The lesson this past week centered on force and motion. The students were adept in overcoming the challenge of designing and constructing a balloon car that capitalized on the beneficial forces and reduced the damaging friction to thrust their balloon car the greatest attainable distance. As an activating strategy, students viewed pictures of the World's Fastest animal, car, etc. to tap into prior knowledge about force and motion. The students were able to make everyday life connections between force and motion by designing their own balloon car racers. Prior to this lesson, students had learned that the amount of force acting on an object will affect the speed and motion of that object. They had acquired a previous understanding that friction is a force that counters the motion of an object. The students were successful in demonstrating that they had a concrete grasp of the forces that were acting on the balloon car.
