4-PS3-3
The standard
Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.
Next Generation Science Standards
What this standard means
Students need to ask testable questions about collisions and predict what will happen to the motion of objects. They should focus on changes in speed and movement after contact, such as stopping, speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.
Mastery looks like a student saying, “If the marble rolls faster, the cup will move farther,” and explaining that more motion energy was transferred. Students often get stuck talking about pushes or strength instead of speed changes. They may also think energy disappears when an object stops, rather than moving into another object, sound, or heat.
Ways to teach it
- Roll marbles down a cardboard ramp into paper cups, changing ramp height and recording how far the cup moves each time.
- Ask students to write: What changes when a slow ball hits a toy car compared with a fast ball?
- Show two collision pictures and have students predict which object had more motion energy before the crash, with one reason.
- Connect to bike helmets by discussing where the rider’s motion energy goes during a fall or crash.
Plan a lesson for 4-PS3-3
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Related standards
- 3-PS2-3
Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.
- HS-PS3-5
Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the...
- MS-PS3-2
Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the syst...
- HS-PS2-3
Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.