Lesson Planning

Waynesburg University

Writing the lesson plan:

Translating thoughts into a plan of action
_____________________________________________
Pennsylvania Academic Standard(s) addressed during this lesson:
(Provide Standard number and statement)

3.2.10. B1.
Analyze the relationships among the net forces acting on a body, and the mass
of the body, and the resulting acceleration using Newton’s Second Law of
Motion.

Apply Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation to the forces between two objects.

Use Newton’s Third Law to explain forces as interactions between bodies.

Lesson Objective(s)
(Stated in observable and measurable terms)

The students will be able to…

1. Use Excel to create a graph that displays data.

2. Explain the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration (Newton’s
second Law).

Assessment Plan
(What will be done to determine if lesson objectives have been met?)

The students will be assessed on their Excel spreadsheet and their lab questions. The
spreadsheet will be assessed on accuracy. The lab questions will be assessed on content,
accuracy, use of evidence from lab to support idea, grammar, and group work.

Materials:

Materials needed include access to a computer that has Excel.

Graphing Forces and Motion Lab Sheet which is attached at the end (Borrowed from
Microsoft)

Inclusion Techniques for Students with Special Needs:

The students will be working in groups. The groups will be predetermined and assigned
heterogeneously.

Enrichment Techniques: n/a

Lesson Differentiation (What modifications/accommodations will be made to ensure that

ALL students have access to and are able to participate in the lesson):

The lesson is designed to be done in groups. The students will have a scaffolding with
pictures and text for accessing and creating a chart in Excel.

Lesson Presentation
Introduction/Motivational Activities/Anticipatory Set:

The teacher will present their Excel Chart. Then the teacher will pass out the lab sheet.
The teacher and students will review the directions together. At this time the teacher will
answer any questions before the students are set free to work on Excel with their partner.

Detailed Teaching Sequence:

(Provide sufficient detail that would enable a substitute to effectively present this lesson.
Bulleted statements are preferred)

• Share teacher Excel Chart

• Discuss elements lab sheet
• Allow students time to explore Excel with their partner and their lab sheet
• Students will print out Excel Chart and chart their work for the day on poster
paper along with their Excel Chart. These will be displayed in the classroom.

Guided Practice/Independent Practice/Assessment Activities

Students will create Excel Chart about Newton’s Second Law (F=ma). The students
should use the lab sheet to create their chart and then answer the questions that follow.
The chart should display the data accurately, have a title and labels, and show a graph of
the data. On the poster paper their students should answer the questions about the
relationships between force, acceleration, and mass. The poster should be done neatly
and large enough to be displayed on the wall in the classroom.

Closure: Student posters will be displayed in the classroom. As a class the teacher and
students will discuss the questions on the lab sheet about the relationship between force,
acceleration, and mass.
Graphing Forces and Motion
1. Forces and Motion
i. Open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
ii. To title your spreadsheet, select View> Header and Footer Custom Footer.
From the Page Setup dialogue box, select Custom Heading. In the field titled
Centre section, write the heading: Forces and Motion and click OK:

III. Copy the following table into your Excel spreadsheet:

Mass of Trolley (kg) Force Applied (N) Acceleration Produced

(m/s2)
0.5 1 2
0.5 1.5 2.9
0.5 2 4.1
0.5 2.5 4.8
0.5 3 6.2
1 2 1.9
1.5 2 1.4
2 2 1.1
2.5 2 0.8
3 2 0.6
iv. Adjust the columns to the correct width to suit.
v. Create a border around your data by highlighting the cells containing and
selecting Format> Cells. Click the Borders tab, and choose a border style to
suit:
 vi. While the Format Cells dialogue box is still open select then Alignment and
Centre data and click OK.
vii. Highlight heading and units row (Cells 1 and 2 – A to C), select Format> Cells>
Shading and choose an appropriate shade to delineate the headings from the
data.
2. Now that you have imported your data in your spreadsheet here are some questions to
think about and answer:

Questions

d. The data is really about two experiments. What is the purpose of each?
e. What was controlled in each experiment?
f. What was measured in each experiment?
g. Use Excel to draw two graphs to represent the data.
h. What conclusions can be drawn from each graph?
2. Let's turn the data into a graph:

GRAPH 1: FORCE VS ACCELERATION

iv. Highlight the data (not including the headings) in cells 3B&C down to 7B&C.

v. Click the Chart Wizard button:

vi. A choice of graphs appears. Choose the line graph, then select a line graph to
suit and click Next.
vii. In the Data Range window, click on Series in: Columns.
viii. From the same dialogue box click on the Series tab and click on the reduce
screen icon in Values.
 ix. Highlight the acceleration readings (y- values) in the cells 3C down to 7C. Click
the reduce screen icon again to return to your Data Range dialogue box. A one
line graph should appear with acceleration on the y-axis.
x. Click on the reduce screen icon for Category (X) values icon. Highlight all X
values (cells 3B to 713) and click on the reduce screen icon again to return to the
Data Range dialogue box. Click Next.
xi. Add titles for the heading, name and units for both X and Y axes and click Next.
xii. In the chart location dialogue box, select As object in: Same sheet. Click
Finish.

GRAPH 2: MASS VS ACCELERATION

Follow instructions as above, to create a graph that illustrates mass vs. acceleration.
Remember to highlight the data in cells 8A to 12A, (mass) and cells 8C to 12C.

Answer the following questions:

1. State Newton’s Second Law of Motion in words.

2. Use a mathematical formula to demonstrate Newton’s Second Law of Motion.
3. Calculate the force being applied if:
i. a 5 kg box accelerates at 4 m/s2
ii. a 1.3 tonne car accelerates at 3m/s2
iii. a 600 g ball accelerates at 4 m/s2
4. Calculate the acceleration caused by:
i. a 80 N force applied to a 0.5 kg mass
ii. a 0.5 N force applied to a 60 kg mass
iii. a 35 N force causes a mass to accelerate at 6m/s2. Calculate the mass.