Lesson Plan

Created by

Brian Buchanan, Physics

Lesson Plan Title

The Physics Newsroom!

Concept 

Document and report on physics concepts at work throughout the school by producing a digital story.

Standards Addressed 

  • HS-PS2-1. Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

  • HS-PS3-1. Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one compete in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are know.

  • HS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media. 

General Goal

Students will identify how physics plays a role in everyday school activities. Students will describe the situation using key terms and concepts, and in the form of a news broadcast. Students will publish their field reports online.

Specific Objectives

  • SWBAT: Identify an activity or action in the school that can be described using a physics topic learned this school year (such as kinematics, forces, energy, or waves). 

  • SWBAT: Write and storyboard this scenario using key physics vocabulary and concepts, including necessary equations in the style of a news report. 

  • SWBAT: Film, edit, and publish the report online.

  • SWBAT:  Share their news report with the rest of the class in a digital library. 

Required Materials

Notebooks, wiring materials, index cards, phones for cameras/video editing/digital publishing. 

Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):

  1. Students will recall what topics they studied this year an identify which ones they feel they mastered best. 

  2. Students will generate a list of different actives that take place in the school building that are related to the topics they’ve learned this year. 

  3. Students will view Mr. Buchanan’s example news report and being brainstorming their own report.

Step-By-Step Procedures:

  1. Students will identify a physics topic and and a school activity that correlates to that topic. 

  2. Students will describe their physics scenario using key terms, ideas, and equations. 

  3. Students will frame their situation in the form of a news broadcast and use index cards to plan how they would film, edit, and produce their report. The index cards can include lists, sketches, or photographs.

  4. With a script in hand, students will film their news broadcast on edit them using their phones. Broadcasts should include photos, music, and a thorough dive into the physics concepts at play. 

  5. When the reports are complete, students will publish their reports online and link to them in the digital library spreadsheet available on Google Classroom.

Plan For Independent Practice

  • Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):  Students will begin viewing each other news stories from throughout the school building! 

  • Assessment Based On Objectives:  Students will be graded based on a simple checklist rubric that takes into account both the initial storyboard/script as well as final cut of the news report presentation. 

  • Adaptations (For Students With Learning Disabilities):  Students can submit their new reports in a variety of different ways, such as in the form of a podcast or “court” sketches. 

  • Extensions (For Gifted Students): Students may pair up in groups and develop an entire segment with anchors that delve into multiple reports. 

  • Possible Connections To Other Subjects: Engineering 

  • Science: Students will delve into several physics topics. 

  • Community Outreach: Students will be identifying scenarios from every part of the school building, including the arts

  • Art: Students will be designing banners and slides for their presentations.