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Forces and Motion

How do forces affect the motion of objects?

Forces and MotionHow do forces affect the motion of objects?

A force is a push or pull that changes the motion of an object.

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What moves the soccer ball?

When the boy kicks the soccer ball, he pushes the ball with his foot .


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How does a tug-of-war team move its opponents?

In tug-of-war one team tries to pull the other team over a line.


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What makes a roller coaster move?

A thrilling roller coaster ride begins when the force of gravity pulls the coaster down towards the ground.


Watch this video about forces.

How do forces cause changes in the speed and direction (velocity) of objects?

Let's play marbles!

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Take turns shooting.

Players take turns shooting the large marble at the smaller marbles in the circle. The object of the game is to move marbles outside the circle.


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Observe the motion of all marbles in the circle.

What happened when a marble was hit by the shooter or another marble? What direction did it move? What happened to the marbles that were not hit by the shooter? What caused the marbles to move? What caused the marbles to stay in the same place?


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Record the motion of the marbles.

Draw the position of the marbles before each turn. Use an X to mark marbles that do not move or change position. Draw an arrow to show the direction of marbles that do change position.


What caused the marbles to go into motion? What did you learn today? What are you wondering?

What is the difference between speed and velocity?

Challenge: How does increasing the slope of the track affect the speed of a golf ball?

Make a data chart for 3 tests at heights of 1-5 textbooks. Roll the golf ball down the track and measure the distance the golf ball moves the milk carton at the end of the track. Run 3 tests. Record the distance the carton moves each time. Then increase the slope by adding another textbook. Repeat for 3 tests. Continue to a height of 5 textbooks. Use median or mode to determine which distances best represent your team's data set for each height.
Answer the Challenge question, and support your answer with data.
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Roller coaster engineers harness the forces of gravity and friction to create thrilling rides.

Team Task: Design a roller coaster that is exciting and safely lands the marble "coaster" in the cup at the end of the run.

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Imagine and plan an exciting roller coaster design.

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Test your ideas and make improvements.

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Present your design to the class.