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| The Boxcar Challenge Unit engages kindergarten students in the work of figuring out how objects move to answer the driving question, "How can we make things move fast, far, and turn?" The students use disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts throughout the unit to develop a solution for making a model boxcar move fast, far, and turn. Leading up to the final lessons, students explore different aspects of motion through investigations and texts. |
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| First, students figure out that a force is required to change the speed and direction of an object for and that two types of forces are pushes and pulls. They then focus in on pushes. Through an investigation, they figure out that a stronger push makes an object move faster and farther. Then, focusing on pulls, students learn from a text that gravity is an example of a pull. Students use ramps to investigate the effect of the pull of gravity on an object. They figure out that a higher ramp makes an object move faster and farther. (This is because gravity has a longer distance over which to act on the object when the ramp is higher). Students then consider how weight affects how an object moves. They figure out that more force is required to make a heavier object move. At this point in the unit, students have figured out how to make their model boxcar move fast and far but still need to figure out how to make their boxcar turn. To do this, students conduct an investigation about collisions. They figure out that collisions make an object stop or turn. With that information, students are ready for the engineering design challenges, which are making their boxcar move fast, far, and turn. Students engage in the steps of the engineering design process to brainstorm, plan, and test their solutions.
| A force, such as a push or a pull, is required to change the speed and/or direction of an object’s movement. Stronger pushes or pulls make objects move faster and farther. Gravity is an example of a pull. When a ramp is raised higher—objects will move down the ramp faster and go farther due to the net influence of gravity. More force is required to make heavier objects move, and collisions make objects stop or turn. |
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| MI: Common Core Essential Elements ELA (2015) Reading (Informational Text) RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. RI.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. RI.K.5. Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book. RI.K.6. Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts). RI.K.8. With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. Research to Build and Present Knowledge. W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas. SL.K.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls K-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. K-PS2-2 Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.* K-2-ETS1-1 Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem. K-2-ETS1-3 Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs. Copyright © 2001-2015 State of Michigan | By the end of this unit, students will be able to: • Use evidence from scientific investigations to explain the impacts pushes and pulls have on the motion of objects. • Use scientific vocabulary to describe the speed and direction of objects in motion. • Apply knowledge of pushes and pulls on objects to design and test a solution for making a model boxcar move from one place to another.
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| | Each lesson begins with an essential question. Please see Lesson Planner tab.
Teachers provide students multiple opportunities to engage in the practice of Asking Questions and Defining Problems:
Asking questions and defining problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple descriptive questions. - Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s).
- Ask and/or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation.
- Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
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| Assessment Statement #1: Students can use evidence from investigations to support the claim that a bigger push or pull makes the boxcar move faster or farther (aligned with K-PS2-1). Lessons 2, 5, & 7 Assessment Statement #2: Students can explain the effect of a collision on the motion of the boxcar (i.e., a collision can change the direction and/or speed of the boxcar) (aligned with K-PS2-2). Lesson 8 Assessment Statement #3: Students can describe their design solution for making their boxcar move and use evidence to make a claim about how well their design worked (aligned with K-PS2-2). Lessons 3, 9, & 10 | |
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