Audience
Educators
Grade Levels
Grades K-4, Grades 5-8
Subject
Physical Science, Forces and Motion
Type
Educator Guides, Lesson Plans / Activities, Other Multimedia
Time Required: 2-3 days
Jacob has broken his foot and is eager to rejoin his friends in the treehouse. The Treehouse Detectives decide that devising a plan to get Jacob safely into the treehouse will be their next case and quickly begin to research the best way to lift him. During their research, Bianca will also learn more about women engineers for her career day presentation. They begin their investigation with Dr. D, who helps them learn about energy, force, motion and doing work. The detectives realize building an elevator is too complicated. Next, they decide that a ramp might solve their problem. They contact a friend who is in a wheelchair to learn more about ramps and how they help people with disabilities gain access to places.
Objectives: Students will
• Understand the concepts of inertia.
• Understand how the amount of force changes with the use of various simple machines.
• Distinguish between potential and kinetic energy.
• Use formulas to calculate work.
• Learn that the sun is the source of all energy for food chains.
NASA SCI Files — The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Segment 1
Video Component Description [581KB PDF file]
Watch NASA SCI Files — The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Segment 1
Segment 1 Description, Objectives and Vocabulary [236KB PDF file]
Lessons:
Inert Inertia [106KB PDF file]
Forcing the Issue of Force [454KB PDF file]
Stop in the Name of Energy [149KB PDF file]
Newton Has the Joules [69KB PDF file]
Answer Key [204KB PDF file]
This segment is a part of The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Unit.