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Discuss who Newton is, where he is from, how long ago he
discovered these laws, and what the laws are.
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Discuss forces and how they're described and measured.
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Place table setting on table cloth, ask students to guess what
will happen. Pull table cloth from under place setting, set embroidery
hoop on cup - then place the coin on top of the embroidery hoop. Pull the hoop
from under the coin. Stack the blocks of wood on top of each other, then
set the glass on top of the blocks. Knock
the bottom block from under the other blocks, demonstrating that an object
will remain at rest until acted upon by an unbalanced force.
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Show video tape footage of a baseball player sliding into
base. Play game Red Light Green Light. Pick three players, teacher stands in
front and says green light (the students run as fast as they can to try to
touch the teacher first); however, the
teacher will say red light (the students must stop like a statue immediately)
while turning around. If caught moving the student will have to return to the
starting point. The object of the game is to catch the child moving,
therefore demonstrating that an object or mass in motion will stay in motion
at a constant velocity until an external force acts on it.
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Measure one meter on a flat surface, then mark the beginning
and the end of the meter with tape on the flat surface. Remove the meter
stick. One piece of tape will be your starting point; the other piece of tape
will be your stopping point. Place one rubber band around the `slingshot'. Put
the `slingshot' behind the beginning or starting point. Place the truck
behind the starting point, but in front of the slingshot. Stretch the rubber
band back 2 in. Release the rubber band so that it hits the truck. Clock
the time it takes the truck to travel 1 meter. Now, place two rubber bands
around the `slingshot': Repeat the previous directions. Now, place three
rubber bands around the `slingshot': Repeat the previous directions. Chart the
data, demonstrating the relationship between mass, acceleration, and force.
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Take two washers of the same size. Attach a
parachute to one of the washers. Standing on desk, drop both washers at the
same time. Demonstrating the relationship the direction of a force has
on the acceleration of an object.
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Have students jump up and try to stay up. Then, jump up
and down on the ground. Next, have the students jump up and down on a
trampoline. View a video tape of the space shuttle launching. Blast off
a toy water rocket. Demonstrating that forces come in pairs, and for every
action there is an opposite
and equal reaction.
