Newton's First Law

Topic: Newton's first law

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will understand the concept of inertia and how it applies to Newton's first law of motion.

Materials

• Balloons
• String
• Plugs
• Small weights (such as pennies or paperclips)
• Paper plates or cardboard boxes
• Permanent markers or pen

Warm-up

• Ask students if they have ever pushed a toy car or played with a balloon.
• Ask them what happened to the toy car or balloon when they pushed or forced it to move.
• Discuss the concept of inertia and how it applies to Newton's first law of motion.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce Newton's first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia.
• Explain that this law states that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted on by an external force.
• Use the ball, toy car, and balloon from the warm-up to demonstrate the concept of inertia and how an object will retain its motion unless acted on by an external force.
• Ask students if they can think of any examples of this law in their everyday lives.

Guided Practice

• Divide students into small groups and give each group a toy car.
• Have students experiment with rolling the car down a slight incline and observing its motion.
• Have students predict what will happen to the car when a gust of wind is blown towards it.
• Have students conduct an experiment by blowing a gust of wind towards the car while it is rolling down a slight incline.
• Have students record their observations and discuss as a group.
• Ask students to think about why the car behaved as it did and how the force of the wind acted to change the car's motion.

Independent Practice

• Give students a worksheet with a diagram of a ramp and a toy car.
• Have students use the diagram to predict how the car will roll down the ramp when no force is applied.
• Have students conduct an experiment by applying a certain force to the car while it is rolling down the ramp.
• Have students record their observations and draw a graph of the car's motion versus time.
• Ask students to think about why the car behaved as it did and how the force of the applied weight acted to change the car's motion.
• Have students complete the activity sheet on Newton's first law.

Closure

• Review the concepts learned during the lesson.
• Ask students to summarize Newton's first law and how it relates to the experiment they conducted.
• Remind students that forces can have both positive and negative effects, and that it is important to consider the forces acting on an object when predicting how it will move.

Assessment

• Observe students during the guided practice and independent practice activities to assess their understanding of Newton's first law and their ability to apply it to a situation.
• Collect and grade their diagrams and explanations for accuracy and understanding.