What is Force?

Foil Barge
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Intended Grade Level(s):
4-6
Energy Content:
Energy Fundamentals,
Potential & Kinetic Energy
Learning Goal(s):

Students will identify the Laws of Motion and learn about the forces acting on the system. There are multiple forces acting on a boat, some of these forces include, acceleration, friction, gravity and thrust.

Unit:
Solar Boats
Lesson Number:
3
Pedagogy & Practice:
Engineering Design,
Group Work/Collaboration,
Hands-on Materials
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
1: Asking Questions and Defining Problems,
2: Developing and Using Models,
6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Relevant NGSS PE:
4-PS3-2,
4-PS3-4,
3-5-ETS1-1,
3-5-ETS1-2,
3-5-ETS1-3
Other Subjects Covered:
ELA: Vocabulary Development
Estimated Activity Length:
1 hour 30 min
Files Associated with this Activity:
PDF icon barge-building-science-olympiad.pdf
PDF icon Law of Motion Quiz and Answers.pdf
PDF icon Lesson 3_ What is Force.pdf
PDF icon Lesson 3_BoxandTChart.pdf
PDF icon Lesson 3_Rubric for Box and T Chart.pdf
Description:

Students will build a barge out of tin foil and describe the forces acting it. The barge itself is designed only with the constraints that passengers within the barge will not get wet, allowing for students to experiment with different shapes and densities as they construct their boats. This simple design challenge has a competition built within it to allow for students to make direct observations of components of their peers’ boats that led to success in the actual testing phase. Through the development of these boats, they will discuss Isaac’s Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion and that different forces act on objects. This lesson sets the stage for solar boat building in the next few lessons.

Other Material(s) Used:
Aluminum foil, marbles, large tub or basin