SUMS Year 3
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About 2,000 years ago, Aristotle taught that
an object can move only if it is pushed by a
force and the movement stops when the force
is removed.
In the 16th century, Galileo recognized that no
force is needed to keep an object movingonly to start it, stop it, or change its direction
or speed.
In 1687, Isaac Newton expanded on Galileo’s
work and proposed the three laws of motion.
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Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest remains at rest and
an object in motion remains in motion in a straight line, unless acted on by a
force.
Example: This is inertia. Inertia is what causes your body to rise up in the
seat as a roller coaster goes up and over a steep hill.
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Newton’s second law of motion states that when a force acts on an object,
the object will start to move, speed up, slow down, or change direction.
Example: To slow down more quickly a race car needs to have a big force. A
parachute increases friction which causes the race car to slow down.
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Newton’s third law of motion states that if an object exerts a force on a
second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the
first object.
Example: Bumper cars exert equal and opposite forces on each other.
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SC.C.1.2.1 – The student understands that the motion
of an object can be described and measured.
SC.C.2.2.1 – The student recognizes that forces of
gravity, magnetism, and electricity operate simple
machines.
SC.C.2.2.2 – The student knows that an object may
move in a straight line at a constant speed, speed up,
slow down, or change direction dependent on net
force acting on the object.
SC.C.2.2.4 – The student knows that the types of
force that act on an object is determined by the
overall effect of all of the forces acting on the object.
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Aerodynamic
Axle
Blueprint
Conclusion
Constant
Controlled Experiment
Data
Drag
Energy
Evidence
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Force
Friction
Gravity
Hypothesis
Kinetic Energy
Mass
Potential Energy
Prototype
Speed
Tension
What We Know
About the Motion
and Design of
Vehicles
What We Want to
Know About the
Motion and Design
of Vehicles
 Materials
Manager
 Moderator
 Reporter
 Recorder
 Investigator
 Chief
Engineer
 Math Engineer
 Artist
 Builder
 Writer
Journal Questions:
 What
do you know about how vehicles are
made?
 What do you know about designing vehicles?
Explore with the building pieces.
 What
did you discover when you had a chance
to explore with the building pieces?
Color code “Building Pieces” paper.
Look over “Tips on Using the Building Pieces”
paper.
In 20 minutes or less, your first challenge will be
to design and build a vehicle that will move at
least 100 cm (39 in).
Journal Questions:
 How did you get your vehicle to move?
 What was a problem your group had while
building your vehicle?
Using graph paper complete a 3D drawing of the
vehicle you designed in lesson 1.
Now you will take apart your vehicle and build the
standard vehicle using the technical drawing.
Journal Questions:
 How is your own drawing similar to or different from
the technical drawing?
 On the technical drawing, what do you notice about
the two views of the vehicle? How are they alike?
How are they different?
Reading Selection – “The Race That Wasn’t Won”
Before you begin this lesson prepare strings and paper clips
ahead of time. (T.E. pg. 27)
Set up a falling-weight system. Test different sizes and
amounts of washers to see what makes your vehicle move.
Record observations on “Record Sheet 3-A”
Journal Questions:
 What caused your vehicle to move?
 Did the vehicle move differently when you changed the weight?
Why do you think this happened?
 What made the vehicle stop?
Word Bank:
force, unbalanced forces, and friction
Using the falling weight system and 10 small washers see how many
seconds it takes for your vehicle to move 2 blocks.
Follow the instructions for testing the motion of vehicles carrying a load.
Complete “Record Sheet 4-A”
Journal Notes:
List types of motion you can measure with time.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Word Bank:
mass, weight, mean, median, mode, and line plot
Use with “Design Challenge Card”
Journal Notes: Set up two columns in your journal.
Label the columns “What Made Our Vehicle Move Slowly” and “What Made Our
Vehicle Move Fast” Record a few sentences under each column about what
happened to your vehicle when you used the Falling-Weight System.
Distribute one design challenge card to each group.
Journal Questions:
 Before building your vehicle, how did your group prepare?
 Did you experience any problems as you were building your vehicle? How did you
solve them?
 What changes did you make to your vehicle to get it to work better?
Using graph paper draw the vehicle you created. When you are finished, remove
the extra parts, so the only the standard vehicle remains.
Reading Selection – “Lunar Rover: Making Tracks on the Moon”
(Incorporate FRI strategies with the reading selections.)
For each group connect three rubber bands together.
Identify an area on the floor for students to work. Mark off with tape. Need at
least 5 meters.
Allow students about 5-7 minutes to explore freely how they might use the
connected rubber bands to move their vehicles.
Distribute Record Sheet 6-A: “Evaluating Our Vehicle Design for Rubber Band
Energy”
Show students how to use the rubber band correctly to help move the vehicle.
Journal Questions:
 What did you feel in your hands as you wound the rubber band? Did this feeling
change as you wound the rubber band tighter? If so, how?
 Did the direction in which you wound the rubber band affect the direction in which
the vehicle traveled? If so, how?
Word Bank:
energy, stored energy or potential energy, and kinetic energy
For this lesson, the students’ vehicles may move up to 4 meters or more. You may have to move to the cafeteria
or hallway to have enough space.
Cut the adding machine tape into strips that measure 4 meters long. Prepare extra strips for groups whose
vehicle travels more than 4 meters.
Review “Student Instructions for Collecting Data on Rubber Band Energy.”
You will be testing your vehicle three times for each trial.
Trial #1
Mark with a pencil on the adding machine tape how far you think your vehicle will travel.
Wind rubber bands two times around the axel.
Mark each of the three trials on your adding machine tape with a red dot.
Trial #2
Mark with a pencil on the adding machine tape how far you think your vehicle will travel.
Wind rubber bands four times around the axel.
Mark each of the three trials on your adding machine tape with a blue dot.
Trial #3
Mark with a pencil on the adding machine tape how far you think your vehicle will travel.
Wind rubber bands eight times around the axel.
Mark each of the three trials on your adding machine tape with a green dot.
Journal Questions:
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Which dot represents the distance your vehicle traveled most often? Circle that dot.
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Were your predictions accurate? Why or why not?
Label a sheet of chart paper: “What We Know and
What We Want to Know About Friction”
Brainstorm as a class what students already know
about friction and what questions they would like
answered.
Distribute Record Sheet 8-A and have students
complete the three observation cards.
Upon completion of the cards discuss
observations and add to the chart any findings.
Revisit brainstorming list from Lesson 5 about what might cause vehicles to
move fast or slow. Add new ideas to the list.
Students will adapt their vehicles to hold an upright piece of cardboard--like
a sail--that will catch the air.
Students will look at trade books about sails and sketch what they think their
vehicle will look like with a sail attached.
Experiment with the building pieces and attach a piece if cardboard to your
standard vehicle. Students can use masking tape or punch holes in the
cardboard if needed.
Assessment Opportunities:
 Motion and Design: Student Self-Assessment A
 Give Student Participation Grade
 Use a Rubric to Grade Journals
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For each group connect three rubber bands together.
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Cut the adding machine tape into strips that measure 4 meters. Each group needs one strip.
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Tape your strip to the floor.
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Read “Student Instructions for Testing Air Resistance”
Wind the rubber band around the axel 10 times. Mark on the adding machine tape how for you think your
vehicle will travel. Test the vehicle 3 times. Put a red dot on the adding machine tape where the vehicle
stopped each time.
Journal Questions:
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Look at the red dots. Are the distances your vehicle traveled close together. Are they spread out? Why do
you think this happened?
How could you change the sail so that it has less influence on the vehicle’s motion?
Now modify the sail and repeat the same steps, but this time mark where it stopped using a blue dot.
Reading Selection – “Shirley Muldowney—Drag Racer”
Word Bank:
air resistance, drag, and aerodynamic
Journal Notes:
Ask students to identify vehicles that are propeller driven.
Copy chart into Science Journal (see T.E. pg. 107).
Build propellers (see instructions in T.E. pg. 104).
Build propeller driven vehicles (see instruction in T.E. pg. 105).
Test the vehicle and complete the chart. Measure the distance traveled given a
certain number of spins.
Journal Questions:
 How did you get the vehicle to move?
 How did you get the propeller to spin?
 What happened to the rubber band as you wound the propeller?
 What happened when you let the propeller go? Why do you think this happened?
Word Bank:
energy, stored energy or potential energy, and kinetic energy
Test your propeller-driven vehicle using
several different scenarios listed on Record
Sheet 12-A “What Happens If…”
Journal Notes:
Brainstorm ways to reduce vehicle cost.
Distribute two copies of Record Sheet 12-A “Evaluating the Cost of Our
Design”
Using this sheet have each group determine the cost of building the
standard vehicle.
Then, have students redesign and modify their vehicles to reduce cost
and calculate the new cost.
Journal Questions:
 How did you reduce the cost of your vehicle?
 How much money did you save?
 Did reducing the vehicle’s cost affect its appearance? How?
 Did reducing the vehicle’s cost affect its performance? How?
Word Bank:
cost-effective
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In these lessons, students will work in groups to design, build,
and present a vehicle from one of the design challenge cards.
The options are:
A. Build a vehicle for saving mountain climbers who are trapped
on the top of snow-capped mountains.
B. Build a vehicle that services a hospital’s rooftop heliport. It
will transport patients from the helicopter to the elevator.
C. Build a pizza delivery truck that can travel quickly and safely
both short and long distances.
D. Build a parade float that is powered by air pushing it from
behind.
What We Know
About the Motion
and Design of
Vehicles
What We Want to
Know About the
Motion and Design
of Vehicles