SCIENCE CONCEPT:

Newton's First Law of Motion: objects at rest remain at rest and objects in motion remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

The student will discover a part of Newton's First Law of Motion: an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

OVERVIEW:

The student will use a playground swing to discover that an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

TEACHER TEXT:

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes

LESSON TIME: 10 minutes

TEACHER PREP:

Locate a swing and oversee experiment for safety.

WORDS TO KNOW:

• swing
• high
• jump
• continue
• motion

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• playground swing

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

1. Sit on the swing and start swinging, but not too high. (Have your teacher watching.)
2. Jump off mid-swing and stand still.
3. What happens? (When you jump off you cannot stand still. You have to run or you will fall forward.)

WHY?:

Objects that are moving tend to keep moving unless acted upon by an outside force. This is called inertia. It is part of Newton's First Law of Motion. In this case, once your body was moving forward, your inertia made it hard for you to stop.

ASSESSMENT: Can the student communicate what they observed?

4....The student is able to communicate that it was hard to stand still because objects in motion tend to continue moving.

3....The student is able to communicate that it was hard to stand still because they were swinging high.

2....The student is able to communicate that it was hard to stand still.

1....The student is able to communicate that he/she jumped off the swing.