Concepts of Balance and Motion
Teachers want to keep these ideas in mind throughout the unit to help guide instruction and to emphasize with learners.
Balance
Objects can be balanced in many ways.
A stable position is one that is steady; the object is not falling over. (If you give it a push, it wobbles, but doesn’t fall.)
Counterweights can help balance objects.
Counterweights need to be below the balance point.
A mobile is a system of balanced beams and objects.
Spinners
A force is needed to begin the motion of an object.
Things move in different ways.
There are different ways to initiate a rotating movement.
Pushing or pulling can change the motion of an object.
The amount and position of mass affect how an object rotates.
Objects and systems that turn on a central axis exhibit rotational motion.
Rollers
Wheels and spheres roll down a slope.
Axles support wheels.
The amount and location of an added weight can change the way a system rolls.
Wheel-and-axle systems with wheels of different sizes roll toward the smaller wheel.
Inquiry Skills
Inquiry skills are those skills students use to make sense of their science investigations. They tell what the students will actually be doing in science. The Inquiry Skills for Balance and Motion are:
Communicate
Ask Questions
Predict
Comparing
Data Collection
Describing
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Observe
Infer
Collaborate
Hypothesizing
Interpret Data
Discussing
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