Middle School Curriculum
Back in 1963 when LAB-AIDS® shipped its first kit, we had a vision, to revolutionize the middle school classroom with one of the first inquiry-based approaches to learning science through hands-on activity. More Info
Force and Motion
26-46 (9 weeks)
Students investigate concepts related to force and motion in the context of vehicle safety issues. The unit begins with investigations of speed, motion graphs, and the impact of mass and speed on vehicle accidents. Students investigate force, acceleration, mass and friction and are introduced to Newton’s Laws of Motion. They apply these concepts to vehicle braking and stopping distances and investigate the stability of vehicles with different centers of mass. The unit ends with an investigation of car accidents and students’ recommendations for reducing the risks of vehicle collisions.
Content in Force and Motion is organized into 16 activities, as follows:
| Activity Title | Activity Type | Activity Overview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73. | Choosing a Safe Vehicle | Talking it Over | Students compare the specifications of two vehicles in order to choose the one they feel is safe. |
| 74. | Measuring Speed | Lab | Students use a cart, ramp, and track to calculate speed from distance and time measurements. Then students design an investigation that examines the effect of height of the ramp on the speed of the cart. |
| 75. | Interpreting Motion Graphs | Investigation | Students construct and interpret distance vs time graphs by matching a narrative to graph segments. |
| 76. | Speed and Collisions | Lab | To investigate the effect of vehicle speed on the severity of accidents, students use the ramp and cart to simulate vehicle collisions at different speeds. |
| 77. | Mass and Collisions | Lab | Students design and carry out investigations to discover the effect of mass on the severity of accidents. |
| 78. | Force, Acceleration and Mass | Problem Solving | Students analyze data and investigate the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. |
| 79. | Inertia Around a Curve | Lab | Students first observe a marble moving around a circular track and then predict the path taken by the marble once a section of the track is removed. |
| 80. | Laws of Motion | Reading | Students read about Newton’s discoveries of the fundamental relationships between forces, including Newton’s three laws and friction. |
| 81. | The Net Force Challenge | Lab | Students use force meters to investigate the effect of more than one force on a block. |
| 82. | Braking Distance | Lab | To simulate the effect of speed on braking distance, students measure the distance that carts travel after encountering a high friction surface. |
| 83. | Coming to a Stop | Investigation | Students learn about stopping distance and then investigate further by calculating and graphing data for different road and driver conditions. |
| 84. | Decelerating Safely | Reading | Students learn about vehicle safety features that decelerate the body more slowly than it would ordinarily experience in an accident. |
| 85. | Crash Testing | Investigation | Students design and present the specifications for a crash test dummy. They weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using different sized dummies. |
| 86. | Investigating Center of Mass | Modeling | Students compare the stability of carts with different center-of -masses as they collide with a stationary barrier. |
| 87. | Fatal Accidents | Investigation | Students investigate types of car accidents and fatality rates by analyzing actual accident data. |
| 88. | Safety for All | Role Play | Students recommend a solution to the problem of increased injuries and damage related to vehicle incompatibility during collisions. |
LAB-AIDS® provides several useful tools to guide you and your students through the Force & Motion unit:
Student Book
The Force and Motion soft cover Student Book guides investigations and provides related readings. The Student Book uses a variety of approaches to make science accessible for all students. SEPUP’s integrated literacy strategies help students process new science content, develop their analytical skills, make connections between related concepts, and express their knowledge orally and in writing.
The built-in assessment system helps teacher’s identify students’ strengths and weaknesses from the beginning of the course. This allows them to adjust activities when needed so that all students get the best chance to build their knowledge and appreciation of science.
LAB-AIDS® Science Lab Notebook
The use of a science journal or notebook in SEPUP is strongly recommended. The journal not only models the way scientists work, but it helps to develop and reinforce students’ science learning and literacy skills.
The LAB-AIDS® Science Lab Notebook is 112 three-hole punched pages which allow students to store the completed pages in their binder. It has a 2 column design and plenty of room for notes and responses to Analysis Questions. Graph Anywhere allows data tables and graphs to be drawn in a fraction of the usual time. The Science Lab Notebook was designed with “Best Practices” in mind.
Complete Materials Package
All SEPUP materials packages are designed with teachers, students and environmental considerations in mind. Traditional laboratory style classrooms are not necessary to teach SEPUP.
Materials packages include most of the items needed for the activities. They support multiple classes – typically up to five classes of 32 students (160 total students) – before consumables need to be replaced. It’s important to note that materials are consumed at various rates; therefore, it will not be necessary to replace all consumable items every year. Exclusive to SEPUP programs are the molded tray liners that keep everything in place and easy to locate – even in a hurry.
Teacher’s Guide
The Force and Motion Teacher’s Guide takes you through each activity in the Student Book and helps you see the development of concepts within the big picture of the units and the course you are teaching. It helps you set up the equipment from the kit, organize the classroom, conduct activities, and manage practical details, all of which enhance students’ learning environment.
The Teacher’s Guide is packaged as a series of loose-leaf binders that you can personalize with annotations, rearrangements, and insertions. The Teacher’s Guide provides full support for teaching the program. Additional support resources can also found in the Teacher’s Guide.
Teacher Resource
The Teacher Resource provides background and suggestions to increase the overall effectiveness of implementing the program across all levels of learners. Sections include: SEPUP’s Approach to Teaching and Learning, Differentiation Strategies for Diverse Learners, Literacy Strategies for Supporting Reading Comprehension and for Enhancing Students’ Writing and finally Comprehensive instruction on the SEPUP Assessment System.
Books Online
Individual, classroom or district licenses can be purchased for access to our student books on-line. It features editable Word documents for each set of Activity Assessment Questions which allows students to e-mail their finished work back to the teacher. Microsoft Word® Tools provide strong support for diverse learners. The Spelling and Grammar Checker uses red and green underline squiggles representing spelling (red) and grammar (green) errors alerting students to potential errors. The thesaurus helps to refine writing as well as expose students to new vocabulary words. Students with poor spelling skills often have difficulty using a dictionary. This feature provides an instant definition for a highlighted word, eliminating the task of dictionary look-up. Students can also use the Thesaurus to find the synonyms of words.
All pages were created using Adobe Acrobat Reader. A great feature of the Adobe program is “The Read Aloud Function”. The program audibly reads the text, allowing the student to follow the reading on the page. You can speed up or slow down the program based on the student’s ability. This helps all students increase their vocabulary.
ExamView® Test Generating Software
ExamView® for Issues & Physical Science makes it easier for educators to use your content to assess, track, and analyze student performance. Comprised of the Test Generator, Test Manager, and Test Player, ExamView® is the industry standard for paper, Internet, and LAN‐based question and test development.
Test Generator Educators can create assessments, quizzes, study guides, and worksheets using multiple question formats, pictures, tables, graphs, charts, and other multimedia elements. Works exclusively with eInstruction’s CPS™ student response systems for real‐time results.
Test Manager Educators collect results and generate comprehension reports in minutes. Test Manager also manages class rosters and automatically collects performance data from the school network to analyze student results and identify areas of concern.
Test Player Gives students the ability to take tests and view study guides over the school network. ExamView® adds even more benefits to your content.
QuickTest Wizard New tests can be created in a matter of minutes with easy step‐by‐step navigation. Simply select the question banks and the number of questions and ExamView® does the rest.
Style Gallery ExamView® tests can be easily formatted to match state or national standardized tests. Simply choose a layout based on predefined formats (e.g., TAKS, FCAT, GED, GMAT, NCLEX, etc.) and print a comprehensive answer sheet.
Multiple Question Formats ExamView® supports 14 question formats. An ExamView® question can contain pictures, graphs, charts, tables, and other multimedia elements. You can create dynamic questions (algorithms) for any subject area which allow infinite customization of a question using mathematical definitions.
Ancillaries
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