Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

Grade 11 University Physics

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
A1. demonstrate scientific investigation skills (related to both inquiry and research) in the four
areas of skills (initiating and planning, performing and recording, analysing and interpreting, and
communicating)
C2. investigate, in qualitative and quantitative terms, net force, acceleration, and mass, and solve
related problems
C3. demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between changes in velocity and
unbalanced forces in one dimension.
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
A1.5 conduct inquiries, controlling relevant variables, adapting or extending procedures as
required, and using appropriate materials and equipment safely, accurately, and effectively, to
collect observations and data
A1.10 draw conclusions based on inquiry results and research findings, and justify their
conclusions with reference to scientific knowledge
A1.11 communicate ideas, plans, procedures, results, and conclusions orally, in writing, and/or
in electronic presentations, using appropriate language and a variety of formats (e.g., data tables,
laboratory reports, presentations, debates, simulations, models)
C2.1 use appropriate terminology related to forces, including, but not limited to: mass, time,
speed, velocity, acceleration, friction, gravity, normal force, and free-body diagrams [C]
C2.2 conduct an inquiry that applies Newtons laws to analyse, in qualitative and quantitative
terms, the forces acting on an object, and use free-body diagrams to determine the net force and
the acceleration of the object [PR, AI, C]
C2.4 analyse the relationships between acceleration and applied forces such as the force of
gravity, normal force, force of friction, coefficient of static friction, and coefficient of kinetic
friction, and solve related problems involving forces in one dimension, using free-body diagrams
and algebraic equations (e.g., use a drag sled to find the coefficient of friction between two
surfaces) [AI, C]
C2.5 plan and conduct an inquiry to analyse the effect of forces acting on objects in one
dimension, using vector diagrams, free-body diagrams, and Newtons laws [IP, PR, AI, C]
C2.6 analyse and solve problems involving the relationship between the force of gravity and
acceleration for objects in free fall [AI]
C3.1 distinguish between, and provide examples of, different forces (e.g., friction, gravity,
normal force), and describe the effect of each type of force on the velocity of an object

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

HOW THE LESSONS WILL BE CONDUCTED

DAY 1
When students come into class start with a story. Do not tell the students what the lesson will be,
just start with Sir. Isaac Newtons story about how he first understood or conceptualized the
theory of gravity.
Explain that the purpose of that story is to give a brief introduction into understanding the
concept of gravity. We will conduct an inquiry style learning lesson to see the effects of gravity.
Show the students a video of a bowling ball and a feather being dropped at the same time and ask
them which one they think will fall faster. DO NOT ask them why, just get their opinion (could
be done in an anonymous way). It is the second link, and start video at 0:43. Once the video is
done playing, the students will see that the feather and bowling ball fall at the exact same pace
(the students will not know that they are in a vacuum so other forces can not act upon it).
The students now should ask questions such as why? What about other objects? What if we
changed this or that? State that this is the basis now behind our inquiry based lesson! They have
asked a question and we will conduct an experiment of some sort to determine what could, if
anything, affect the falling objects so that they do or do not fall at the same pace.
Split the classroom into 5 groups, and hand out to each student the Steps to Inquiry Level: 2
worksheets, while having large posters of them up at the front of the class.
Hand out to the groups some yellow and blue sticky notes for them to write down answers for the
What did I Observe section of the steps to inquiry, which is step 1. Then ask students to put on
the blue sticky notes the What am I Wondering questions of step 1. Also have the groups come
up with a labelled diagram to explain what they observed. Have a student come up and group
together similar answers and talk about them as a class.
Now go onto Step 2(a) of the inquiry process. Once again, on yellow sticky notes, have students
place possible dependent variables in the section provided for that. Explain that a dependent
variable is what you measure in the experiment and what is affected during the experiment, ie. It
depends on what is being measured, which is gravity. Have a student collect similar ideas and
put them together and once again, talk about it as a class.
Now move onto Step 2(b) of the inquiry process. Have the students do this on the blue sticky
notes as to variables that they could change to affect how the force of gravity acts on an object.
Have a student collect similar ideas and put them together and once again, talk about it as a class.
Next, tell students, we are going to design our own experiments and perform them. As a class,
come up with a dependent variable that we can use to measure the gravity on an object falling.
Take some answers, but take time as our dependent variable.
Tell students that we need a baseline time for a falling object. We will be using an apple, since
this is how Newton came up with his idea of gravity. Take the class to the top of the stairs in the
school and have someone time how long it takes for the apple to fall. Drop the apple from the

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

railing of the stairs, so that the height is constant, and time how long it takes for the apple to hit
the ground. This time will be used as a baseline for other objects.
As the teacher, move the independent variables the students came up with (blue sticky notes) into
the controlled variable section of Step 3(b). Pick a group and have them choose an independent
variable (blue sticky) from 3(b) and have them place it in the corresponding area of Step 3(a).
This means that everything else has to be the same from when the apple was dropped. Have each
of the five groups have a different independent variable and fill in Step 4 of the inquiry process.
Next have the students fill in their hypothesis, Step 5, of the inquiry process as to what they think
will happen when they change their independent variable.
Before the end of class ask the students how they will change the variable. This makes sure the
students have a plan for tomorrow, and you as the teacher are able to gather the required
materials. As an example, the group changing the mass, may want a melon to increase the mass,
and a plum, to decrease the mass, while the general shape and everything else stays constant.
DAY 2
Conduct the experiments that the students came up with! Some groups may have overlap with an
object they drop, which is fine, because you will be dropping the objects as a class, where
everyone can observe the changes, but the group who is changing a variable based on a specific
object needs to make sure they record their observations.
DAY 3
Ask the groups of students to record all their data and come up and explain what they observed
to the rest of the class.
Once this is done, show the entire video that you showed on day 1, which does in fact show the
feather falling slower than the bowling ball. Explain that this is due to many reasons, but the
main one being that the surface area of the feather allowed for more air resistance, which kept
the feather from falling at the same speed. In a vacuum, this is ignored as the only thing affecting
the object is in fact gravity.
This is what brings us to the gravitational acceleration constant. When we talk about and discuss
gravity, we are assuming that all objects fall at the same acceleration, meaning they fall in a
vacuum, which is why we use = 9.8/ 2 as a constant. Point out that most objects fell
around this because for the distance, air resistance was almost zero since the object had enough
mass.
Explain that this is the basis of our discussion about gravity and we will start to expand on this
concept more as we get into learning about this. We will start will Newtons laws and move on
from there. The idea behind this inquiry activity was to see gravity first hand and make
observations and predictions and to get to our ultimate goal of g. This is a better way of going
about explaining the concept as youre more likely to remember doing this and it made it more
fun than me just saying here is g accept it, and move on.

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

INSPIRATION
The idea for this inquiry activity came to me based on an experiment I had to do in grade 12
university physics. The experiment was to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from three
stories. In this experiment I, along with some group members, were to design and construct a
vessel that would keep the egg from breaking. We were to use various materials and try to keep
the egg from breaking. We would use all our knowledge about gravity, and the forces acting on
the object to slow down the free fall and keep the egg from breaking. How my inquiry is adapted,
and for a grade lower, is to introduce the idea of gravity = 9.8/ 2 . In order to introduce
this fundamental and important aspect to grade 11s, I thought an inquiry activity would be better
than just telling them the formula and to accept it. Through this inquiry activity, the class is
going to figure out the acceleration in which an object falls. While doing this, the students will
see different affects that can cause an object to not fall at this rate, mainly air resistance. Given
different objects with varying masses, shapes, surface areas, etc., the students can witness what
affects, if anything, the rate at which something falls and can see if, for example, a golf ball falls
at the same rate as a watermelon, clearly two very different objects.
REFERENCES
https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/01/newtons-apple-the-real-story.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/falls-faster---bowling-ball-4574413

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky

Investigating Gravity

Wade Shasky