Arizona STEM

Acceleration Project

What a Mass!

What a Mass!

How does mass affect motion?

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A 5th grade STEM lesson

Suzanne Lasich

3/27/2023

Notes for Teachers

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• This lesson takes one or two 60 minutes class period.
• Students may work alone or with a partner.
• This would tie in with forces and motion.
• End result will be a working catapult to test mass and distance.
• Students will reflect on Newton’s Laws and how mass affects flight and propulsion (mass and gravity).

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List of Materials:

• Catapult Materials:
• 1 plastic spoon
• 6 popsicle sticks
• 3 to 5 rubber bands
• Objects to project:
• sm & lg marshmallows
• ping pong balls
• Video: Crash Course Kids “Danger, Falling Objects”
• Optional book to read to class: Newton and Me, by Lynne Mayer

Arizona Science Standards

5.P3U1.4 Obtain, analyze, and communicate evidence of the effects that balanced and unbalanced forces have on the motion of objects.

5.P3U2.5 Define problems and design solutions pertaining to force and motion.

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Science and Engineering Practices

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• ask questions and define problems
• develop and use models
• plan and carry out investigations
• analyze and interpret data
• use mathematical and computational thinking
• construct explanations and design solutions
• engage in argument from evidence
• obtain, evaluate and communicate information

Arizona ELA Standards

5.RL.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details of the text; include how characters in story or drama respond to challenges, how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic, and a summary of the text.

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Objectives:

Today we will explain how a net force is required for an object’s movement to change.

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Today we will predict how a change of force, mass and/or friction affects the motion of an object

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Today we will collaborate and communicate effectively with our peers to complete an engineering design challenge.

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Today students will be able to design and engineer a catapult that will demonstrate force, motion and mass.

Agenda (60 minutes)

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Video: Danger, Falling Objects

Presentation: What is force and how does it affected by mass?

Engineer a working catapult

Share or present

Reflect on our story and catapult results

Watch the video as an introduction and discuss

Click Here: Danger Falling Objects

How is force affected by a change in mass?

Read-Aloud

Build a working catapult to test force

In pairs, engineer a catapult to test the effect of mass on (force) distance.

Constraints:

• 1 plastic spoon
• 6 popsicle sticks
• 3 to 5 rubber bands
• Objects to project:
• sm & lg marshmallows
• ping pong balls

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Assessment

Test catapults:

• Do the catapults propel their objects?
• Can students describe the difference between mass and weight?
• Did students use proper tools to measure the distance that their objects “flew”?

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ELA Assessment

• Describe how Newton and his “boy,” from the story we read, learned about force and motion.
• What everyday ways do we experience force and motion the same as Newton and his boy did?

Differentiation

Remediation

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Differentiation in this lesson can be done by providing diagrams for those struggling with building a catapult (allow for initial struggle).

Provide a video showing different designs of spoon catapults in order for students to get ideas.

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Enrichment

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Students who complete their task can consider how the design of the catapult can be changed to create more force.