And His Laws of

Introduction

In 1665 it is believed that a young scientist was sitting under an apple tree pondering the amazing universe around him when all of a sudden an apple fell from the tree and knocked him on the head. It is thought that when this young scientist was knocked on the head by the apple he came to discover the laws that describe the universe.

Sir Isaac Newton

His name was Isaac Newton and he went on to discover many great things in physics, as well as mathematics, chemistry and a wide variety of other subjects. He became Sir Isaac Newton in 1705 and is known all over the world for the many great theories he developed in his life. Three of these theories that he is probably most commonly known for (since they have his name in them) are Newton’s laws of motion.

Activity

The goal of this activity is to introduce the students to Sir Isaac Newton and his three laws of motion. The students will read about and observe examples of these laws and then will apply their understanding of them in a variety of different tasks. To access the different websites that will give a description and tutorial of each law simply click on the picture below the literal interpretation of each law.

The first of these laws simply states:

An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will continue its motion unless acted upon by some external force

Newton’s second law of motion states:

The net external force that is acting upon an object is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration

Force = mass * acceleration

The third and final law of motion as determined by Newton states:

For every force there is an equal and opposite force

Post Reading Assignments

Now that we have a basic understanding of Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion it is important to see how these laws apply to the world around us. We see these laws at work every single day. Whether it’s on the bus on the way to school or during football practice after school, we are experiencing Newton’s laws of motion constantly. Using your newly acquired knowledge of Newton’s laws of motion, click on the picture below to take you to a list of problems where you will choose any five and solve. You may work in groups in order to complete the assignment, but each person must turn in a piece of paper with his or her own work on it.

So, now that we know Newton’s laws and are able to apply them in solving problems let’s have some fun with them. Motion can be a really cool and fun thing and one place in particular that Newton’s laws of motion are seen very evidently is at amusement parks on those exciting and massive roller coasters that we all love. In the following activity it is your responsibility to use your newly attained knowledge of motion to design the roller coaster so it is able to complete the run, while remaining on the track.

The last assignment is a little more involved, but it can be just as fun. For this assignment we are going to build something that moves, but because we are weird and crazy physicists we are not going to use normal parts. Instead, we are going to use a mousetrap in order to power our moving device. The goal of this assignment is to build a contraption around a mousetrap that will cause it to move. Along with the contraption you will need to provide a written explanation of why you built it the way you did.

Evaluation

Problems

Each problem will be worth three points

1^st point: Setting up the problem, which includes drawing a picture and writing down all known and unknown values

2^nd point: Working through the problem using relevant equations

3^rd point: Coming up with the correct answer

Roller Coaster

The grade for this assignment is based on completion. Once you have found values that allow for the completion of the roller coaster I will check your work and mark you as completed.

Mouse Trap

There are two parts to this assignment, the actual contraption and the written explanation. Each will be worth twenty-five points for a total of fifty points for the assignment. The points for the contraption are based purely on completion upon race day, although bonus points will be awarded for those that travel the farthest. The paper will be graded using the following rubric scale:

	One	Three	Five
Completion of paper/appearance
Description of contraption
Rationale for design
Support from reading or text for design
Grammar

Conclusion

In the centuries following Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion we have come to realize that the universe is much more complicated and involves a great deal more of information to describe everything, but Newton’s laws of motion are just as important today as they were in his time. They still describe almost every type of motion that we can observe and experience here on Earth and they are the building block for pretty much every theory of physics that came after it. Without Sir Isaac Newton and his apple, who knows where we would be today.

Links

Click on the following picture to link you to a list of great webquest activities for a variety of topics.