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Grade 3. In Unit 3.1 Forces & Interactions, students work to answer the Unit Driving Question: "How can we design objects to balance and move in different ways?"

Have you ever seen something in the world that is balanced in an interesting or puzzling way? Have you wondered how it stays balanced without falling over? This unit launches with art sculptures that do just this—the sculptures balance and move in ways that make students wonder how they work. Through a series of investigations, students develop ideas about the multiple forces acting on a sculpture to keep it upright and not fall over, or to create predictable motion. Students plan and carry out investigations to test what works and does not work to design sculptures. The unit re-anchors with a new type of sculpture—one that moves in interesting ways using magnets with nothing making contact. Students learn about the size and direction of forces between magnets and between magnets and some metal objects. Students then apply these ideas about magnets to design an object and device that solves a problem.

This 1-Class Unit Kit comes with basic teacher access to instructional materials on CarolinaScienceOnline.com, plus the materials needed for a teacher to teach 1 class of 32 students per day.

Building Toward the Next Generation Science Standards
Performance Expectations (PEs)

3-PS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
3-PS2-2: Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
3-PS2-3: Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.
3-PS2-4: Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.
3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-3: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Focal Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)

Asking Questions and Defining Problems
Developing and Using Models
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Focal Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)

PS2.A: Forces and Motion (first bulleted statement)
PS2.A: Forces and Motion (second bulleted statement)
PS2.B: Types of Interactions
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

Focal Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns
Cause and Effect
Systems and System Models

*All enhancements to materials and instruction for this Carolina Certified Version of the unit are approved by OpenSciEd® to preserve the integrity of the storyline and the instructional model.

The Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.