Friction Safety – A Physics Project Based Learning Activity (PBL)

Description

This is an engaging, problem-based inquiry activity that gets your students to examine Friction to solve a real-life problem and learn to think critically. Designed for science students in high school physics, this activity is NGSS, Common Core, and STEM-aligned and uses common experiences and materials to apply your lessons in a meaningful way. Your resource is fully-editable and can be uploaded to your class site or printed for students’ use.

Learning Goals:

– Develop a prototype that can realistically be used to solve a real-world problem

– Design a set of experimental procedures to determine the coefficient of friction between two surfaces

Prerequisites:

– Newton’s Laws (mostly Newton’s Second Law)

NGSS

HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and tradeoffs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

HS-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions – Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

HS-PS2-3 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions – Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.

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This activity will motivate and engage your students and force them to think critically, analyze a common situation, apply what they’ve learned in a meaningful way, problem-solve and work collaboratively.

In this activity, your students’ job is to:

1) Apply what they have learned both inside and outside the classroom to solve the posed problem in the best way possible

2) Conduct their own research to decide if they need to learn anything else in order to solve the problem

3) Make sure they answer all the questions you asked them by collecting data and providing evidence and reasoning for their responses.

Your complete resource includes a student and teacher version. The student version contains the basic information they can use to design and carry out their experiment. The teacher version includes the answer key, look-fors as well as teacher tips tricks to make everything go smoothly.

Here are some additional PBLs you might be interested in.

Physics:

• The Scientific Method

• Banked Curves

• Conservation of Energy

• Friction Safety

• The Electric Home

Chemistry:

• Polymers

If you have any questions, please send me an email – devon@teachwithfergy.com