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 Featured Sols 4214–4215: The Best Laid Plans...3 min readSols 4214–4215: The Best Laid Plans...article4 days ago Hubble Observes a Cosmic Fossil2 min readHubble Observes a Cosmic Fossilarticle3 days ago Voyager 1 Returning Science Data From All Four Instruments2 min readVoyager 1 Returning Science Data From All Four Instrumentsarticle4 days ago
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Four Forces (K-4 and 5-8)
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 Four Forces (K-4 and 5-8) cover showing an image of a US Air Force and NASA Airrcraft in flight.
			Audience
							Educators
																		Grade Levels
							Grades K-4, Grades 5-8
					Subject
							Mathematics, Physical Science, Geometry, Measurement and Data Analysis, Flight and Aeronautics, Forces and Motion
																		Type
							Lesson Plans / Activities
				MUSEUM IN A BOX
Four Forces (K-4 and 5-8)
Four Forces (K-4), students will be exposed to the four forces of flight and experience the relationship between them by reviewing an internet site, participating in a board game and completing a word search. Activity 1 consists of going to an internet site that has a presentation of the four forces of flight. It is a series of slides similar to a PowerPoint presentation. The illustrations are simple and there are a few questions dispersed throughout. They may be good discussion points. Activity 2 will consist of a board game in which students role a cube with the four forces on all sides. Based on the force, they will move their playing piece a certain number of spaces. The goal is to the first to get from one airport to the other before anyone else. Activity 3 will be a word search of aeronautical terms. A word bank is provided.
Four Forces (K-4)
**Grade Level:**K-4
**Time Required:** 60 minutes
**National Science Standards Addressed:**
*Science:*
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Position and motion of objects
Abilities of technological design
Science and technology in local challengesIn the Four Forces (5-8) Probability, Graphing, Ratios activity is a modification of one that appeared in the NASA “Why” Files. Specifically, it was Program 4 of the 2000 – 2001 series, “The Case of the Challenging Flight”. It can be located at: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/636827main_Sci%20Filesguide4_00.pdf. In this activity, students will be presented with a scenario of an aircraft carrier receiving a distress call from a downed pilot on a nearby mountain island. Students will move from the carrier toward the pilot by progressing in one of four directions; up (lift), forward (thrust), down (gravity / weight) or backward (drag). The direction that the students move will be determined by spinning one of four spinners. Students will determine which of the spinners would be most advantageous based on a statistical analysis. The goal is to select the spinner that has the highest probability of moving the student in the desired direction. The goal will be landing exactly on the location area of the downed pilot, without crashing into land. The statistical analysis will be conducted by each student or team of students. Spinning will be done by providing each student with a large paper clip and pen or pencil. Fifty spins will be made and recorded for each of the four spinners, for a total of 200 spins. This information will be entered into an excel spreadsheet and, with the chart wizard, will generate four charts which will visually demonstrate the probabilities of each force on each spinner.
Four Forces (5-8)
**Grade Level:**5-8
**Time Required:** 60 minutes
**National Science Standards Addressed:**
*Science:*
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Understanding about scientific inquiry
Objects in the sky
Understanding about science and technology
Science and technology in local challenges
Science as a human endeavor*Math:*
Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates
Understand patterns, relations, and functions
Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships
Analyze change in various contexts
Use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems
Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement
Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements
Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them.
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data
Understand and apply basic concepts of probability
Problem Solving
Reasoning and Proof**Topic:** Forces, Motion, Probability, Graphing, Ratios
**Topic:** Forces
This activity is part of theMuseum in a Box Lessons


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 Page Last Updated:
								Oct 06, 2023
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