Sheep in A Jeep

Force and Motion – 5E Lesson Plan
Lesson Title: Sheep in a Jeep
Teacher: Mrs. Janice Edgar
Date: November 26, 2011

Subject area / course / grade level: Physical Science/ Force and Motion/Fourth Grade
Materials: Toy cars, wood planks, sandpaper, tape measures, poster board, Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw,
PowerPoint
GLE’s/NSES
Missouri State Standards

This activity aligns with several Missouri State Standards that include:
Strand 2: Properties and Principles of Force and Motion
1. The motion of an object is described by its change in position relative to another object or point
A. The motion of an object is described as a change in position, direction, and speed relative to
another object (frame of reference)
Scope and Sequence – Laws of Motion
a. Classify different types of motion (straight line, curved, back and forth)
b. Describe an object’s motion in terms of distance and time
2. Forces affect motion
A. Forces are classified as either contact (pushes, pulls, friction, buoyancy) or noncontact
forces (gravity, magnetism), that can be described in terms of direction and magnitude
a. Identify the forces acting on the motion of objects traveling in a straight line
b. Recognize friction as a force that slows down or stops a moving object that is touching
another object or surface
c. Compare the forces (measured by a spring scale in Newton’s) required to overcome friction
when an object moves over different surfaces (i.e., rough/smooth)
D. Newton’s Laws of Motion explain the interaction of mass and forces, and are used to predict
changes in motion
a. Recognize that balanced forces do not affect an object’s motion
b. Describe how unbalanced forces acting on an object changes its speed (faster/slower),
direction of motion, or both
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c. Explain how increasing or decreasing the amount of force on an object affects the motion
of that object
d. Explain how the mass of an object (e.g., cars, marbles, rocks, boulders) affects the force
required to move it
e. Predict how the change in speed of an object (i.e., faster/slower/remains the same) is
affected by the amount of force applied to an object and the mass of the object
NSES
Sheep in a Jeep correlates with the NSES standards of:
o Science as Inquiry
 Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
 Understandings about scientific inquiry
o Physical Science
 Position and motion of objects
 Describing position
 Describing motion
 Changing position and motion
Lesson objective(s):
Students will
 Demonstrate an understanding of the terms force, gravity, friction, and speed

 Experiment with the effects of mass and friction on speed and motion
 Understand that friction and other forces have an effect on speed and motion
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
ENGAGEMENT
The unit will begin with PowerPoint and a teacher read aloud of Sheep in a Jeep. Before reading the
story, students will be asked what the book might have to do with science. Students will be asked to give
thumbs up if they hear an example of a force or motion. After the story is read, the PowerPoint discussion
will continue. Upon completion of the story, the teacher will share the definition of force and motion with
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the students. Then with their lab partner, they will create a T-Chart to place the forces and motions they
heard in the story. The class will discuss their answers and the teacher will discuss the correct choices and
why they were correct.
EXPLORATION
Students will be divided into teams with four members each; they will each receive a role card that
will include manager, recorder, equipment manager, and reporter. Students will follow the requirements
presented on the PowerPoint for the investigation. The main focus of this investigation is to see how
different objects affect force and motion. Prior to beginning the investigation, students need to work with
their lab partners and create a list of questions they might think are relevant with the materials they have
been given to test force and motion. Students will then use the wood plank to create a ramp that incorporates
smooth surface, sandpaper for friction, and other student designed tests.
EXPLANATION
After reading an article about Motion and Forces (NSTA, 2004, p.199), students will use the bold words
from the article to classify, create sentences and explain the role each word played for the investigation. The
important words the students will sort and utilize will be force, motion, gravity, friction, and inertia. This
connection to vocabulary that students will do will be essential in understanding the role of the investigation
to the scientific concepts being taught in this unit. After all the purpose of an investigation is to connect the
students’ understanding to the topic being learned. This cannot be done without follow through and deep
vocabulary instruction.
ELABORATION
Llewellyn states that elaboration is when the teacher extends the unit of study to include real world
connections that apply to everyday life (2007, p. 137). This investigation is extended by a poster that the
team creates to communicate what they discovered about force and motion throughout the investigation. The
students will share what important concepts they obtained throughout the investigation. They will include
any data tables or graphs they created along with illustrations or pictures. Beyond the requirements found in
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the text, students will also extend their level of thinking to include how what they have learned applies to the
world around them. This should encompass how forces affect travel time of vehicles? The connection to the
real world is vital to this stage of learning.
EVALUATION
Students will be evaluated at various times throughout this unit of study. For example, at the
engagement stage, students are asked to show thumbs up if they recognize a sample of either force or motion
throughout the teacher read aloud. Students will also have their science notebooks evaluated for following
the scientific method. The teacher would look for questioning, hypothesis, experimenting, recording data
from trials, and a clear conclusion of what the student learned. This is done with a rubric designed for all
science labs. The students will be evaluated within their group on the quality of the group poster. Each
student, for accountability purposes, is required to place their name and the portion they were responsible for
on the back of the group poster. Finally, at the end of the unit, students will be evaluated using a force and
motion assessment from Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (2004).

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Force and Motion – 5E Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Sheep in a Jeep

Teacher: Mrs. Janice Edgar

Date: November 26, 2011

Missouri State Standards

 Demonstrate an understanding of the terms force, gravity, friction, and speed

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:

why they were correct.

real world is vital to this stage of learning.

motion assessment from Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (2004).

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