3-PS2-2 Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
Clarification Statement: Examples of motion with a predictable pattern could include a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, and two children on a see-saw.
Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technical terms such as period and frequency.
This resource appears to be designed to build towards this performance expectation, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so.
Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
As students observe swinging on the playground, they can be asked to look for patterns in their data and use that data to predict future motion. Some of the vocabulary used in the lesson (such as inertia and period) are beyond the scope of the 3rd grade standards, but the teacher can modify the lesson accordingly.
3-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Clarification Statement: Examples could include an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start moving; and, balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all.
Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one variable at a time: number, size, or direction of forces. Assessment does not include quantitative force size, only qualitative and relative. Assessment is limited to gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down.
This resource appears to be designed to build towards this performance expectation, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so.
Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
To make the concepts of balanced and unbalanced forces explicit, students should first be asked to make observations about the forces acting on the student when he/she first sits on the swing. Students should then make observations about the effects of forces when the student pushes off and pumps his/her legs, and once the swing is in full motion. As this lesson is an associated activity to The Science of Swinging, students should be asked to support their observations with reasoning. Having them record it in their science journals provides documentation of their learning.
3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Clarification Statement: none
Assessment Boundary: none
This resource appears to be designed to build towards this performance expectation, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so.
Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
In this lesson, students are asked to apply their understanding of pendulum rate to create a human-powered swing clock. They are then asked to share their invention ideas and explanations, and compare their solutions. To fully meet this Performance Expectation, a problem that will drive this investigation needs to be identified. Criteria and constraints for this design challenge also need to be established.