EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
I. Readiness:
Teacher Readiness:
Title of Lesson: Gravity Launch
Grade Level: 5th
NGSS (Science Standards) & Wisconsin State Standards:
 5. Space Systems: Stars and the Solar System
o 5-PS2-1. Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth
on objects is directed down. [Clarification Statement: “Down” is a local
description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical
Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mathematical
representation of gravitational force.]
 A.8.6
o Use models and explanations to predict actions and events in the natural
world Learning Objectives:
 Students will use evidence from an experiment to demonstrate their understanding
that the Earth’s gravity is a force that pulls objects down (towards the Earth’s
center).
 Students will use a model/simulations (launching a rocket into space) to predict
how an object is affected by Earth’s gravity.
Summative Assessment:
 Students will demonstrate their understanding that the Earth’s gravity pulls
objects down through a hands on gravity experiment with bean bags and a written
or verbal response to an prediction/observation sheet. Their responses will also
demonstrate their understanding of how the Gravity Launch model/simulation
helped them predict what would happen in the bean bag experiment.
Materials needed:
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6 beanbags (or other non-breakable object that can be dropped to the floor for
demonstration)
Pencil
Masking tape
Computers or iPads
Student Activity Sheet
Pencils
Gravity Launch student sheet
SMARTBoard
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
Student Readiness:
Engagement Strategy:
Standing at the front of the classroom drop a beanbag to the floor. Ask students:
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Why do you think the beanbag drop to the floor? (Let this question lead into an open
discussion about how things fall due to the "force of gravity.")
Do you think the earth has to touch something to pull on it? Why or why not? Do you
think everything falls to the ground when it is pulled on by earth? Why or why not? (Let
these extended answer questions lead to a discussion about how gravity works- for
example the effects on earth's atmosphere or the moon or orbiting objects? Earth doesn't
pull everything to the ground, so the point they should eventually reach is that earth pulls
on objects period.)
What happens to something when force is put on it? (This question is to enforce that a
force exerted on something makes motion. Students may say "falling" since you've been
discussing gravity. If so, push a chair and say that you've just exerted a force on the chair,
what happened?)
What if I pushed harder (put more force) on the chair? (The chair would move faster or
farther.) Why do you think that is?
What do you think weight has to do with the force of gravity? (This should be a good
discussion that leads to some understanding that weight is a force, and its strength
depends on the strength of gravity. You could give the example of the moon having six
times less gravity than earth. Students would weigh only 1/6th of their weight on the
moon.)
What do you think distance has to do with the force of gravity?
What do you think the word force means? Turn and talk with a partner about this. (Try to
get students to define it in the broadest sense, basically that force causes motion. But do
not discount more specific answers, such as force pulls on things or pushes on things.
Have students share with the class after a few minutes of discussion.)
This time toss the beanbag up into the air a bit and then let it fall to the ground. Ask students:
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Did the beanbag fall to the ground the same way as last time? Why or why not? (Students
will likely say no, which is correct, but be sure they understand that force pushed it up
into the air, and also pulled it to the ground.)
What do you predict would happen if more force were used in tossing the beanbag? What
if the angle was changed and it got going extremely fast? (Students should realize that it
would go much farther and could even leave the Earth.)
(This activity is to help you go over the concepts that gravity is a force that depends on
mass and distance; that mass is not the same as weight but rather the amount of stuff that
makes up a thing; and also that weight is a force. It is also to help you determine whether
or not students have a good understanding of forces, motion, etc as well as to elicit their
prior understandings about gravity)
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
Statement of Purpose: Today we are going to explore how the earth’s and moon’s gravity
affects the path of a rocket launched into space. We’ll look at how experimenting with models or
simulations (something that shows how something else works) and recording our observations
(or what we see happens) can help us to understand how the Earth’s gravity works. We’ll also
see how these models or simulations can be used to predict and understand how gravity will
affect an actual object. Finally, we’ll use our bean bags to perform an experiment, record our
observations, and show what we’ve learned about gravity.
II. Input:
Instruction:
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Share: “In this part of the lesson, you will use Gravity Launch, an online
interactive game in which you send a rocket ship to a docking station or space
station. You can explore how the force of gravity can pull an object toward the
earth and moon, and experiment with different thrust and angle settings to learn
how these settings change the motion of the rocket.”
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Print out and give students the Gravity Launch student sheet. Then, they will use
the Gravity Launch student esheet to access the interactive. The esheet includes
instructions on how to play, as well some more information about gravity. There
is not just one setting for each mission. (You may want to have groups of two
work on this interactive. One student could put settings in while the other writes
down observations. Be sure students switch off.)
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Go through the gravity launch sheet with the students.
Gravity Launch Student Sheet
Introduction
Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... blastoff! Watching a rocket take off is
pretty amazing, especially when you think about how big one is—one of the Delta
rockets is 23 stories high! How much power would you need to launch a rocket
that big into space and how would you make sure it goes where you want it to go?
Do this activity and find out!
Exploration
In this part of the lesson, you will get to launch a rocket ship to five different
space missions. Each one will get a little bit harder. Complete all five missions
and you're a super space navigator!
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
1. Go to Gravity Launch to start your space navigation.
2. Click on the rocket to start the game.
3. Click on the “How to Play” button in the lower right corner to read specific
directions on how to use the interactive. You can use the arrow keys to scroll up
or down the page. When done, click on the "Back" button to go back to the
interactive.
4. Take a look around. To your right, you'll see the moon. Below earth, you'll see the
space station to which you are trying to launch.
5. Adjust your ship's thrust and take-off angle using the lever and dial on the control
panel.
6. Click the red "Launch" button to launch your ship.
Keep trying until you've docked with all the stations in orbit. For extra accuracy,
you can type your numbers into the controls. (Make sure you press the ENTER
key after you type.)
Write your answers in the chart provided on the Gravity Launch student sheet.
Model:
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Model using the Gravity Launch website on the SMARTBoard.
Demonstrate how to get to the website.
Show how clicking on the Rocket starts the game.
Click on the “How to Play” button in the lower right corner and read the specific
directions on how to use the interactive.
Use the arrow keys to demonstrate scrolling up or down the page. When done, click on
the "Back" button to go back to the interactive.
Take a look around. Use the mouse pointer to show the moon to the right, the earth and
below the earth the space station to which you are trying to launch.
Demonstrate adjusting your ship's thrust and take-off angle using the lever and dial on the
control panel.
Click the red "Launch" button to launch your ship.
Point out the recording sheet and pull up a copy on the SMARTBoard.
Model inputting your thrust, angle and observations.
Formative Assessment:
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Have the students go with their “Spring Buddies.”
Have the iPad manager pass out the iPads.
Use the randomizer to select a student and partner to connect their iPad to the board.
Have the other students follow along as the student demonstrates using the Gravity
Launch website and observation recording sheet.
Monitor students as they go along to assess their ability to use the site.
Use the thumbs up/thumbs sideways/thumbs down assessment to see who is
understanding, slingtly confused or very confused and support as needed.
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
Guided practice:
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Closely monitor your students as they play this game. It takes a bit of time to get the
numbers right on the thrust and angle.
Ask individuals direct questions as they do the interactive to be sure they understand
what it is they are trying to achieve, and more importantly, how the angle and thrust help
in reaching the goal.
Point out the Knowledge Check on the worksheet if students need more support.
Knowledge Check
Thrust is the force that is needed to get the rocket ship off the ground. It is
working against the force/pull of gravity. So, there are two forces at play. One
hint that may help you with successful missions is to know that your thrust should
always be above a 6 in order to make a force that will push hard enough against
earth's gravity.
When the motion of the rocket ship is changed, that motion is changed by a force.
The changes can be in the speed or direction of the rocket ship. For instance,
when the thrust starts, it moves the rocket ship from a standstill (which is not very
fast) to go flying through the air. Also, when the rocket ship gets near the moon, it
changes direction due to the moon's gravitational pull. (Even though the moon's
gravitational pull is always the same, remember that when two objects are closer
to one another, the pull between them is stronger.)
On some missions, you need to use the gravitational pull of the moon to direct the
rocket ship. This pull of the moon is also a force.
When you experimented with plugging in the wrong numbers for space mission
number 4, you observed the rocket ship orbiting the moon. It was actually falling
around the moon. You may have noticed that when the rocket ship started to slow
down, it crashed.
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Here are some correct thrust and angle settings for each mission, 1-5, of the interactive to
give support as needed:
Mission
1
2
3
4
5
Thrust
6.35
6.9
7.112
7.0
6.9
Angle
50.844
31.5
42.506
45.9
52.251
OR
OR
OR
OR
Thrust
6.7
7.0
8.0
7.6
Angle
17.699
34.624
37
12.39
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
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Give students about ten minutes to do the first launch. This is a generous amount of time,
but unless they are being systematic about the settings, it could take this long and it is
important that they have plenty of time to explore the simulation.
If some students are progressing quickly, invite them to try the missions with one
variable set (thrust at 7 for example) while adjusting only the other variable.
Below are questions you may want to discuss during and after the game to help the
students to come up with an explanation for what they are observing. These questions are
not on the esheet:
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Did anyone have their rocket ship pulled back to earth for a crash? (This will
likely happen to some of your students since any thrust setting below six does not
exert enough force to get the rocket ship far enough away from earth.)
Why do you suppose it did that? (If there is not enough thrust or force on the
rocket ship, it will go up and just come right back down. Here you can discuss
how enough thrust/force is needed to get beyond the gravitational pull, also a
force.)
Did anyone observe the earth or the moon pulling the rocket ship toward it? How
did this affect the motion of the rocket ship? (Students may have noticed the
moon having an effect on the rocket ship's path. Discuss that this pull/force also
changed the motion of the object.)
Encourage the students to elaborate on their findings throughout the exploration phase as
they have five missions to complete which are interspersed with discussion where the
students seek to explain what is happening. (Thus students are able to go back to the
simulator on a new mission where they can take their learning on thrust, gravity, and
vector (angle) and apply it to more difficult missions.)
Ask these questions after students are done with the interactive:
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I. Output:
What do you think the thrust of the rocket ship is? (Basically, you want to be sure
that students understand that when an object is moved, a force moves it, and thrust
imposes a force great enough to get the rocket off the ground.)
What do angle and thrust have to do with the motion of the object? (Discuss how
these things change the motion. The angle also worked with or against gravity
because it helped aim the rocket ship.)
What did you observe with number 4 where you were instructed to put in certain
angle and thrust numbers? (This was a demonstration of the rocket ship orbiting
around the moon several times. Discuss that it orbited due to the pull of the moon
and was actually "falling." The speed it was traveling was due to the thrust and
the pull.)
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
Summative Assessment:
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The assessment (Evaluation) will go back to what you demonstrated at the beginning of
the class, only this time, students will do the beanbag tossing and explaining amongst
themselves.
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Divide your class into their summer groups and give each group a beanbag and two
pieces of masking tape. Each group will need enough space to toss the bags about five
feet. Weather permitting, outside is also an option.
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Students should follow the directions on their Gravity Launch student sheets to make a
target and play with different angles and speeds of the beanbags to hit the target. They
also are instructed to write down their observations, which is what you will use to
determine what they have learned in this lesson.
Gravity Launch Student Sheet
What did you learn?
When your teacher instructs you to, you will get into groups and do your own
beanbag toss while observing forces at work.
Once you are in your group, do the following:
With your classmates, find an area that gives you about five feet of throwing
room. Make a “target” by crisscrossing the tape on the floor.
Each person in your group will toss the beanbag three times to try to make the
target. It’s o.k. if some people in your group don’t hit the target exactly.
Make your prediction:
Based on the model/simulation of the Gravity Launch (Rocket ship simulation),
what do you think you will need to do to have the bean bag hit the target?
While you watch the other people in your group toss the bag, make the following
observations. Write two to five sentences to answer each question:
1. What do you see always happens to the beanbag, no matter how it is thrown?
2. Why do you think this predictable “thing” always happens? Use evidence
from your experiment to support your argument.
EMA 544: Lesson Plan - Kurt Handrich
3. Does earth need to touch the bag to pull it down? Why do you think that is?
4. What do you think is the force that gets the beanbag from your classmates’
hands into the air?
5. When the force of the throw changes or the angle of the throw, does the
motion of the beanbag change? Describe.
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The prediction should include some idea of the earth pulling the bean bag towards it and
that the throw (thrust) and angle of the throw will affect where the bean bag lands.
The observations section should in one way or another incorporate these observations:
 That the beanbags are pulled toward earth by its gravity;
 That the earth does not need to touch the beanbags in order to pull them down;
and
 That different changes in how the bag is thrown, meaning speed or direction, is
caused by a force from a person's arm.
Have the students complete a self assessment including the questions;
 Would you make any changes in your procedure based on what you know now?
 Are your observations as detailed as you could make them?
 What did you learn from the inquiry?
Closure:
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Have each student stand in a line across from another student sharing one thing they
learned about gravity from the inquiry.
Have the students plop down on the ground and shout, “Gravity affects us all!”
Extensions
For another lesson that explores gravity, see the Science NetLinks lesson, Falling.
Falling for Gravity is a Science NetLinks Afterschool activity that allows students to do some
experiments and put gravity to the test. (http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/falling/).