+
ward
'
s
science
Page 1
Happy/Sad Balls Investigation
Submitted by: Dee M.
Recommended Grade Level(s):
Appropriate for: Grades 4–8
Time Requirements:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Activity Time:
60–90 minutes
Teaching Topics & Concepts:
• Force, motion, and energy
• Recurring themes and concepts
•
Scientific and engineering practices
Standards:
TEKS:
•
(4.1B, 5.1B, 6.1B, 7.1B, 8.1B) Use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive, comparative, and experimental
investigations and use engineering practices to design solution to problems.
• (4.5B, 5.5B, 6.5B, 7.5B, 8.5B) Identify and investigate cause-and-effect relationships to explain scientific phenomena
or analyze problems.
• (5.7A) Investigate and explain how equal and unequal forces acting on an object cause patterns of motion and
transfer of energy.
• (5.7B) Design a simple experimental investigation that tests the effect of force on an object in a system such as
a car on a ramp or a balloon rocket on a string.
NGSS:
• Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and interpreting data, Planning and carrying out investigations
• Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS2-1. Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, MS-PS1.A: Structure and Properties
of Matter, MS-PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
• Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and effect, Structure and function, Energy and matter
• Performance Expectations: MS-PS3-4. Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy
transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured
by the temperature of the sample.
Materials:
List for student groups of 3-4 in a group
• 1 set of happy/sad (unhappy) balls (Ward's item number 470135-324)
• Science notebook or journal
• Happy/Sad Balls Investigation Student Data Sheet
• Poster paper or large post-it papers for student presentations
Safety
• If students choose to add heat energy during their investigation, provide hot hands or potholders to
insulate heat.
!
