Tyler Kahn

EDU 5201
Lesson Plan

Content area: Physical Science, i.e. Simple Physics

1st Grade

USOE CORE: Utah Common Core 1st Grade Science Standard

Standard 3: Students will gain an understanding of Physical Science through

the study of the forces of motion and the properties of materials.

Objectives: Analyze changes in the movement of nonliving things.

c. Explain how a push or pull can affect the movement of an object.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will articulate their understanding of the pushing and pulling physical
forces that affect their daily lives by identifying examples, evaluating results,
comparing and contrasting the differences of the outcomes.

Students Will Be Able To (SWBAT):

Students will be able to explain what a force is and provide examples of pushing and
pulling using objects in the classroom.

Content Concepts:

A force is a push or pull that changes the motion of an object. Motion is a change in an
object’s position. Pushing force moves an object away from a person, pulling force
moves an object towards a person.

Academic Vocabulary: Force, Push, Pull, Object

Additional Compatible Vocabulary: Kick, Throw, Tug, Yank, Hit

Vocabulary Learning Activity #1

This activity will introduce students to the concept and vocabulary of force with two
concrete examples being pushing and pulling. It incorporates and teaches students the
vocabulary terms of objects, force, and push and pull. The focus of this activity is to
explicitly teach the vocabulary of push and pull utilizing real world interaction to solidify
understanding and provide background knowledge to understanding “force”. This lesson is
intended as the first lesson in a unit on exploring the forces of friction and gravity, by
focusing on the most basic vocabulary and background knowledge students are prepared
to engage with more academic ideas surrounding gravity and physics in general.

Materials needed:
- Small rope
- Red bouncy ball
- Classroom door
- Chair
- Cardboard box

Introduction/ Background building/ Teacher Demonstration

Teacher begins the lesson by introducing students to the idea of force using the examples
of pushing and pulling the classroom door open and closed.

Pull classroom door open and ask students to state what you just did to the door. They will
say “You opened it!” Ask them if what you did was a push or a pull? The answer is pull.
Push the door closed and again ask students what type of motion that was, a push or a pull?
The answer is push.
Demonstrate the concepts of push and pull again with a desk drawer, allowing students to
see these forces used in multiple domains. Providing multiple examples on different objects
dispels the misconception that push and pull are only used to describe the motion of doors.

Explain to students that a push or a pull is a “force”, and provide definition in Spanish,
“Fuerza”. Allow students to turn to partner and explain what a force is using the terms
push and pull. Partner sharing should be done in a way that provides student scaffolding to
one another, putting students with partners that share a language or are friends is a useful
language support in this activity.

A force is a push or pull that makes an object move. An object is a thing that can be seen or
touched. Provide multiple examples of objects to students, allowing them to form schema
around the concept of object. Explain to students that they are going to experiment with
the forces of pushing and pulling on objects.

Working in small groups, students will rotate through stations and identify the object and
try to exert both types of force on each type of object. Students will record the results of
their experiments on a piece of paper, writing the name of the object at each station and
circling the type of force on their paper that is most successful at moving each object,
pushing, pulling or both. Students will spend approx. 2-3 minutes at each station. Model
appropriate use of materials at each station, i.e. using the materials safely and respectfully.
When all groups have rotated through, the teacher will assign each group a station
for which they are responsible for explaining the type of motion the group thought it was
and why. After assigning stations to the groups allow several minutes for each group to
discuss their intended answer, move onto the discussion when most groups appear ready,
2-3 more minutes, no more than 5 minutes. During the discussion clarify any
misconceptions that arise and then provide students with homework to connect to the
vocabulary. Homework students will find one example each of pushing and pulling forces
at home and draw a picture of each to turn in the next day.

Example of paper:

Name:
Date:

Station Object Type of Force

1 Bouncy Ball Push Pull Both
2 ____________ Push Pull Both

Set up several station using the materials

Station 1: Object: classroom door. Motion type: both

Station 2: Object: Small jump rope tied to the back of a chair. Motion type: pull

Station 3: Object: Bouncy Ball. Motion type: Push

Station 4: Object: A large cardboard box. Motion type: Push

Student supports include multiple presentations and representations of vocabulary being

taught, time for exploration and peer support. I feel this would also be an opportunity to allow
students to engage in discussion about forces and gravity they observe in everyday life such as,
books falling to the ground or why they go down a slide instead of up it. By pulling in everyday
phenomenon, it challenges students to look closer at the world around them. The difficulty as
the teacher is presenting this engaging real-life-experience-having in a comprehensible way. I
feel that this is accomplished by thoughtful peer support as well as providing opportunities for
students to ask questions.

Assessment Methods:

The worksheet filled out by students provides useful information on their abilities to read and
write as well as provides a formative assessment on their abilities to follow multistep
instruction. In addition, I would conduct individual student interviews engaging in discussion
about the experiment in the lesson. This would provide me with an opportunity to formatively
assess their listening and speaking abilities in engaging with content material.