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Balanced and Unbalanced Forces Lesson Plan – A Complete Science Lesson Using the 5E Method of Instruction

By the end of this lesson about balanced and unbalanced forces, students will be able to identify what both balanced and unbalanced forces are. Students will also be able to identify and describe the changes in position, direction, and speed of an object when acted upon by unbalanced forces. Each of our lessons is designed using the 5E method of instruction to ensure maximum comprehension by the students. This well-thought out unit does the heavy lifting, giving teachers easy-to-implement, highly engaging lesson plans.

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This blog will walk you through each of the steps and activities from the Balanced and Unbalanced Forces 5E Lesson Plan.

ENGAGEMENT

Objective Introduction

At the beginning of the lesson, the class will do a Think-Pair-Share to discuss the objective.

Class Activity

Show your class a video using a link provided with the 5E lesson. The video defines the term forces. Make sure to watch the second part of the video after the ad, which defines normal force. Both videos take about five minutes.

Student Activity

  1. Introduce the term balanced force to the students. Tell them balanced forces do not cause a change in motion. They are equal in size and opposite direction.
  2. Ask them to give examples of things in the room that are a balanced force.
  3. Introduce the term unbalanced force to the students. Tell them unbalanced forces always cause a change in motion. They are not equal or opposite in direction.
Text reading; "Identify balanced and unbalanced forces. Identify and Describe the changes in position, direction, and speed of an object."

The teacher will help to clear any misconceptions about balanced and unbalanced forces. A common but major misconception, for example, is that students often think that balanced forces have no movement. This is partially true, but doesn’t tell the whole story.

Estimated Class Time for the Engagement: 20-30 minutes

EXPLORATION

This student-centered station lab is set up so students can begin to explore balanced and unbalanced forces. With nine stations in total, you can introduce balanced and unbalanced forces to your middle school students in a variety of ways! Four of these stations are considered input stations where students will learn new information about balanced and unbalanced forces, and four of the stations are output stations where students will be demonstrating their mastery of the lesson's material. A bonus station offers challenges for your early finishers and independent learners. You can read read more about how I set up the station labs here.

Watch It!

At this station, students will be watching a short video explaining balanced and unbalanced forces. Students will then answer questions related to the video and record their answers on their lab station sheet. For example: What is an example from the video of a balanced force? What is one example from the video of an unbalanced force? Summarize the video in three to five sentences.

Read It!

This station will provide students with a one-page reading about balanced and unbalanced forces. Students will also learn about how balanced also means that forces acting upon it are equilibrium. There are four follow-up questions that the students will answer to demonstrate their comprehension of the reading material.

Explore It!

Students will be working in pairs to better understand balanced and unbalanced forces. In this station, students become the objects as they conduct certain tasks. Students will follow the steps and record their observations on their lab sheet.

Research It!

The research station will allow students to explore an interactive web page helps them to understand balanced and unbalanced forces. Students will enter information from the task cards into the website and see how it calculates information for them. Students will be instructed to complete a few tasks and record answers on their lab sheets.

Organize It!

Students at this station will categorize sets of cards as describing balanced or unbalanced. Once students have completed their organization, the teacher will check their understanding.

Illustrate It!

Your visual students will love this station. Students are to draw a picture that demonstrates their knowledge of balanced and unbalanced forces. They will need to label their drawings as either being balanced or unbalanced.

Illustrate It! Station Instructions. Each member of the group will draw a quick sketch on the lab sheet that shows they understand the concept that's being taught. Use the map colors and markers that are provided. The directions for the sketch are provided on the task card at the table.

Write It!

Students who can answer open-ended questions about the lab truly understand the concepts that are being taught.  At this station, the students will be answering three task cards: Contrast balanced and unbalanced forces. Why is rolling a ball down a hill considered an unbalanced force? Describe how the bowling pin will react to the unbalanced force of the bowling ball.

Assess It!

The Assess It station is where students will go to prove mastery over the concepts they learned in the lab. The questions are set up in a standardized format with multiple choice answers. Some questions include: An object at rest has equal forces acting on it. This can be described as a ______ force/An object that is accelerating can be described as a _________ force. Which is the best example of an unbalanced force? Which direction will the barre travel when the farmer applies a downward unbalanced force on the pulley?

A screenshot of two multiple-choice Assess it! questions. The first asks students "An object at rest has equal has acting on it. This can be described as a(n) (Blank space) force.". The second asks students "An object that is accelerating can be described as a(n) (Blank) force."

Challenge It! - Bonus Station

Early finishers and advanced students will love the extension activities in this station. Four activity choices offer them ways to expand their learning through mini-games and mini-projects.

Estimated Class Time for the Exploration: One to two 45-minute class periods

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EXPLANATION

The explanation activities will become much more engaging for the class once they have completed the exploration station lab. During the explanation piece of the lesson, the teacher will be clearing up any misconceptions their students may have about balanced and unbalanced forces with a variety of materials. These materials include on-level and modified versions of the interactive presentation (may be used individually or projected), anchor charts, and paper or digital interactive notebook activities. If you have students that need modified notes, the 5E lessons come equipped to help give every student access to the lesson.

A PowerPoint slide. Its text reads; "Quick Action: INB. Come up with two examples of balanced forces. Write a short explanation of why they are balanced. Then come up with two examples of unbalanced forces. Write a short explanation of why they're unbalanced.". To the righ tof this are two areas for students to write down their examples and explanations for both balanced and unbalanced forces.
A photo of the paper INB, cut out and glued into a notebook. This INB contains several picture examples of various unbalanced forces. It also contains several example questions asking whether something is an unbalanced or balanced force which can be peeled back to reveal the answer.

Interactive notebook samples: Above-left is a digital INB activity slide; above-right is an example of the paper INB activities.

Estimated Class Time for the Exploration: Two or three 45-minute class periods

ELABORATION

The elaboration section of the 5E method of instruction gives students choices that allow them to prove they’ve mastered the concepts behind a lesson. When students are given a choice, they’re much more enthusiastic and invested in the project than they are when their teachers choose their projects for them. There are a total of nine choices to demonstrate understanding of balanced and unbalanced forces. A separate set of choices that offer more teacher support are also available for students that need them. Rubrics guide students to doing their best work and assist in grading.

The top section of the Student Choice Project options. The displayed options read "Video" and "Anchor Chart". Each goes into more detail about how the project will help students learn.

Estimated Class Time for the Elaboration: Two and three 45 minute class periods (can also be used as an at-home project)

EVALUATION

The final piece of the 5E model is an evaluation of your students' comprehension. Included in every 5E lesson is a homework assignment, assessment, and modified assessment. Research has shown that homework needs to be meaningful and applicable to real-world activities in order to be effective. When possible, I like to give open-ended assessments to truly gauge the student’s comprehension.

Estimated Class Time for the Elaboration: One 45-minute class period

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