In considering motion of objects, the force of friction is often overlooked and underappreciated. In learning about Newton’s three laws of motion the force of friction is not immediately apparent. The first law states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion while an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless an outside force acts on it (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008). One of the major forces that apply to stop inertia is friction. The other force is air resistance, although this is in general less than that of the force of friction. I have often noticed that students coming into my classroom have a good understanding of the basic laws of motion but have trouble with prediction of what will happen based on what they know and have trouble explaining their results. In this article I will be discussing the completion of a guided inquiry lesson that I was given to complete on how different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles. I will then discuss issues that occurred during the testing and how I could implement this type of guided inquiry in my classroom.
I looked at this assignment as an opportunity to develop a lesson for my students. In reviewing the question I thought back to a few pieces of information that I have been given. In Forces and Motion (Laureate Education, 2010), Osborne was accomplishing a structured inquiry lesson on how far different cars travel. In this lesson she made a big deal about the wheels and axel types that these cars had and correlated this to the distance that a car can travel. In this lesson Osborne was trying to establish a correlation between distance traveled and the forces of friction. This lesson seemed to be successful but the objectives of the class also contained discussions of mass, speed, and inertia and did not cover the applied mathematics of the motion. Since I teach students that are a little older than Osborne I feel that my students would benefit from a guided inquiry lesson that requires them to use a little more of the math and design their own test. This will mean that I will only cover the concept of friction in my lesson. I then reviewed the concept in Tillery, Enger, & Ross (2008) for the application of Newton’s laws that I would be covering.
Next, I formulated a hypothesis that if friction is involved in stopping a marbles momentum, then the more friction that is applied the marble will stop faster. In this case, more friction would be applied in softer surfaces that allow more of the ball’s surface area to come in contact. This hypothesis can be supported by a forum (Cognaq, 2008) where a posting says that if friction were not in play then the ball would not roll, but slide down the decline of the hard surface ramp. This was an interesting thought and one that I had not considered in a very long time. I liked that I was given time in this experiment to do some independent research on the topic, without this I would not have thought about this intricate point on the evidence of friction besides the ultimate slowing down of the ball. I probably need to allow my students time to research topics a little more, I can often rush them and they might overlook some of these more detailed discoveries.
The next step was to plan the test. I decided to use three different surfaces for the test; tile, newspaper, and a towel. I also used a standard sized marble and a fixed ramp to ensure that the only change in distance traveled by the marble had to do with the surface that it traveled on. The ramp that I used consisted of two books as the height and a hard bound book as the slope. I used three replications of the test with each surface types used and obtained a result of 80.5 cm for the newspaper, 125 cm for the tile, and 73.5 cm for the blanket. When I tested the newspaper I noticed that the folds in the newspaper provided extra resistance that was not really friction. I believe that if I were to do this test in my class I would modify the materials that I would supply my students to include the option of cardboard since it is flat. I still think that the use of newspaper would be beneficial since it would teach the students to be more critical of their results. In the experiment I obtained the results that I was expecting, the harder surfaces allowed the marble to travel farther.
I believe that guided inquiry lessons are extremely beneficial to use in a classroom since students will take more accountability for their laboratory than if they were instructed what to do. This makes the activity a little higher order thinking (Banchi & Bell, 2008). This will benefit my students by making them think about the topic a little deeper, have them design a laboratory, and be a little more critical of their procedure and results. I think the challenge of this type of activity really comes down to students’ acceptance of accountability in their education and willingness to think a little more. In order to achieve my goals and help students learn the benefit in this I will have to monitor my student groups carefully, place my students in groups according to their skills and abilities (differentiate), and allow them time to think about what to do and to analyze their results.
I thought that this exercise was effective in teaching me the benefits of a guided inquiry lesson, especially in ensuring that I had time to research the topic a little more before planning the experiment. This is one major lesson that I know now that I have get better at. There are a few challenges in implementing this type of lesson, most having to do with student motivation. With good classroom management techniques as well as student knowledge of the benefits of this type of lesson I believe that the challenges can be overcome and I can enable the students to take greater accountability for their education and they can increase their learning in a more meaningful way.
References
Banchi, H., & Bell, R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science & Children, 46(2), 26–29.
Cognaq (2008, October 11). Rotation caused by friction on a sphere. [Discussion group comment]. Retrieved from http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=263405
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Forces and motion. In Exploring the Physical World. Retrieved from http://www.courseurl.com
Tillery, B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated science (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
David,
ReplyDeleteDid your students have so much fun playing with the marbles that they forgot they were supposed to be "learning"? Whenever I do an experiment like this with my students, they say in the end, "Every class should be like this". My end question, however, did you have students that had a difficult time with staying on task? Sometimes, I have students that battle that. If you did have that difficulty, how did you deal with that? Great job, by the way.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI agree that much of the importance of doing guided lessons can easily be lost on students who have not learned who are not necessarily invested in learning. Often, I have found that when I do guided lessons I work twice as hard trying to keep students on task and thinking. They frequently ask me to tell them what they are suppose to be doing, looking for, etc. Next year I will try to do one guided lesson per week, thus by the middle of the year (hopefully) my students will have develop some of the skills necessary to do these types of lessons without so much drama.
Thanks you lesson was very interesting and I think that your students will learn a lot about the effects of friction.
Candace
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI like how you took "the road less traveled" and ventured into the effects of friction on the object. There are many surfaces to consider. A newspaper and towel (blanket) are surfaces that are readily available. These surfaces provide a different prospective to the usual surfaces of tile, laminate countertops, and carpet. Your students will have a better understanding of friction from this guided inquiry. I had technical difficulty with the video. Therefore, I will try using another browser to view it. The technical difficulty theme is still plaguing this class, as well. I gathered from the comments of the classmates that the lesson was engaging.
I really like your inclusion of the video clips in your blog. Knowing how helpful this is to us as adult learners, is a great reminder of how powerful of a tool this is for our students. One year I used the method of showing a video FIRST when I introduced a new topic. Then I was able to refer back to the video throughout the lesson. For students who are used to a digital format, the use of videos is a great tool to meet students where they are. Great job!
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