Lesson 1: Thinking about How Things Change

2nd Grade Balance and Motion Unit Blueprint—Investigation 2: Spinners

Pacing Suggestions (45-60 minute lessons):

Days 1 & 2—Part 1: Tops
Day 3—Push or Pull? FOSS Science Story
Day 4—Part 2: Zoomers
Days 5 & 6—Part 3: Twirlers
Day 7—Things That Spin FOSS Science Story

Teacher Resources:
	Tops Lab Sheet (Adobe^® Reader^® PDF) Zoomers Lab Sheet (Adobe Reader PDF) Twirlers Lab Sheet (Adobe Reader PDF)	Tops Lab Sheet (Microsoft^® Word^®) Zoomers Lab Sheet (Microsoft Word) Twirlers Lab Sheet (Microsoft Word)

Essential & Unit Questions ¹

Benchmarks ²

Formative and Summative Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

What are parts? Why are parts important for some things?

11A(K-2)#1: Most things are made of parts.

11A(K-2)#2: Something may not work if some of its parts are missing.

11A(K-2)#3 When parts are put together, they can do things that they couldn't do by themselves.

12C(K-2)#3: Make something out of paper, cardboard, wood, plastic, metal, or existing objects that can actually be used to perform a task.

Tops

Assembly and testing of tops (See Step 3 on page 11 in Teacher's Guide.)
Class questions about the parts of a top (See bullet points 1-3 in Step 6 on page 11 in Teacher's Guide.)

Zoomers

Assembly and testing of zoomers (See Steps 3-5 on pages 17 & 18 in Teacher's Guide.)

Twirlers

Assembly and testing of twirlers (See Steps 4-7 on pages 23 & 24 in Teacher's Guide.)

Tops

Do students know what parts are needed to build the top?
Can students operate their tops?
Do students recognize that the top may not work if it is not correctly assembled with the right parts? (This is particularly pertinent if students have trouble making their tops operate properly. Are they able to look at their top and problem-solve?)

Zoomers

Do students know what parts are needed to build the zoomer?
Can students operate their zoomer?
Do students recognize that the zoomer may not work if it is not correctly assembled with the right parts? (This is particularly pertinent if students have trouble making their zoomers operate properly. Are they able to look at their zoomer and problem-solve?)

Twirlers

Do students know what parts are needed to build the twirler?
Can students operate their twirler?
Do students recognize that the twirler may not work if it is not correctly assembled with the right parts? (This is particularly pertinent if students have trouble making their twirlers operate properly. Are they able to look at their twirler and problem-solve?)

How can you make something move? How can you change the way something is moving?

What are some descriptions of the way things move?

4F(K-2)#2: The way to change how something is moving is to give it a push or a pull.

4F(K-2)#1: Things move in many different ways, such as straight, zigzag, round and round, back and forth, and fast and slow.

Tops

Questions about the movement of tops (See bullet points 3-6 in Step 6 on page 11 in Teacher's Guide.)
Student lab book questions: (1) Describe the movement of your top. (2) How do you make your top move?*

Push or Pull? FOSS Science Story

Questions about moving things (See After the Story on page 4 in Science Stories section of Teacher's Guide.)
Making Things Move class chart (See Extending the Story on page 5 in Science Stories section of Teacher's Guide.)

Zoomers

Questions about the movement of zoomers (See bullet points 2 & 3 in Step 9 on page 19 in Teacher's Guide.)
Student lab book questions: (1) Describe the movement of your zoomer. (2) How do you make your zoomer move?*

Twirlers

Questions about the movement of zoomers (See bullet points 1-3 in Step 8 on page 24 and Step 14 on page 25 in Teacher's Guide.)
Student lab book questions: (1) Describe the movement of your twirler. (2) What makes the twirler move?*

*Lab sheets available under "Teacher Resources" section

Tops

Do students describe the motion of the top as round and round or spinning?
Do students know that to start the top moving they must give it a (twisting) push?

Push or Pull? FOSS Science Story

Do students know that a push or pull is needed to make something move?
Do students know that they make things move by pushing and pulling?
Do students recognize situations where they apply a push or pull to move something?

Zoomers

Do students describe the motion of the zoomer as round and round or spinning?
Do students know that to start the zoomer moving they must pull on the string?

Twirlers

Do students describe the motion of the twirler as round and round or spinning?
Do students know that to start the twirler moving they must drop it so air can push up against the wings?

12D(K-2)#2: Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.

Students draw pictures in their lab books of the assembled items. (Lab sheets available under "Teacher Resources" section)

Note: The FOSS Teacher's Guide does not direct the teacher to have students draw pictures of the various systems. This is a valuable experience and has been added to the unit. It also reinforces the benchmarks related to "parts."

Do students make legible drawings? Are students' drawings showing improvement in organization/legibility?
Do the pictures correctly portray some of the features? Are students including more features/details in their drawings?
Do the students' drawings contain accurate and complete labels?

For conceptual benchmarks.
Bolded Sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed.
Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.