Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to understand the basic principles of physics related to campers and apply them to real-life situations.

Materials and Prep

You will need: a toy camper or a picture of a camper, a small ball, a ruler, and a flat surface for the activities. Before the lesson, review the concepts of force, motion, and gravity with the student.

Activities

1. Experiment with Motion: Place the camper on a flat surface and gently push it with the ball. Observe how far it travels and discuss the forces at play.

2. Measure Distance: Use the ruler to measure the distance the camper traveled. Discuss how force and motion are related to the distance traveled.

3. Gravity Exploration: Discuss the concept of gravity and how it affects the camper's motion. Have the student predict how the camper's motion would change on different surfaces.

Third Grade Talking Points

• When we push the camper with the ball, we are using force to make it move. Can you think of other things that use force to move?
• After we measure how far the camper traveled, we can see that the force made it move a certain distance. Do you think the force would make it move farther if we used a bigger ball?
• Gravity is the force that pulls things towards the ground. It's why the camper comes back down when we lift it up. Can you think of other things affected by gravity?