Lisa Clark Ashworth, 5th Grade, Barringer Academic Center
Keywords: 5TH GRADE SCIENCE, PHYSICAL SCIENCE, FORCE AND MOTION, NASCAR, NEWTON’S LAWS
200-word Synopsis
This fifth grade science unit is taught during the first quarter of the school year in North Carolina. The purpose of this unit is to give fifth grade students a good foundation in physical science concepts. As part of this physics unit, students will research automobile racing as it relates to the principles of force and motion. Students will also examine Newton’s Laws as they relate to motorized vehicles. In addition to researching the Science of NASCAR, students will engage in a “hands on” race car experiments for the classroom. These experiments include a ramp or ramps that could be height adjusted (demonstrating speed, acceleration, velocity, momentum, etc.) and surface adjusted (demonstrating friction, speed, inertia, balanced/unbalanced forces, etc.). Students will also modify different models of match box cars of different sizes, weights, materials, springs, etc. that can be used on the ramp or ramps in the classroom. In addition to learning the fifth grade concepts in the force and motion unit, students will be introduced to basic mechanical engineering concepts as they relate to automobile racing. Students will gain a better understanding of the force and motion unit concepts while having fun with the car and ramp experiments.
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