Fun with Friction

By: Janice, Carlin, Hannah, Meredith

Date: 9/10/2020 Materials Needed: toy cars, carpet, Due Date:

sandpaper 9/15/2020

Objective(s)- Students will be able to recognize and understand how

friction affects an object's motion.

How do you know if you’ve met the objectives?: Observe student work
during the share portion of the lesson plan and then collect exit slips for
documentation to see if they can apply what they learned in the classroom
to real life.

Engage (5 minutes)
Check out this resource to get an understanding of what you will learn
today.

To engage the students in the opening portion of the lesson, we

will bring in objects that we will use to demonstrate the ideas of
motion and friction and how they relate to each other.
Show the students the container of wipes (that is cylindrical)
and ask the question, “What do you think will happen when I
roll this object?” “Where do you think the cylinder will stop?”
Allow a few students to guess then roll the cylinder first on
carpet. “Why do you think it stopped where it did?” Allow
students to turn to a partner and share their reasoning. THen
ask the students if they think it will roll slower faster and stop at
the same place when rolled on tile. Roll the cylinder again. (turn
to a partner and explain what happened). Then roll the cylinder
into an object and ask what stopped the item this time. Try to
get students thinking about what forces are stopping the item in
motion. End with the main idea of what they will be learning
about, friction.

Explore (10 minutes)

Here are 2 resources to help you explore the content/skill.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2gQs1mcZHA
Show this clip as an explanation of friction and how it
affects an object in motion.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/friction-lesson-for-
kids-definition-examples.html
More examples of how friction works

Explain/Apply (1-2 assignments;

30 minutes)
Here you will apply your knowledge and practice the skill.
Make sure you follow the directions for each assignment.

By the end of today you will be able to explain the force of

friction. I am going to divide you into groups of 3 or 4 and
we are going to be seeing how different things affect motion.
In your groups you are going to be racing cars on different
surfaces. Each group member has a responsibility. One
person will be in charge of writing down the group's
thoughts and realizations.
The students would be broken into small groups to roll their
car down the ramp with different surfaces. For example, the
surfaces could be sandpaper, carpet, tape, and a book.
Each group member would be assigned a role while doing
the project, such as the writer, the explainer, and the
conductor. Once they are done with their surface, they will
come together in a whole group discussion and share their
findings.

,
Share
Turn in your assignment no later than the date below.
After, the students worked in their small groups seeing
how friction acted upon the cars, have each group
share out what they noticed. Have the groups share
what they noticed about how the cars slowed down on
different surfaces. See if the students gathered the
same information and talk about why that might be.

Reflect
Complete the exit slip below

At the end of the lesson, have students get out a piece

of paper to use as an “Exit Slip.” Ask them the
question: “Where in the real world (or at your house)
would you see an example of friction?”

Extend
(1 Additional Resource)

https://youtu.be/9ePpWrvOXGY A similar video to the

activity we had the students do.