Curriculum

How Can We Change An Object's Motion?

How Can We Change An Object's Motion?

How Can We Change on Object’s Motion?  is part of Smithsonian Science for the Classroom, a new curriculum series by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. It is designed to address a bundle of kindergarten physical science and engineering standards. In this module, students:

  • Use observations to explain how pushes and pulls change an object’s motion.  
  • Carry out an investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of different objects to push a ball into a goal.  
  • Carry out an investigation to compare the effect of collisions with different materials on an object’s motion. 
  • Design and test a wall for a hockey game that keeps the ball in the game space and allows the ball to score a goal after a collision with the side wall. 
  • Develop and test a model to figure out what caused a ball to change its direction of motion inside a mini golf feature. 

Below are digital resources that support teaching this module.

Lesson 1: Let’s Get Moving

Family Letter
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Prior to starting How Can We Change an Object’s Motion share the Family Letter with students’ caregivers. Indicate how they should submit responses to the letter.

Ada Asks Introduction (1:18 minutes)
This video introduces the phenomenon of a hockey puck moving into a goal. Closed captioning is available in the YouTube version by clicking the “CC” icon.

Watch on YouTube

or Download Video

 

Push Pull Writing Practice
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This file can be used for students to practice writing the words “push” and “pull.”

 

Lesson 2: Move that Ball

Air Hockey (0:26 minutes)
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This is the same air hockey video that students saw in the Ada Asks Introduction.

Drawer Pulls
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This file shows examples of drawer pulls, some of which are from objects in the Smithsonian collection.

Lesson 3: Faster, Faster!

Animal Pullers
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This file shows animals pulling different objects.

 

Fast Slow Writing Practice
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This file can be used for students to practice writing the words “fast” and “slow.”

 

Lesson 4: Paddle Testing

Ada Asks Engineering (0:52 minutes)
This video introduces Ada's problem of wanting to play an air hockey game at home or at school. Closed captioning is available in the YouTube version by clicking the “CC” icon.

Watch on YouTube

or Download Video

 

Tennis (0:21 minutes)
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This video shows a man and a boy playing tennis.

 

Racket Test Machine (0:46 minutes)
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This video shows the racket testing machine used by sports engineer James Spurr.

 

Paddle Shapes
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This file shows different types of paddles used in sports.

 

Paddle Shapes Sheet
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This file can be used by students to complete the Paddle Shapes extension.

 

Lesson 5: Let’s Change Our Direction

Air Hockey Model
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This file is a model of the air hockey board that is shown in the video.

 

Slow-Motion Air Hockey (0:15 minutes)
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This video shows the part of the Air Hockey video right before the puck goes into the goal in slow motion.

 

 

Moving the Ball to Different People
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This file shows an illustration of people sitting in a circle.
 

 

Lesson 6: Collisions

Air Hockey Model with More Information
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This file is a model of the air hockey board that is shown in the video. It shows the puck’s location at three different times before it goes into the goal.

 

 

Lesson 7: Wall Tests

Walls around the World
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This file shows images of walls made of different materials from different parts of the world.

 

 

Lesson 8: Designing My Hockey Game

Two-Person Air Hockey (0:13 minutes)
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This video shows two people playing air hockey.

Air Hockey Shapes
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This file shows an air hockey table.

 

Air Hockey Shapes Sheet
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This file can be used by students to complete the Air Hockey Shapes extension.

 

 

Lesson 9: Mini Golf Mystery Part 1

Ada Asks Science Challenge
This video introduces students to the challenge of figuring out what is inside the mini golf feature that causes the ball to change its direction of motion. Closed captioning is available in the YouTube version by clicking the “CC” icon.

Watch on YouTube

or Download Video

 

 

 

Mini Golf Feature (0:07 minutes)
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This video shows a ball hit into a box moving in one direction and coming out of the box moving in a different direction.

 

 

 

Golf Course Counting
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This file shows an illustrated golf course.

 

Golf Course Counting Sheet
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This file can be used by students to complete the Golf Course Counting extension.

 

Lesson 10: Mini Golf Mystery Part 2

Golf-o-Rama Pop-up Mini Golf Book
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This file shows images from Golf-o-Rama: The Wacky Nine-Hole Pop-up Mini Golf book.

 

Art Course
https://nelson-atkins.org/art-course-design/
This website shows images from Art Course, an art-inspired mini golf course, at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Mini Golf Motion
https://ssec.si.edu/minigolf-motion
In this game, players build walls inside mini golf features to cause balls pushed into features to change directions and come out moving toward the holes.

 

 

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