Unit: Flight Physics
Lesson: Newton’s Laws of Motion Applied to Flight
Objective: At the conclusion of the lesson students will be able to:
- State Newton’s Three Laws of Motion
- Explain and interpret the physical concepts behind the three Laws of Motion.
- Define inertia, mass, force, acceleration, and free body diagram.
- Apply Newton’s Laws to explain how various modes of flight are possible
Activities For Whole Group Instruction:
In a 20 minute interactive lecture students will be introduced to Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and observe demonstrations and videos exhibiting them in action. Utilizing Newton’s first law, students will be asked to draw a force body diagram of an airplane in flight. Students will indicate all forces that act upon the airplane in flight to include thrust, drag, gravity, and lift to understand the concept of balanced and unbalanced forces and how they influence the motion of the aircraft. Incorporating Newton’s second law, students will visit the following website and observe how mass and force affects the acceleration of an object through the interactive demonstration. Lastly, students will pair up to inflate and release balloons to observe how Newton’s third law of action reaction applies to the flight of the balloon and relate it to that of a rocket.
3 Ways to Differentiate for 3 Different Classified Students:
Disability 1: Visual Impairment
These students will be seated towards the front of the class where they can best observe the presentation, videos, and live demonstrations. Presentation slides and class handouts will be made available electronically as well as through enlarged printouts, allowing students to best view the resources. Force body diagrams will be drawn with help of a partner on a large-scale whiteboard. Additionally, the balloon release experiment will be video taped and available to play back enlarged and in slow motion.
The adaptations for this disability are Level of Support and Input. Level of Support was utilized by allowing another student or teacher aide to draw a large scale force body diagram and record the balloon release demonstration. This was important in that it provided appropriate visual aids to be utilized. Input was used by allowing students to be seated at the front of the classroom and view materials electronically or in large printouts. This was important once again, in that it provided appropriately sized visual resources for learning.
Disability 2: Orthopedic Impairment
Students in wheel chairs will be provided an alternate task for Newton’s second law. The teacher will demonstrate to them how the force applied to the wheelchair affects their acceleration and similarly how acceleration varies by mass when an equal force is applied to both.
The adaptation for this disability is Size/Quantity. In modifying the task, students in wheelchairs were given the opportunity to hear Newton’s second law explained, see it in action, and actually feel it at work. This was important because it took advantage of a so called “disability” and turned it into a valuable asset to enhance the learning experience.
Disability 3: Hearing Impairment
Students with hearing impairments will be permitted to sit at the front of the classroom to best hear instruction. All material coved during instruction will be made available through handouts to compensate for anything that may have been missed. Video demonstrations will include closed captioning with volume set to the highest comfortable level. Headphones will also be made available for all videos and while exploring Newton’s second law on the website.
The adaptation for this disability is Input. By providing accommodations through seating arrangement, handouts, speaker volume, and headphones the risk of something being missed due to a hearing impairment is greatly mitigated.
Steve Metzger 