Lesson Sketch for EDT 313

Individual completing this lesson plan: Alexis Fee

Lesson title: Exploring Friction Date that lesson was taught: March 9, 2022

Standards in 2 Domains: C57 , S15 , C51

Instructional objectives: list 2- 3 observable/measurable objectives for this lesson. Use precise language w/
action verbs.
The student will be able to:
1. The students will be able to predict if the car will travel farther on carpet or
hardwood.
2. The students will be able to explain when friction occurs with a car going across
the surface, identifying that carpet has more friction than hardwood.
Experiences: Describe authentic (real life, hands-on not representational) materials and enticing/ creative
experiences in which children are actively engaged. Safety should be addressed if warranted.

I will start by going over what students remember and know about friction. Then I will introduce
that we are going to test how friction occurs on different surfaces. I will take a car and ask
students what 2 different surfaces we could push the car on to compare how far it goes. I will
also ask them what they think will happen and what their prediction is. We will start at a certain
spot on the hardwood/vinyl and push the car (not too hard) to see how far it travels. We will
mark the length it went and measure it, writing it down. We will test that 3 times. Then I will
have the student(s) move onto the carpet, starting at a certain point, and again pushing it 3 times
and recording the length it went. I will ask students questions as I go, such as, “why do you think
the car stopped?”, “where is the friction occurring?”, and “do you think the carpet or hardwood
has more friction?”. I will have a conversation with students about their thoughts and why the
carpet has more friction than the hardwood and how that affects the car’s travel length.

Another addition to the activity could be seeing how far the car goes on aluminum foil or another
kind of surface. A T-chart that could be filled out with students (and assessed) is provided below.

Type of Friction Length the car traveled

Hardwood

Carpet

Aluminum Foil
Why did the cars stop? Friction

Evidence of student learning:

- Students participating in the experiment, taking turns pushing the cars, investigating, and
completing the chart together with findings
- Students discuss with the teacher what they find and think during the investigation, using
applicable vocabulary