Friction

5 E Lesson Plan Format

Standards 4.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which a) distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictions; c) variables that must be held constant in an experimental situation are defined; e) appropriate metric measures are used to collect, record, and report data, and f) data are displayed using bar and basic line graphs. 4.2 The student will investigate and understand characteristics and interaction of moving objects. Key concepts include c) friction is a force that opposes motion. What concepts do you want students to understand after completing this Science project? The students will understand the concept of a lubricant and how the lotion reduces the friction involved in opening the jar. Students will understand the concept of friction and be able to understand how certain surfaces have more resistance to motion than others. The car will not roll as far when rolled on a surface that provides a lot of friction to the motion of the car. Students will know how to record data and learn the importance of performing multiple trials, making predictions, and computing an average. Essential Questions How does friction affect motion? How do certain surfaces affect motion? What materials produce more friction than others? When is friction helpful and when does it get in the way? Criteria for Success (How will you know if students have gained an understanding of the concepts?) If they are able to successfully collect data and be able to interpret it in order to realize which surfaces provides the most friction. The students will predict before the experiment is conducted and compare the results to their predictions. I will then ask the students to attempt to explain the predictions versus the results. The students will also create a chart of real-life examples that involve friction and different surfaces (slipping on ice, rolling ball in sports) and have them explain when friction is good and when it gets in the way. Resources (What resources will you and your students use?) 5 Toy cars 5 Inclined clipboards Sand paper Wax Paper Patterned cloth Thick corduroy-like material

Paper to mark distance traveled by car Yard stick Hand lotion Jars with twist off lids Poser boards (optional) Management (How will students share technology resources? How will you break up the lesson into segments?) I will have an introduction demonstration before the activity and a concluding discussion afterwards. I will break the students up into groups of 4 to 6 students (so that there are 5 groups in total-or less if necessary). Each student will have their own calculator. There will be a circuit of stations containing 5 clipboards, each 5 covered in a different material. The students will start at different stations and perform one trial each, recording their partners data as well, and averaging all 4, 5, or 6 data values. They will then write this overall average on a post-it note and continue to the next station when I have specified the time to switch. The stations will be in a circle so that switching to the next station will be clear. I will give them a one minute warning between each circuit rotation (approximately 5 minutes per station). Learner Diversity (Consult with the classroom teacher concerning students with special needs and follow his or her recommendations when you develop the final description of your lesson, include a description of any modifications that you made for diverse learners.) Based on individual classes - I can help the student run the experiment if necessary.

Engage Capture the students attention, stimulate their thinking and help them access prior knowledge. I will then bring out examples of different jars textured lids and show how they are ridged in order for us to easily open the jar (peanut butter jar, etc.). Start with jar opening example: call up a volunteer and have him/her open the jar with his/her bare hands, lotion, and finally a grip. The students will see how he/she was unable to open the jar when the lotion was used showing how lotion is used as a lubricant and reduces friction. I will then make a web on the board using the center question where do we see surfaces that provide friction in our daily lives? and have the students come up with answers. Prompts: What makes a car stop? A baseball player sliding into home? Different shoes (cleats, hiking boots)? I will point out how the chart shows that many different surfaces provide friction. I will then introduce the experiment that they will be doing that tests how different surfaces provide different amounts of friction. Have four to six volunteers

(depending on the class size) come to the front of the class and perform a trial run of the experiment. Each student will have a trial data sheet and a calculator so that they can record the data and calculate the total and average for this trial. Show how they will measure the distance by reading the measurement of the place where the car stops on the paper. I will remind them how they will switch stations in a certain order which I will point out. I will explain how we will perform one trial each and average them with our partners trials. Ask: Why is it valuable to collect more than one trial for our data? Why is this helpful? Answer: can correct a mistake, dont always go the same exact distance on each surface. Prompt them with forms of these answers Also review how to average numbers. Before they go off to their stations, have the students make predictions of which surface will allow the car to travel the farthest? The shortest? Hold up examples of each type of surface. Explore Give students time to think, plan, investigate and organize collected information. The students will be in five groups of four to six students. Each student will roll the car at the given station down the ramp and record the line that the front of the car is closest to once it stops. Each student will roll the car down each ramp once. They will also record their partners data and calculate and write the average on a post-it note provided at the station. The students will record their data on the data sheet provided. We will then collect the post-its when the stations switch and report their data to the poster board in front of the classroom where I will again average the data for each surface so that it can later be interpreted. Explain Involve students in an analysis of their explorations. Use reflective activities to clarify and modify their understanding. Students will learn how to analyze and collect data. They will compare the results to the predictions they made earlier. Students will see that different surfaces will allow the car to move farther because some surfaces offer less friction than others. Friction = the force that opposes motion Ask: What force causes the car to roll down the ramp? What force causes the car to stop moving? Answers: Gravity, friction Elaborate Give students the opportunity to expand and solidify their understanding of the concept and/or apply it to a real-world situation. This shows how we need friction in our daily lives. Point out examples of good vs. bad friction. When is friction helpful? When does it get in the way? refer to chart made earlier Answers: Helpful = opening jar, tires (not sliding on ice), bad = baseball player

sliding into home, road stops our car from continually moving (needs gas) Explain how scientists study friction for uses such a space travel, ect.

Evaluate Evaluate throughout the lesson. Present students with checklists or data sheets at the beginning. Provide ways of documenting observations that they and you can see. Also develop a simple evaluation tool that the teacher can use later to gauge learning. The students will have a data sheet where they will record numerical measurements. I will gauge their level of understanding of friction by analyzing the data with them. I will ask why certain surfaces cause the car to go shorter/farther and why this is (friction slows motion). I will also help them to understand that friction can be a hindrance or beneficial in our everyday lives and ask for examples of both. For more information on lesson planning for science lessons, go to: Information on lesson planning for elementary science

Teacher Instructions for Friction Activity

This activity is best suited for grades 4th and 5th. The activity covers the following SOLs: 4.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which a) distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictions; c) variables that must be held constant in an experimental situation are defined; e) appropriate metric measures are used to collect, record, and report data, and 4.2 The student will investigate and understand characteristics and interaction of moving objects. Key concepts include c) friction is a force that opposes motion. This activity is divided up into 5 different stations, explained in detail below. The entire lesson, including the introduction, activity, and discussion has been designed to be complete in approximately forty-five minutes to an hour. A copy of the student data sheets have been provided for you, as well as a data page for the trial run.

Set-Up Prior to Class:

The activity requires 5 ramps (elevated clipboards), each covered in a different material. The student will release a toy car so that it will roll down the ramp onto a strip of paper. The paper will be marked so that measuring that cars distance traveled is straightforward. Making the Ramps: Materials: 5 wooden clipboards 4 materials to cover the ramps (assuming that one is left bare as a wood material to test) examples: sandpaper, wax paper, different textures of cloth 5 mounts to make the clipboards inclined (I used cardboard, but anything that will suitably prop the clipboard up will work)

Instructions: First, cover five wooden clipboards with different materials. It is important to provide materials that have varying amounts of friction and that will noticeably cause the car to go a farther or shorter distance when a car is rolled down the ramp. Along with leaving one of the clipboards bare (providing a wood material to test), the other materials I chose to use were: sandpaper, wax paper, a thin cloth, and a thicker corduroy-type material. Note: it is important not to choose too thick of a material, so that the car is still able to roll down the ramp at a low incline. A thick rug material would not work. Glue each material onto the clip-side of the clipboard. Make sure to cut the material exactly to the shape of the board, so that extra material does not hang off the end affecting the motion of the car when it rolls off the board. Also, be careful to have the material lay as smooth as possibly, eliminating any errors due to bunched fabric. For the thinner materials, such as wax paper, I used double-sided tape to eliminate the problem of bumps due to thick glue.

Using a sharpie marker, make a rectangle (roughly the size of the toy car) at the top center of the board in front of the clip to act as a grid as to where to place the car on the ramp. Create a mount to glue onto the back of each clip board so that the boards form an inclined ramp. All five mounts must be the same height and placed in the same location on the back of each clipboard so that there is no difference in incline. I found that a height of around two and a half inches, placed on the back edge of the board (behind the clip on the other side), works best. You can use any material to do this, but make sure that the material cannot be compressed, so that the height of the board is altered if a student leans on it or presses down during the activity. I stacked a couple of strip of cardboard together to a height of two and a half inches, and hot glued the stacks to each board. Making the Measurement Grids: Materials: A large roll of white paper 5 Yard sticks

Instructions: Measure and cut the white paper roll so that it is as wide as the clipboard and a yard long. You can set up the measurement grid two different ways. I measured and drew lines on the paper marking each half inch up to a yard, so that the students can read the distance of the car directly from the paper. However, you could also simply place a yard stick next to the blank strip of paper, and have the students read the distance traveled using the yard stick. Tape the measurement grids to the floor in front of each ramp using double sided tape. If you find that the cars you are using travel farther than a yard, you can extend the length of the paper, or use a lower incline height for the ramps. A picture of the ramp and measurement grid set up is shown below:

Optional Equipment: Materials: Poster board(s) Station signs (easily made out of cardboard) Post-it notes (in 5 different colors) Bottles with different textured grips for introduction

Instructions: In order to make the rotation between stations clear, station signs indicate what number and material each station is. These should correspond to the stations listed on the data sheet (e.g. Station 1: Wood, Station 2: Yellow Cloth, etc.). I also had each group write their average distance for each station onto a post-it note before they rotated to the next station. This made it easier for me to keep track of the class data and come up with an overall average distance for the data collected by the class for each material. I created a grid on a poster board, which I placed at the front of the classroom, displaying each group and each material so that I could place each groups sticky note on the proper place once they were done that station. This allowed the students to see their progress in the completion of all five stations, and allowed me to visually show them how their trials fit into the overall class average. A rough picture of the poster board I designed is shown below:

The poster board showed the group numbers across the top, and the materials down the side. The last two column titles was Class Total and Class Average, where I totaled and averaged each row, combining the different groups data for each respective material.

Introduction
Set up the ramps before the introduction they take about 10 minutes to set up. Pass around plastic containers. Tell the students to try to open and close them, and to think about the different types of lids and the textures on them that make it easier to grip. Meanwhile, call a volunteer to the front of the classroom as ask him/her to first try to open a jar with his/her bare hands. Re-close the bottle and ask the volunteer to try to open the jar again with lotion on his/her hands. They will be unable to open it. Allow the student to dry off their hands and give them a jar grip to open the jar. Essential Questions: What types of textures makes it easier to open a jar with. Why was the volunteer unable to open the jar with lotion on their hands? What was the texture of the grip and why did that make it easier to open the jar? What textures did you notice on the bottles being passed around? Why do some surfaces make the jar easier to open? The answer is FRICTION. Bumpy or rough surfaces (such as the rubber bumps on a grip or ridged on the lid of a soda bottle) provide more friction and make bottles easier to open. Smooth or slippery surfaces (like the lotion) have little friction. Make a chart in the front of the board with the center question being: Where do we see different surfaces that provide friction in our daily lives? Some common answers are treads on a tire (provides a lot of friction), or the bottom of ice skates (smooth not a lot of friction). Some prompts are: What stops the motion of a baseball player when he is sliding into home base? Sand/dirt. What different kinds of surfaces do we have on the bottom of our shoes when we are running or playing sports? Rubber soles, cleats. Point out how many different surfaces provide friction and introduce to them the experiment that they will be performing in order to test what surfaces have more friction than others.

Explanation of Experiment/Trial Run

Depending on how many students will be in each of the 5 groups, call four to six volunteers to the front of the class to simulate how the experiment will be run in each group. Have one of the stations set up in the front of the room and have the four to six volunteers take turns rolling the car down the ramp. The students should each have a pencil and a calculator and should be collecting the data on the data sheet for the Trial Run. Follow the instructions below: Slide car down ramp starting with car between marks (do not push car). Each group member will slide the car down the ramp once (trial does not count if the car rolls off the side of the paper). Record the measurement that the front of the car is closest to. Write down each trial of your group members on you data sheet.

Using a calculator total and average the trials at each station Review: What if everyone doesnt come up with the same number? Make sure everyone has the same data values or calculate it again.

Remind the students not to switch to a different station until the instructor specifies to do so. If they finish early, they can explore how the car rolls at different heights or on different places on the board. Also, specify that the students should bring the car with them to every station. Review how to average by having each student average the trial data. Also review rounding (each value on the data sheet should have only one decimal value).

Making Predictions
Pass out the data sheets to each student and have them turn to the second page. Explain how we will be making predictions as to what will happen in the experiment. Ask: What is a prediction and why do we make them? Predictions are educated guesses that we make to test if they are true. Review how we found that rough surfaces have more friction then smooth surfaces. Ask: Do you think a surface that has a lot of friction will travel farther or shorter than a surface that has less friction? Explain that friction slows motion, so more friction will cause the car to travel a shorter distance. Hold up the 5 different surfaces used in the experiment and ask the students to make two predictions on their data sheet by circling two different surfaces. The two predictions are: Which surface will provide less friction, and cause the car to travel the farthest distance? And which surface will provide more friction, and cause the car to travel the least distance? Remind the students not to change their predictions if they find out that something different happened then what they thought. Its OK for their predictions to be wrong, it was just a guess.

Activity
Allow students approximately 5 minutes at each station, making sure to collect each groups post-it note before each switch and placing them on the poster in the front of the room. Calculate the class totals and averages for each material after all the data is collected.

Conclusion
Ask the students to take their seats. Call a student to the front of the class to interpret the class averages. Ask: What car ended up traveling the farthest distance? The least distance? Discuss how these values compared to our predictions. Concept to get across: FRICTION IS A FORCE THAT OPPOSES MOTION Ask: What is the force pulling the car down the ramp and causing it to move? Gravity (if they do not get the answer right away, drop a pencil and ask what causes the pencil to fall. Explain that the force

pulling the pencil to the ground is the same force pulling the car down the ramp.) What is the force slowing the car down? Friction. So, in this experiment FRICTION IS THE FORCE OPPOSES THE MOTION OF GRAVITY.

Elaborate
Refer back to the web of real-life examples we put up on the board. Ask: When do we want friction and when does it get in the way? We would want friction when we are driving on ice, or running on a rainy day. Friction gets in the way if we were ice skating, or sliding into home base and stop short.

Scientists Name ____________________

Friction Data Sheet

Check off each station as you complete them.

Station 1: Wood Station 2: Yellow Cloth Station 3: Wax Paper Station 4: Sand Paper Station 5: Printed Fabric

When you roll a car down a ramp, why does it stop and not roll forever? We learned that gravity is the force that causes the car to roll down the incline, but what force makes it stop? This force is friction and it is defined as the force that opposes motion. In this experiment, we are testing how different surfaces provide a different amount of friction. If we remember that friction slows motion, we can see that the surface that provides the most friction will slow down the car and it will travel a shorter distance. A surface that provides little or no friction will travel farther.

Directions: 1. Place the car at the top of the ramp between the two marks in front of the clip. 2. Release the car and allow it to roll down the ramp and stop completely on the measurement paper. Remember not to push the car down. If the car does not end on the paper, then repeat the trial. 3. After the car has come to a complete stop, find the line closest to the front of the car, and record the measurement. 4. Have each member of your group perform one trial, and record ALL measurements. 5. AVERAGE all of your measurements and record the average for that station on the postit provided 6. Stay at your station until the instructor flickers the lights and says to change stations. I. will give a one minute warning before each switch. Make sure you bring your teams car with you to the next station.

Predictions Which surface will provide less friction, and cause the car to travel the farthest distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Which surface will provide more friction, and cause the car to travel the least distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Station 1: Wood
Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 2: Yellow Cloth

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 3: Wax Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 4: Sand Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 5: Printed Fabric

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Scientists Name ____________________

Friction Data Sheet

Check off each station as you complete them.

Station 1: Wood Station 2: Yellow Cloth Station 3: Wax Paper Station 4: Sand Paper Station 5: Printed Fabric

When you roll a car down a ramp, why does it stop and not roll forever? We learned that gravity is the force that causes the car to roll down the incline, but what force makes it stop? This force is friction and it is defined as the force that opposes motion. In this experiment, we are testing how different surfaces provide a different amount of friction. If we remember that friction slows motion, we can see that the surface that provides the most friction will slow down the car and it will travel a shorter distance. A surface that provides little or no friction will travel farther.

Directions: 1. Place the car at the top of the ramp between the two marks in front of the clip. 2. Release the car and allow it to roll down the ramp and stop completely on the measurement paper. Remember not to push the car down. If the car does not end on the paper, then repeat the trial. 3. After the car has come to a complete stop, find the line closest to the front of the car, and record the measurement. 4. Have each member of your group perform one trial, and record ALL measurements. 5. AVERAGE all of your measurements and record the average for that station on the postit provided 6. Stay at your station until the instructor flickers the lights and says to change stations. I. will give a one minute warning before each switch. Make sure you bring your teams car with you to the next station.

Predictions Which surface will provide less friction, and cause the car to travel the farthest distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Which surface will provide more friction, and cause the car to travel the least distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Station 1: Wood
Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 2: Yellow Cloth

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 3: Wax Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 4: Sand Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 5: Printed Fabric

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Scientists Name ____________________

Friction Data Sheet

Check off each station as you complete them.

Station 1: Wood Station 2: Yellow Cloth Station 3: Wax Paper Station 4: Sand Paper Station 5: Printed Fabric

When you roll a car down a ramp, why does it stop and not roll forever? We learned that gravity is the force that causes the car to roll down the incline, but what force makes it stop? This force is friction and it is defined as the force that opposes motion. In this experiment, we are testing how different surfaces provide a different amount of friction. If we remember that friction slows motion, we can see that the surface that provides the most friction will slow down the car and it will travel a shorter distance. A surface that provides little or no friction will travel farther.

Directions: 1. Place the car at the top of the ramp between the two marks in front of the clip. 2. Release the car and allow it to roll down the ramp and stop completely on the measurement paper. Remember not to push the car down. If the car does not end on the paper, then repeat the trial. 3. After the car has come to a complete stop, find the line closest to the front of the car, and record the measurement. 4. Have each member of your group perform one trial, and record ALL measurements. 5. AVERAGE all of your measurements and record the average for that station on the postit provided 6. Stay at your station until the instructor flickers the lights and says to change stations. I. will give a one minute warning before each switch. Make sure you bring your teams car with you to the next station.

Predictions Which surface will provide less friction, and cause the car to travel the farthest distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Which surface will provide more friction, and cause the car to travel the least distance? (circle one)

Wood

Yellow Cloth

Wax Paper

Sand Paper

Printed Fabric

Station 1: Wood
Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Trial #6

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 2: Yellow Cloth

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Trial #6

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 3: Wax Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Trial #6

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 4: Sand Paper

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Trial #6

Total Average (Total number of trials)

Station 5: Printed Fabric

Trial #1

Trial #2

Trial #3

Trial #4

Trial #5

Trial #6

Total Average (Total number of trials)