Balls & Ramps Level: Kindergarten Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description: Students will explore force and motion by working with balls, ramps and wheels. Children will focus carefully on how things work rather than on the "play" aspect of objects.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources Science Dept. Home Page Kindergarten Science Units

Unit Overview
Beginning the very first day of school, students should view, describe, and discuss all kinds of moving things like vehicles, plants, animals, stars, etc. Students will learn by keeping notes, drawing pictures to suggest their motion, and raising questions such as: How do things move? Is their motion fast or slow? How do you know? At the beginning, the questions count more than the answers. Students should gain varied experiences in making things move or not move and experience changing the direction or speed of things.

Students should have many experiences to shape their intuition about motion and forces long before encountering explanations or laws. Especially helpful are experimentation and discussion of what happens as surfaces become more elastic or more free of friction. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy)

Activity List Comparing Balls Balls and Straws (Moving Balls) Comparing Bounciness of Balls Science Background: Balls and Ramps Introducing Balls and Ramps Exploring Different Ramp Heights for Balls Exploring Ramps and Different Balls Building a Complex Ramp System Introducing Wheels “History” of Wheels Exploring Wheels, Ramps, and Surfaces

Learning Objectives

Students will observe and know that:

• Balls are alike in some ways and different in others.
• Balls can move in different ways.
• Bouncing is one of the ways that balls can move
• Bounciness is a characteristic of balls that is dependent on several other physical properties of the balls.
• Balls will fall to the earth or roll down to the earth (on an incline) unless something holds them up due to gravity.
• The steepness of a ramp will affect how far a ball rolls and how much “push” or force called momentum it has at the bottom of the ramp.
• The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. The magnitude of the change is related to the strength of the push or pull.
• An object’s motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time.
• Wheels are objects that are similar in the way they move, although there are also some differences between different kinds of wheels.
• The movement of wheels is similar to the movement of balls in some ways and different in others.
• Some objects occur in nature; others (like wheels) have been designed and made by people.
• People are continually inventing new ways to solve problems and get work done. The tools and ways of using the tools the people have invented affect all aspects of life.
• Objects with wheels will roll down to the earth (on an incline) unless something holds them up because of gravity.
• The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing and pulling; sometimes things can be done to make it easier to push or pull.
• Changing the surface on which something moves can make it easier or harder for the object to move due to friction, a force that acts when two surfaces rub against each other.
• Animals are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.

Students will practice:

• Describing observed events.
• Developing questions on scientific topics.
• Collecting data for investigations.
• Recording data.
• Arranging data into logical patterns and describing patterns.
• Comparing observations of individual and group results.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Early Elementary- As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12C. Know and apply concepts that describe properties of matter.

• Compare large-scale physical properties of matter.

12D: Know and apply concepts that describe force and motion and the principles that
explain them.

• Identify examples of motion (e.g., moving in a straight line, vibrating, rotating).
• Identify observable forces in nature (pushes, pulls, gravity, magnetism).

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry.

• Describe an observed event.
• Develop questions on scientific topics.
• Collect and record data for investigations.
• Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.
• Compare observations of individual and group results.

National Science Education Standards- As a result of activities in grades K-4, students should develop an understanding of the following fundamental concepts and principles:

• An object’s motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time.
• The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. The size of the change is related to the strength of the push or pull.
• Some objects occur in nature; others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems and enhance the quality of life.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy
By the end of 2nd grade, students should know:

• Things move in many different ways, such as straight, zigzag, round and round, back and forth, and fast and slow
• Things near the earth fall to the ground unless something holds them up.
• People are always inventing new ways to solve problems and get work done. The tools and ways of doing things that people have invented affect all aspects of life.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800