Lesson Plans

Name: Samantha Portice

Grade Level: Kindergarten
Learning Objectives: At the end of this unit, the students will be able to explain how pushes and pulls
can affect the speed or direction of an object.

Lesson Plans:
Name: Danielle Albert, Kat Smith, Sam Portice
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Learning Objectives:
1. At the end of this unit, the students will be able to describe how pushes and pulls can have
different strengths and directions.
2. At the end of this unit, the students will be able to explain how pushes and pulls can affect the
speed or direction of an object.
3. At the end of this unit, the students will be able to analyze the effects of various attributes of a
ramp on the speed of an object.
Guiding Question: How do pushes and pulls affect the movement of objects?
Big Ideas and Scientific Principles: Pushes and pulls are forces that can act upon objects. Pushes and
pulls will move an object in the direction of the force applied. If you apply more force to an object, it will
move farther if the weight stays consistent. Heavier objects will require more force to move than lighter
objects. If you apply equal force to a moving object, the object will stop. When an object encounters an
obstacle it will either stop, change direction, or knock the obstacle over depending on the force and
weight of the object and obstacle. When two objects that are moving collide, they will both change
direction or one of them will stop.
Overall Time Estimate: 30 minutes per lesson (1 hour total for these two lessons)

Lesson Plan 1: Weight of an Object

Connection to I-AIM Section and Function:

Weight of
an object

Students will push and pull objects of various weights

and compare which is easier or harder to move.
As a group, we will record which objects were easy to
move and which were harder, and look for common
factors among the objects.
Students will explain what factors made the objects
easier/harder to move.

Experiences

Explore Ideas
about Patterns

Patterns

Students Explain
Patterns

Explanation
s

Compare Student
and Scientific Ideas

Materials:

10 small empty boxes and 10 small boxes filled with gravel with pipe cleaners attached to the
edge of one side
1

Interactive Student Handbook (1 per child, attached to this document)

1 copy of the student text on the document camera
Push Pull cards (1 set for each student, attached to this document)

Introduction (8 minutes)

We will begin by explaining expectations for our large group discussion. Students should be in
learning position with their eyes on the speaker, whoever that may be. We will then ask the whole
group on the circle carpet, What do pushes and pulls do? Support the open discussion but allow
the students to come up with the responses. If needed, review what push and pull mean so that all
students can contribute.
Bring up this image on the smart board and ask questions like, What do you see in this picture?
What speed is the cart moving? Why do you think the boy is pushing the cart? Allow open
discussion and encourage participation by drawing name sticks. Rephrase their thoughts as
necessary.

Once discussion has come to a close, pull up an image of a still red wagon. Ask, Is this wagon
moving? How can you tell? Probe responses and begin to describe that we will be investigating
how wagons move.
Your job today will be to determine how we can make things move and how weight can change
the way items move. We will be breaking up into groups of five for these investigations. Each
group will be at their own table. I will be looking for students who are working hard and staying
focused, this is a very exciting activity that I really think you will enjoy!

Main Teaching Activities (15 minutes)

I will go over behavior expectations and let the students know which verbal cues I will be using to
grab their attention. When that cue is given they should put their eyes on me and turn their voices
off. They should also stop whatever they are doing so they can hear the next direction. I will
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dismiss students to their tables where empty wagons will be waiting for them. Once the students
are settled at their tables we will get started.
I will ask the whole class to make predictions about what will happen if they push or pull the small
boxes. They will discuss their thoughts within their groups and then share out to the class. After a
few minutes of discussing they will investigate by pushing or pulling the boxes gently. They
should talk about what is happening.
Next, I will ask the class, If you push the wagon harder, what will happen? If you pull the wagon
harder, what will happen? They will discuss predictions and then investigate. I will be walking
around the room monitoring engagement and behavior. They will record their findings on this
sheet. I will have this sheet on the document camera and read through it with the students.

As I am stopping at each center to engage discussion, I will ask students to come up with their
own what if questions and give them time to explore and investigate their own questions about
pushing and pulling the boxes. Have students share out their questions and findings.
I will give students a 2 minute brain break and let them Walk, Talk, Drink, Think around the
classroom. This is something we do frequently in my room. While they are taking their break I
will change their boxes to ones filled with gravel.
Once students are sitting back at their seats I will ask the whole group if the boxes look the same
still. Though they look the same, we are going to find out how they are different. I will ask
students to investigate how the boxes are different.
I will let students explore for a few minutes as they did previously and come to their own
conclusions. I will provide prompts such as how are you moving the box? Is it easier or harder to
move than before? These questions will help them think about the questions we will be
discussing as a group. Once they have done this they will share with the class. As we discuss I will
ask these probing questions:
o Which wagon was harder to push or pull?
o Which wagon was easier to push or pull?
o Why do you think one wagon was harder to push or pull than the other one?
o Look inside your wagons now. What do you see?
o Compare the two wagons. Hold one wagon in one hand and the other wagon in the other
hand. Which wagon is heavier?
3

Have students share out answers and engage in a discussion about what connects pushes, pulls and
the weight of an object. What do pushes and pulls do?
Once students share their ideas, we will read in our text about what pushes and pulls do to objects.
I will explain how these ideas are connected with our experience and have students think-pairshare with their partner about if their ideas are the same or different than what we read about.
I will use name sticks to have students share to the whole class about how their ideas were similar
or different than the one we read about.

Conclusion (7 minutes)

I will pass out the cut up push/pull cards to each student and have students show me what a push
or pull might look like to review the vocabulary.

I will explain that they will sort these cards into things that would be pushed and things that would
be pulled while showing them the T-chart for sorting. Students will then each get this worksheet to
paste the items in their correct categories based on whether or not they are pushed or pulled. This
will be an independent assessment that will help me further my planning. If students finish early
they can pick one of the objects and mime what kind of push or pull that object would use for a
partner.

Lesson Plan 2: Bumping

Connection to I-AIM Section and Function:

Bumpin
g

Students will push on objects such as coins on the table and

explore what happens when the coin hits something. They will
explore against the "wall", another object that is the same, and
a different kind of object.

Experience

Elicit Initial
Student Ideas

Students will record what happens in each experience on a

recording chart that is provided. We will share this data as a
class and compare results.
Patterns
Explore Ideas
about Patterns

Students will pair off to come up with a reason for what they
observed.
We will then read the student text on bumping and compare our
ideas to the text to see if our ideas match or not.
Explanation
s

Compare
Student &
Scientific Ideas

Materials:
Chips (4-5 per table group)
Stiff Material to create barrier (1 per group)

o
Paper towel tube (1 per group)
Student Text (4 per group)
Student worksheet packet (1 of each per child-attached at end of lesson)
PowerPoint with Picture
Introduction (5 minutes)
We will begin by quickly reviewing large group discussion rules. Reminding students to raise
hands, refrain from blurting and to respect others ideas and listening to everyones thoughts.
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Introduce todays topic by reviewing the last Weve been talking a lot about moving and pushing
and pulling, but today were going to switch it up a little to what happens when objects hit each
other.
I will show the class a picture and ask questions to prompt discussion. These questions will
include What do you see in this picture? How will the ball move? What will happen next? Where
do the pins go? This will open discussion and I will use various talk techniques to prompt
conversation such as drawing sticks, think-pair-share and answering each others questions.
Rephrase student thoughts and ask prompting questions when necessary.

Wrap up the discussion and introduction by moving to the exploration activity. Today, youre all
going to experiment with some bumping activities. We will be working in table groups to bump
some different objects and see what happens. Im looking for students to use materials respectfully
and safely throughout this activity!
Main Teaching Activities (15 minutes)
I will review procedure for working in small groups, such as raising hands for questions, using a
voice level 1 and listening for more directions. Students will break up into their table groups and
materials will be passed out.
I will ask students to set one chip in the center of their field. Once they have all done so, I will
ask them to brainstorm what might happen if that chip were to bump the outside. Ill allow
discussion time and then ask for an answer from several students.
Ill model how to move the chip on the document camera, and then tell students Now its your
turn! Each person should take a turn bumping the chip against the wall. Youll put your finger on
the chip and push it to make it move to bounce along the wall. Make sure to watch what happens
each time and see if its the same. Once you see whats happened, draw arrows on your first page
of your packet to show what you saw. When youve finished, put your pencil down so I know
youre ready for the next step.
The students will engage in the activity while the adults in the room walk around and monitor,
asking questions and supporting students completing the activity properly and working on their
first sheet of their packet.
Once students have finished, I will get their attention and ask for some volunteers to share what
they saw, asking questions such as What happened when the chip touched the wall? How fast was
the chip moving? How did you show the path? Once student can bring their paper to the
document camera to show how they drew the chip moving.
Next were going to use two chips to see how bouncing looks. The chips will look like this (show
chips on document camera). Before you set up your chips, predict and discuss with your group
what you think will happen when the chips bump. Give a minute or two for discussion. Now lets
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find out! Put your finger on one chip and push it into the other chip. Everyone will get a turn.
Once youve watched everyone push the chips, draw on your page 2 what happened when the
chips bumped.
Teachers and adults walk around and monitor activity and ask questions.
Once students have finished, Ill redirect attention and ask some questions such as What
happened when the chip bumped the other chip? What happened to the other chip? How fast did
they move? Who would like to show how they drew both chips moving? Invite volunteer up to the
document camera to show how they drew the chips moving on page 2. Brainstorm with your
table why the chips moved in different directions? Ask for a few answers out loud.
Say Okay one more experiment. This time were going to use a tower. Set up a paper towel roll
instead of another chip. What do you think might happen? Lets find out. Put your finger on the
chip and push it towards the tower. Let everyone have a turn. Watch what happens to the chip and
draw where it moves on page 3 of your packet.
Teachers walk around to monitor and support student learning.
Get students attention back to whole group and say Okay lets talk about what we saw. What
happened to the tower if you pushed the chip hard into the tower? Did anyone push your chip into
the tower gently? What happened? What happened to the chip after it hit the tower? Who would
like to show how they drew this? Invite another volunteer up to the document camera to show
how they drew their tower.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Conclusion (5-7 minutes)

I will have students to clean up their tables, put their packets in the finished work basket, and then
have a seat on the carpet.
Say Today we learned so much about objects bumping or colliding. When objects bump, they
push into each other which can make them change directions. It might stop, or make it move a
different way. Pull up the student text on the document camera and read the pages on bumping
together.
We will then have a discussion about what we saw and what the book said about bumping. I will
ask the questions What did we see when we were bumping the chips? Was what you saw the same
as what the book said would happen? Was what you thought about what you saw the same as what
we read about? Support class discussion by rephrasing questions and asking students supporting
questions based on their answers.