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Work Lesson Plan – A Complete Science Lesson Using the 5E Method of Instruction

By the end of this lesson plan about work, students will be able to contrast situations where work is done with different amounts of force to situations where no work is done (i.e. moving a box with and without a ramp, or standing still). 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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The blog post below will walk you through each of the steps and activities from the Work 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

  1. Ask one student to pick up a heavy object off the floor and place it on a table/desk.
  2. Ask another student to take that same object and carry it across the room and place it on a shelf/desk.
  3. Ask a third student to take that same object and place it back on the floor.

Student Activity

  1. Have the students work with a partner to brainstorm ideas about the following questions.

    • How far did the student lift the object off the floor?
    • How far did the student carry the object across the room?
    • Did all three students do work?
    • Did any of the students not do work?
  2. Ask for responses from each group.
  3. Explain that over the next few days, students will be learning about situations where work is done and not done, such as when standing still or moving an object up a ramp.
Text reading; “Contrast situations where work is done with different amounts of force to situations where no work is done. Examples: moving a box with and without a ramp, or standing still."

Afterwards, the teacher will help to clear any misconceptions their students may have about work. A common but major misconception, for example, is that students will think that just because effort is exerted that work has been done. This is partially true, and a good life lesson where work outside of the physics term is concerned, but doesn’t tell the whole story.

Estimated Class Time for the Engagement: 20-30 minutes

EXPLORATION

With nine stations in total, you can introduce work 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 work, 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 about how I set up the station labs here.

Watch It!

At this station, students will be watching a short video explaining work. Students will then answer questions related to the video and record their answers on their lab station sheet. For example: What is the formula for work? Name one example from the video of work being done. Is any work being done if the object does not move?

Read It!

This station will provide students with a one-page reading about work. Students will also learn about the components involved in order to calculate to see if work is done or not. 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 work. In this station, students manipulate objects as they conduct certain tasks and record their movements and the amount of force being used. 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 that helps them to understand if work is being done using another PheT simulation with a ramp. Students will be instructed to complete a few tasks and record answers on their lab sheets.

Organize It!

Students at this station will match the sets of cards. Sets include a scenario in which students need to calculate work and the answer card. 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 work. Their drawing will have the force labeled, and the distance the object is moved. Students will also show how they calculated work being done in their illustration.

Illustrate It! Station Instructions. Draw a picture on your lab sheet that demonstrates your knowledge of work. Be sure the force being applied and the distance traveled are in the same direction. Label the force in Newtons (N) and the distance in meters (m). Solve the problem.

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: Describe what work is as it relates to science. How do you calculate work? Are you doing work if the force applied is in a different direction than the movement of the object? Why?

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: Which person is not doing work? How much work is done on a dresser that was pushed 10.5m with 150N of force? What is the formula used to calculate work? How much work is done on a bag of trash that was lifted 1.5m with 600N of force?

A screenshot of two multiple-choice Assess it! questions. The first asks students to identify which person described in the answers is not doing work. The second asks students what the formula used to calculate work is.

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 or two 45-minute class periods

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EXPLANATION

The explanation activities will become much more engaging for your class once they’ve 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 work 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. You will complete the organizer to the right by clicking on and dragging the correct statement to answer the last sentence. You will complete another box after each section in these notes.". To the right is an organizer which students will have already complete the first two sections of, and will now answer the last section of. The final section of the organizer reads "what is the formula for work?". The labels students may pick from to answer this question are "work = force times distance", "work = force divided by distance", and "work = Newtons times meters".
A photo of the paper INB, cut out and glued into a notebook. This INB consists of six paper tabs, on the front of which is either a vocabulary questions or a sample problem. Opening the tab will give students the answer ot the question on the front of the tab.

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

The students will also be interacting with their journals while taking notes from the PowerPoint. If you have students that need modified notes, the 5E lessons come equipped to help give every student access to the lesson.

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 the 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 work. 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 "Learning Center" and "Teach a Lesson". Each goes into more detail about how the project will help students learn.

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

EVALUATION

The final piece of the 5E model is to evaluate student 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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