Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook: Unit 3 — Motion, Forces, and Work

**Grade:** 5 | **Subject:** Science | **State:** OK

## Unit Overview
Complete middle school science study guide covering scientific investigation, matter, motion, energy, space, earth science, life science, human body, heredity, ecology

This unit covers 4 chapters over approximately 91-128 pages.

## Chapters
- **Motion**

• Force & Newton’s Laws

• Gravity/Friction/Forces

• Work & Machines

  Source Text Excerpt

  92 Chapter 9 MOTION MOTION MOTION is the change of position. Motion is everywhere you look. Turning the page of this notebook is motion and the earth revolving around the sun is also motion. Any time your position changes, YOU are in motion. RELATIVE
  MOTION If you’re standing by a road and a truck drives by at 30 miles per hour, to you, the truck appears to be moving 30 miles per hour down the road. However, if you were in a car also driving 30 miles per hour next to the truck, the same truck wouldn’t seem to move. MOTION IS RELATIVE: It is always described in relation to a REFERENCE POINT.

93 For example, Earth rotates more than 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, but we can’t see or feel it spinning. Why? Because everything we see around us is rotating along with Earth. So from our reference point, nothing is moving. SPEED and VELOCITY SPEED is the distance something travels in a certain amount of time: speed = _____ In SI units, distance is measured in METERS (m), time is measured in SECONDS (s), and speed is therefore measured in METERS PER SECOND (m/s). When something is in motion, it doesn’t necessarily stay at the same speed the entire time-it can change speeds and move faster or slower between its stopping and starting points. If that is the case, we use AVERAGE SPEED, or the total distance something has traveled divided by the total time it has traveled. INSTANTANEOUS SPEED is the speed at a certain given moment. For instance, an Olympic sprinter who runs the 100-meter dash in 10 seconds might seem like she would be going 10 m/s, but that’s just her AVERAGE speed. Near the finish line she’s probably going much faster. change in distance change in time

94 VELOCITY VELOCITY is just like speed except that it includes direction. If you were jogging at 2 meters per second and all of a sudden you turned and jogged 2 meters per second in the opposite direction, your speed before and after would remain the same, but your velo

## Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Explain the key concepts in each chapter
- Complete the hands-on activities and notebooking exercises
- Demonstrate understanding through the review questions

## Pacing
**Suggested:** 1 chapter per week (2 days/week, 45 min sessions)
- Day 1: Read chapter + narrate
- Day 2: Complete activity + notebooking
- Day 3: Vocabulary + review questions
- Day 4: Project/experiment + journal entry

## Assessment
- Notebook entries (daily)
- Chapter review questions
- Unit project presentation
- Vocabulary quiz

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*Source: Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook by Workman Publishing / Michael Geisen (2016)*

👩‍🏫 Teacher’s Guide — Unit 3: Motion, Forces, and Work

Lesson Plan at a Glance

• Topic: Unit 3: Motion, Forces, and Work
• Grade: 5 | Subject: Science | State: OK
• Reading: See lesson plan
• Suggested Pacing: 4 sessions × 45 min (Read → Narrate → Activity → Notebook)

Teaching Sequence

1. Read Aloud the assigned text; have student narrate back in their own words.
2. Big Idea to Land: This unit explores motion, forces, and work through hands-on investigation and reading.
3. Cover These Sections: (see student content for section headings)
4. Do a Hands-On Activity from the list — concrete experience before abstract.
5. Notebook: Student completes journal entry recording observations.
6. Review: Ask discussion questions orally; finish with review questions.

Discussion Questions (with what to listen for)

• Q: How would you explain this concept to a younger sibling? (Listen for accurate paraphrasing, not memorized definitions.)
• Q: What would happen if we changed [key variable]? (Listen for cause-and-effect reasoning.)
• Q: Where have you seen this in real life? (Listen for authentic connections.)

Vocabulary to Define Together

Materials to Gather

• Notebook/journal
• Writing utensils
• Textbook: Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook
• Map/globe (for history/geography)
• Basic lab supplies (for science)

Standards Covered

• • 5.PS2.1: Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
• • 5.PS2.2: Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying Newton’s laws of motion.
• • 5.PS2.1 (Physical Science): Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down….
• • 5.PS2.2 (Physical Science): Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying Newton’s laws of motion….

Watch For (Common Misconceptions)

• Confusing mass with weight — use the Moon example consistently.
• Skipping narration — oral retelling is where retention happens; don’t skip it.
• Activity without notebook — the journal entry IS the assessment; don’t separate them.
• Lecturing instead of questioning — aim for 80% student talk, 20% teacher talk.

Differentiation

• Struggling: Provide sentence frames for narration; allow oral responses.
• Advanced: Add extension question: “How would this change if…?”
• ELL: Pre-teach key vocabulary; use visual aids and sentence frames.

Assessment Look-Fors

• Accurate narration with key vocabulary
• Notebook entry shows observation + reflection
• Map/timeline entry accurate
• Discussion participation with evidence
• Project completion with explanation