Game-Changing Ideas to Teach Newton’s Laws 1, 2, 3  GO

Here I am again, writing about a subject that has had to grow on me, and this includes Newton’s Laws 1, 2, and 3! Truth bomb… not every subject you teach will be your favorite. But, just as you try to get your students interested in what you are teaching because you KNOW if they really learn it they’ll grow to love it, the same applies to the teacher.

You see, I never had a great physical science teacher until college, and even then, I only had one class. It wasn’t until I started teaching and learning about all of the amazing things that you can do with Newton’s laws that it started to actually be something I like to teach!

Truly, Newton’s Laws explain how things move around us. These are consistent rules that have helped society do amazing things!

So, let’s get started teaching with the WOW Factor!

Newton’s Laws of Motion 1 2 3

First of all, what is Newton’s law? What are the three laws of motion?

What is Newton’s 1^st Law of Motion?

What is Newton’s 1^st law? The first law states that an object at rest stays at rest until acted upon by an unbalanced force, and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force. It is also called the Law of Inertia. Inertia is a property of matter. Inertia is an object’s tendency to keep doing what it’s doing. The more mass an object has, the more inertia it has.

What are some of Newton’s 1^st laws of motion examples:

• a book lying on the table until it’s picked up
• a car will move until it hits an external for,
• kicking a soccer ball, the force of friction will cause it to stop.

What is Newton’s 2^nd Law of Motion?

The equation force = mass x acceleration can be used to explain newton’s second law. If you multiply the mass and the acceleration of an object, you will get the force exerted on the object. For is directly proportional to acceleration.

In order to get something to accelerate, you must apply force. The more mass an object has, the more force will be needed to move it. The more force placed on an object, the faster it will accelerate.

What are some examples of Newton’s 2^nd Law:

• It takes more force to more a bowling ball than in does a tennis ball.
• Another example involves a shopping cart. If you use the same force to push an empty shopping car as a full shopping car, the empty shopping car will accelerate great because it has less mass.

What is Newton’s 3^rd Law of Motion?

Newton’s 3^rd law is the action-reaction law. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you exert a force on an object, it exerts a force back.

• For example, in a rocket launch, the fuel burns to create a push, pushing it upwards into the air.
• Also, this law allows birds to fly.

 

Hook Your Students into Newton’s Laws 1, 2, And 3

I am a believer in a “hook” for teaching everything. Of course, I love science and am down for learning all of the things, but not all of your students are this way. Maybe they have had a bad science teacher in the past or maybe just having a bad day.

No matter what, you need to spark their interest. Once you’ve done this, teaching becomes a lot easier because they WANT to explore more.

 

 

• One idea to spark their interest is to collect some pool balls or even marbles and set them out on a blanket – either on the floor or on the table. Then start rolling them around, allowing them to hit each other. Do this with different forces and let your students see what happens. Ask them what they notice. Why do the balls move the way that they do? Was there ever a time that one ball hit another, and it didn’t move? Get the discussion going and see what they say.

• Another idea would be to grab a box. I know you have one at home with all of the online shopping you are doing! I sure do! Get a class volunteer and have them go through demonstrating Newton’s laws without even knowing their doing it.

First, lay the box on the ground and have them to just push or pull the box. Have the class explain what happened.

Second, have the student push the box as hard as they can and then as light as they can.

Third, have them push the box again, then have them try to push a wall.

Start a discussion with your students and have them explain what they saw. After they learn Newton’s laws, revisit it.

• Real-Life Examples: Another option would just be to go all in, but spark their interest with video. This video already goes over the laws, but provides some neat real-life examples.

 

Introduce Your Students to Newton’s Laws with a Digital Interactive Lesson

 

Once your students are hooked in, it’s time to dive deeper into the content and actually learn the material. Digital Interactive Lessons are one of my favorite ways to introduce content to middle school students. They are great for independent learning or even direct instruction.

Their magical power is that they help reduce cognitive load by using the 7 steps to help students retain information. They chunk information, highlight the important stuff, and so much more!

This particular digital interactive lesson is an engaging way to teach Newton’s Laws before you dive into the hands-on stuff.

 

This lesson goes over Newton’s 1^st law, Newton’s 2^nd law, Newton’s 3^rd law, force, net force, mass, acceleration, Sir Isaac Newton, the SI Unit Newton, inertia, F=ma, action-reaction,  examples of each law, and more!

Digital Interactive Lessons are so awesome for student engagement! They won’t even realize that they are learning!

Newton Law’s Skits

After students have been introduced to the meat of the lesson, it’s time for them to dive it and apply what they have learned. One of the things that they can do will be to create skits based on Newton’s Laws!

This one is fun because you can open up the topics to something that they are interested in. Maybe they love soccer, maybe they love cooking, maybe they love dancing. Who knows!

Give them a chance to choose the topic and have them to create a skit based around it that demonstrates all three of Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Based on timing:

1. You can have them JUST write a skit!
2. You can have them act out the skit in front of class.
3. You can have them record a video of their skit.
4. You can use the greenscreen to make a whole production of their skit!

The options are endless!

Egg Drop Challenge

This is a GREAT challenge to do after learning about Newton’s Laws or just the physical science unit in general.

STEM is taking over, and the egg drop challenge is a wonderful way to have your students go through the engineering design process while applying their knowledge of Newton’s laws 1 2 3.

Students can use the concepts to design a prototype container that will protect a raw egg from breaking.

You can provide materials such as balloons, tape, straws, cups, pipe cleaners, bubble wrap, paper, and baggies. See how high the egg can be dropped from without breaking.

Don’t forget prizes!

Here are some awesome videos that you may find helpful. There are lots of resources on TPT as well.

1^st Place Egg Drop Project Ideas

Egg Drop Challenge

Egg Drop Experiment

 

 

There it is! Teaching Newton’s Laws 1 2 3!

More Resources for Teaching Newton’s Laws

What are Newton’s Laws of Motion – NASA

Practical Intro

Newton’s Laws of Motion in Simple Terms

 

 

 

Help your students master science content!