Name of Project - Motion and Design
This project will potentially benefit the entire fifth grade as I teach and rotate through each classroom, and as it will be an ongoing project it will continue to benefit students each and every year.
For this project, a science grant is needed in order to purchase hardware and consumables to investigate the motion and design component of our science curriculum and to reinforce many of the objectives that are covered in our language arts and math curriculum as well. The money would be used to purchase the following items for use by the fifth grade (see below).
One of the goals for fifth grade is to investigate motion and design. The understanding of motion and design builds on the K-4 experience with electricity, magnetism, and simple machines.
Children are natural designers and builders. Combine this innate ability with inquiry-based activities to initiate students' investigation of motion, force, and stored energy. Student teams will design and create vehicles from K'NEX® building pieces and use them to explore effects of force, friction, and wind resistance on distance and speed. Then just as engineers do, students test their vehicles and refine their designs. The unit's 16 learning activities will challenge and excite students with an emphasis on problem solving and real-world applications.
Part of the Science and Technology for Children® curriculum, this unit is aligned with the National Science Education Standards and offers complete hands-on instruction. The Unit Kit comes with a Teacher's Guide, 15 non-consumable Student Activity Books, and materials needed for a class of 30 students to complete the unit in about 8 weeks.
Students become interested in technology as they design projects, use tools well, measure things carefully, make reasonable predictions, calculate accurately, and communicate clearly. Students become comfortable designing and analyzing their products. The more experience students have with design, the less direct guidance they need. They enjoy opportunities to clarify a problem, generate criteria for an acceptable solution, suggest possible solutions, try one out, and then make adjustments or start over with another proposed solution. It is important for students to find out that there is more than one way to design a product or solve a problem.
N.C. SCIENCE OBJECTIVES
Goal 4
The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate technologies to build an understanding of forces and motion in technological designs.
Objective 1
Determine the motion of an object by following and measuring its position over time.
Objective 2
Evaluate how pushing or pulling forces can change the position and motion of an object.
Objective 3
Explain how energy is needed to make machines move.
• Moving air.
• Gravity.
Objective 4
Determine that an unbalanced force is needed to move an object or change its direction.
Objective 5
Determine factors that affect motion including:
• Force
• Friction.
• Inertia.
• Momentum
Objective 6
Build and use a model to solve a mechanical design problem.
• Devise a test for the model.
• Evaluate the results of test.
Objective 7
Determine how people use simple machines to solve problems
N.C. MATH OBJECTIVES
Goal 1
Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with non-negative rational numbers.
Objective 1
Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.001 through 999,999.
- Connect model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
- Build understanding of place value (thousandths through hundred thousands).
- Compare and order rational numbers.
- Make estimates of rational numbers in appropriate situations.
Objective 2
Develop fluency in adding and subtracting non-negative rational numbers (halves, fourths, eighths; thirds, sixths, twelfths; fifths, tenths, hundredths, thousandths; mixed numbers).
- Develop and analyze strategies for adding and subtracting numbers.
- Estimate sums and differences.
- Judge the reasonableness of solutions.
Objective 3
Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil
Goal 2
Measurement - The learner will recognize and use standard units of metric and customary measurement.
Objective 1
Estimate the measure of an object in one system given the measure of that object in another system
Goal 4
Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
Objective 1
Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including stem-and-leaf plots) to solve problems.
Objective 2
Compare and contrast different representations of the same data; discuss the effectiveness of each representation.
Objective 3
Solve problems with data from a single set or multiple sets of data using median, range, and mode.
English Language Arts
Goal 1
The learner will apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
Objective 4
Use word reference materials (e.g., glossary, dictionary, thesaurus, on-line reference tools) to identify and comprehend unknown words.
Goal 2
The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
Objective 3
Read a variety of texts, such as:
-fiction (tall tales, myths).
- nonfiction (books of true experience,
-newspaper and magazine articles, schedules).
-poetry (narrative, lyric, and cinquains).
- drama (plays and skits)
Objective 7
Evaluate the usefulness and quality of information and ideas based on purpose, experiences, text(s), and graphics.
Goal 3
The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
Objective 6
Conduct research (with assistance) from a variety of sources for assigned or self-selected projects (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks).
Goal 4
The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
Objective 1
Read aloud grade-appropriate text with fluency, comprehension, expression, and personal style demonstrating an awareness of volume, pace, audience, and purpose.
Objective 2
Use oral and written language to:
- formulate hypotheses.
- evaluate information and ideas.
- present and support arguments.
- influence the thinking of others
Goal 5
The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
Objective 8
Create readable documents through legible handwriting and word processing.