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Standard 7.1.1
7.1.1

Carry out an investigation which provides evidence that a change in an object's motion is dependent on the mass of the object and the sum of the forces acting on it. Various experimental designs should be evaluated to determine how well the investigation measures an object's motion. Emphasize conceptual understanding of Newton's First and Second Laws. Calculations will focus on one dimension; the use of  vectors will be introduced in high school.

Practices

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

  • Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that can meet the goals of the investigation.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A: Forces and Motion  

  • The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion.  

  • All positions of objects and the directions of forces and motions must be described in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame and arbitrarily chosen units of size. In order to share information with other people, these choices must also be shared

MS-ETS1-2: Engineering Design

  • Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Cross Cutting Concepts

Stability and Change

  • Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales

The change in motion of an object depends on its mass and forces acting on it.

Big Idea
Standard 7.1.2
7.1.2

Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects in a system. Examples could include collisions between two moving objects or between a moving object and a stationary object.

Practices

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

  • Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and test a design of an object, tool, process or system.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A: Forces and Motion

  • For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton’s third law).

Cross Cutting Concepts

Systems and system models

  • Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy and matter flows within systems.

Big Idea

For every force between colliding objects, there is an equal and opposite force, related to mass.

Standard 7.1.3
7.1.3

Construct a model using observational evidence that describes the nature of fields exist between objects that exert forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact. Emphasize the cause and effect relationship between properties of objects (such as magnets or electrically-charged objects) and the forces they exert.

Practices

Developing and using models

  • Develop and use a model to describe phenomena

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

  • Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively).

Cross Cutting Concepts

Cause and Effect: mechanism and explanation

  • Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Big Idea

There are forces between objects that can affect them, even if they are not touching.

Standard 7.1.4
7.1.4

Collect and analyze data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. Examples could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet, or of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor.

Practices

Analyzing and interpreting data

  • Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence of the phenomena.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

  • Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects

Cross Cutting Concepts

Cause and Effect: mechanism and explanation

  • Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Big Idea

The strength of electric or magnetic forces can be changed.

Standard 7.1.5
7.1.5

Engage in argument from evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions within a system are attractive and dependent upon the masses of interacting objects. Examples of evidence for arguments could include mathematical data generated from simulations or digital tools.

Practices

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

  • Construct and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.

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Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

  • Mathematical and computational thinking at the 6–8 level builds on K–5 and progresses to identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.  Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.B: Types of Interactions  

  • Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass—e.g., Earth and the sun.

Cross Cutting Concepts

Systems and system models

  • Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy and matter flows within systems.

Big Idea

Gravitational pull between objects depends on the mass of the two objects

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