MYP unit planner Unit title
Forces & Motion
Teacher(s)
McMurray, Lathrop, Beavers
Subject and grade level
8th Grade Physical Science
Time frame and duration
Quarter 3- 4 Weeks
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus? Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?
Human Ingenuity- HI will be demonstrated repeatedly throughout the topics of forces & motion.
There are laws of motion that explain how our world works. Simple machines can be used to make work easier.
MYP guiding unit question(s) How do “forces” affect our lives? Content Question: “How can we use an understanding of forces and motion to benefit our society?”
Assessment What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question? What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
Project- SWBAT create a demonstration that explains or shows an understanding of a significant concept. Experimental Design- SWBAT design a laboratory experiment that demonstrates an understanding of a significant concept, and publishes a lab report relaying their findings. Data Analysis- SWBAT collect and represent data through the generation of tables and graphs. Which specific MYP aims and objectives will be addressed during this unit?
Aim #1- Develop skills of scientific inquiry to design and carry out scientific investigations and evaluate scientific evidence to draw conclusions. Aim #2- Appreciate the benefits and limitations of science and its application in technological developments. Objectives(A-3rd yr.)- Describe and explain ways in which science is applied and used to solve local and global
problems. (Project) (C-3rd yr.)- Analyse simple scientific information by identifying basic components, relationships and patterns, both in experimental data and ideas. (Experimental Design) (E-3rd yr.)- Organize and transform data into numerical and diagrammatic forms, including mathematical calculations and visual representation. (Data Analysis) Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
Rubrics for criterions A, C, and E
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through inquiry Content What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit question? What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the significant concept(s) for stage 1?
Key terms and concepts will include: Measurements, Frame of Reference, Force Diagrams, Simple Machines, Work, Power, Efficiency, Newton’s Laws, Types of Forces
Approaches to learning How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Observation skills Collaboration and communication skills employed within project Analysing skills used throughout labs
Learning experiences How will students know what is expected of them? Will they see examples, rubrics, templates? How will students acquire the knowledge and practise the skills required? How will they practise applying these? Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will we know?
Rubrics will be provided and explained. The acquiring and application of student knowledge will be linked through laboratory processes and direct instruction. Weekly journal quizzes will be used to assess prior knowledge as well as comprehension.
Resources
Teaching strategies How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback during the unit? What different teaching methodologies will we employ? How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have we made provision for those learning in a language other than their mother tongue? How have we considered those with special educational needs?
Formative feedback will be applied through group collaborations and direct teacher feedback on labs and quizzes. Direct instruction, scaffold lab work, kinaesthetic activities, inquiry-based partner research. Various levels of enrichment/remediation based on need. Visual aides used to reinforce concepts.
What resources are available to us? How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during the unit?
CPO lab kits that correspond to prefabricated lab activities. Internet. Lab kits that the teacher has accumulated throughout previous years teaching. Students will be required to seek out resources within their local community to assist in the creation of their project.
Ongoing reflections and evaluation In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice. Students and teachers What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way? What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose? How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning? Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated action?
Possible connections How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups? What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment Were students able to demonstrate their learning? How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors? Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
Students generally enjoyed the simple-machines project that they were required to construct. This forced them to apply their understanding of the topic in a creative way. Students were inspired to try to create a technological advance in some common item through the use of simple machines, and reflected on the uses of forces in their everyday lives. This was expanded upon through the experimental design portion of this unit. A technologic component was developed by means of a compilation video that was produced by a group of the students to show to the class how the projects and topics should be classified. The various projects were then evaluated by their adherence to the rubric and the creativity of the projects. There was a high level of collaboration within the 8th grade science department; each teacher approached this lab with a slightly different application of the end product. This has cross-curricular ties to humanities through the application of simple machines to the Industrial Revolution and to math through the formulaic calculations. The use of rubrics could be modified to better reflect the students’ level of understanding vs. the success of their projects and labs. In reflection, this is the area that needs the most adaptation for the future.
Figure 12 MYP unit planner