Students and educators test motion at various speeds to explore acceleration and to learn about gravity. They use digital video analysis to calculate the acceleration of gravity. They observe patterns of collisions to discern how the variables of mass and speed affect energy, and they develop a model of force and energy transfer within systems based on Newton’s three laws of motion.

At the end of this course, students apply what they’ve learned to solve an engineering challenge to reduce the force transferred in a collision. Students leave this course with an understanding of force and energy that forms a solid foundation for high school and college physics. The driving question for the course is how can we explain the motion of objects?

During this course, participants will:

• Engage in three-dimensional learning for developing disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and cross cutting concepts
• Participate as an adult learner to experience investigations and science and engineering content
• Share teaching strategies to support literacy and inquiry-based learning
• Identify the learning goals in the module and how the investigations support the Big Ideas
• Examine assessment opportunities
• Develop notebook as a resource