students to retain for years into the future?

Human Ingenuity- HI will be There are laws of motion that explain how
demonstrated repeatedly throughout the our world works.
topics of forces & motion.
Simple machines can be used to make
work easier.

MYP guiding unit question(s)

How do “forces” affect our lives?

Content Question: “How can we use an understanding of
forces and motion to benefit our society?”

Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?

Project- SWBAT create a demonstration that explains or shows an understanding of a significant concept.
Experimental Design- SWBAT design a laboratory experiment that demonstrates an understanding of a
significant concept, and publishes a lab report relaying their findings.
Data Analysis- SWBAT collect and represent data through the generation of tables and graphs.

Which specific MYP aims and objectives will be addressed during this unit?

Aim #1- Develop skills of scientific inquiry to design and carry out scientific investigations and evaluate
scientific evidence to draw conclusions.
Aim #2- Appreciate the benefits and limitations of science and its application in technological
developments.
Objectives-
(A-3rd yr.)- Describe and explain ways in which science is applied and used to solve local and global
problems. (Project)
(C-3rd yr.)- Analyse simple scientific information by identifying basic components, relationships and
patterns, both in experimental data and ideas. (Experimental Design)
(E-3rd yr.)- Organize and transform data into numerical and diagrammatic forms, including mathematical
calculations and visual representation. (Data Analysis)

Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?

Rubrics for criterions A, C, and E

Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the

learning activities through inquiry

Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?

Key terms and concepts will include: Measurements, Frame of Reference, Force Diagrams, Simple
Machines, Work, Power, Efficiency, Newton’s Laws, Types of Forces

Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?

Observation skills
Collaboration and communication skills employed within project
Analysing skills used throughout labs

Learning experiences Teaching strategies

How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?

Rubrics will be provided and explained.
The acquiring and application of student
knowledge will be linked through laboratory
processes and direct instruction.
Weekly journal quizzes will be used to assess
prior knowledge as well as comprehension.
Formative feedback will be applied through group
collaborations and direct teacher feedback on labs and
quizzes.
Direct instruction, scaffold lab work, kinaesthetic
activities, inquiry-based partner research.
Various levels of enrichment/remediation based on
need. Visual aides used to reinforce concepts.

Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?

CPO lab kits that correspond to prefabricated lab activities. Internet. Lab kits that the teacher has
accumulated throughout previous years teaching.
Students will be required to seek out resources within their local community to assist in the creation of their
project.

Ongoing reflections and evaluation

In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are

further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning”
section of MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?

Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?

Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?

Students generally enjoyed the simple-machines project that they were required to construct. This forced
them to apply their understanding of the topic in a creative way.
Students were inspired to try to create a technological advance in some common item through the use of
simple machines, and reflected on the uses of forces in their everyday lives. This was expanded upon
through the experimental design portion of this unit.
A technologic component was developed by means of a compilation video that was produced by a group of
the students to show to the class how the projects and topics should be classified. The various projects
were then evaluated by their adherence to the rubric and the creativity of the projects.
There was a high level of collaboration within the 8th grade science department; each teacher approached
this lab with a slightly different application of the end product. This has cross-curricular ties to humanities
through the application of simple machines to the Industrial Revolution and to math through the formulaic
calculations.
The use of rubrics could be modified to better reflect the students’ level of understanding vs. the success of
their projects and labs. In reflection, this is the area that needs the most adaptation for the future.

Figure 12
MYP unit planner