Forces and Motion - Assessment Ideas

Performance tasks Other-worldly sports – Students create a poster illustrating how their favorite sport might look on a planet of their choosing, explaining how differences in gravity and atmosphere could affect ...

Performance tasks:

Other-worldly sports – Students create a poster illustrating how their favorite sport might look on a planet of their choosing, explaining how differences in gravity and atmosphere could affect the forces on players of the sport and sports equipment
Newtonian vehicle – Design and build a self-propelling vehicle, including schematics showing the forces on the stationary and moving vehicle and a written explanation of how the vehicle demonstrates Newton’s laws

Other evidence:

Quiz – Types of forces
Quiz – Newton’s laws
Prompt – Explain why a rock and a feather fall at the same rate on the moon, but not on Earth. Explain why a golf ball hit on the moon flies farther than it would on Earth.
Prompt – Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Imagine a horse and a cart. If the horse pulls on the cart, and the cart pulls on the horse, why don’t the two forces cancel out?
Skill check – Draw qualitative free-body diagrams showing forces on stationary and moving objects

Student self-assessment and reflection:

Self-assess the other-worldly sports poster
Self-assess Newtonian vehicle
Reflect on original answers to pre-unit anticipation guide

Newtonian Vehicle

What understandings or goals would be assessed through this task?

• Students will identify the forces acting on a self-propelled vehicle and explain how the motion of the vehicle demonstrates Newton’s laws.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding?

Task overview:
You will design, build, and test a self-propelling vehicle that can travel a minimum distance of one meter. When designing the vehicle, sketch a diagram showing how it will be propelled (balloon, rubber band, mousetrap, etc.) and the forces that act on the vehicle when it is stationary and moving. After building and testing the vehicle, write an essay explaining how your vehicle demonstrates Newton’s three laws of motion.

What student products and performances will provide evidence of desired understandings?

•   Self-propelling vehicle prototype
•   Vehicle schematic showing propulsion mechanism and forces acting on vehicle
•   Essay detailing how the vehicle demonstrates each of Newton’s laws

By what criteria will student products and performances be evaluated?

Vehicle
• Vehicle is self-propelling
• Vehicle moves a minimum of one meter

Schematic
• Diagram illustrates how the vehicle is propelled
• Diagrams present for stationary and moving vehicle, with forces acting on vehicle indicated and net force described

Essay
• Addresses Newton’s three laws of motion
• Step Up to Writing-style essay