Buckling Up

SCIENCE CONCEPT:

Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object at rest remains at rest and object in motion remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Moving objects continue to move forward until something stops them.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

The student will explore how a seat belt around them will stop them from getting hurt when a car suddenly stops. Because a moving object continues to move forward until something stops them the student will experience this First Law of Newton.

OVERVIEW:

The student will observe, first how a clay figure in a toy car will continue moving unless it is tied down. Then the student will apply this understanding to riding in their own car and using a seat belt.

PREPARATION TIME:

? minutes.

LESSON TIME:

? minutes.

TEACHER PREP:

WORDS TO KNOW:

TEACHER TEXT:

Newton's First Law of Motion states that a moving object continues to move in a straight line until acted upon by a force. The seat belt was designed with this principle in mind. The seat belt secures a child or person such that when the car stops abruptly, the child or person stops with the car. Otherwise, the child or person would fly out of the car or be bruised by the window or seat in front of them. If you are wearing a seat belt, then the seat belt stops you.

Newton's Laws of Motion are applied to every moving object in the world and has an impact on the principles of flight. When an airplane is moving through the air it is constantly being acted upon by aerodynamic forces: lift, thrust, weight and drag. Aerodynamics is the study of the forces acting on an object due to air, or some other fluid, moving past it. Aerodynamic forces act upon airplanes, sailboats, and other objects moving through the air, thereby affecting the motion of those objects. Engineers must use aerodynamic principles when designing all planes. It is also necessary for architects of sky scrapers and bridges to understand aerodynamic forces because air flowing past stationary structures also exerts pressure upon them.

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Last modified: Wed Nov 26 10:24:52 PST 1997