Teaching ideas for teaching year 3/4 forces and the properties of materials. These ideas are linked to the Australian Curriculum. Additional teaching ideas related to technology can be found on one of my websites called http://technologiesjvillis.weebly.com/ . Student work samples will be added to this PowerPoint after I have taught the lessons.

1. http://pixabay.com/en/question-mark-question-response-96288/
Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis

2. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM (Y3/4)
Investigate how forces and the properties of materials affect
the behaviour of a product or system (ACTDEK011)
Select and use materials, components, tools and equipment
using safe work practices to make designed solutions
(ACTDEP016)
Generate, develop, and communicate design ideas and
decisions using appropriate technical terms and graphical
representation techniques (ACTDEP015)
Plan a sequence of production steps when making designed
solutions individually and collaboratively (ACTDEP018)

3. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
MARBLE RUN INVESTIGATION
Aims:
Students investigate how different materials can be used in the design of a
marble run (ACTDEK011)
Students investigate how movement can be initiated by combining
materials and force (ACTDEK011)
Students design a marble run and plan a sequence of production steps
ACTDEP015) (ACTDEP018)
Students select and use materials safely (ACTDEP016)
Lesson 1 & 2: Inform students that their design challenge is going to be the
construction of 3 marble runs. One marble run needs to be fast, one
medium and the other slow. On the whiteboard show students what a
marble run might look like and explain the purpose (ie for a marble to start
at the top and roll to the bottom).

4. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Here is an example of what
you may draw on your
whiteboard. At this point I
would also show students
what a marble actually
looks like and conduct an
image search on the
internet, in order to show
students what commercial
marble runs look like.
end of marble run

5. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
As a class, discuss what might effect the speed of which a
marble rolls? How might they create 3 marble runs so that
the marble travels at different speeds? Invite students to
consider how they might investigate their ideas?
Then give each student a sticky note and ask them to write
an ‘I think’ statement. For example, ‘I think the slope of the
marble run effects the speed’, ‘I think the length of the
marble run effects the speed’ or ‘I think the materials used
for the marble run effects the speed’. Then ask students to
turn their ‘I think’ statement into a question. If you haven’t
used this method with your class before I suggest that you
complete this part of the lesson as a group and model how
to change a statement into a question.

6. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Invite students to stick their sticky note on the whiteboard
so that others can see their question and statement. This
enables students to share their thoughts.
Then show students a range of junk materials (ie planks of
wood, toilet rolls, boxes, paper, blocks, stop watches, straws,
containers, rulers etc) and ask students to consider how they
might use the materials to investigate their question. It is
important to emphasise that they are not making their
marble runs, they are creating an investigation in order to
answer their question.
Students are then asked to list the materials they need and
write a method for their investigation.

7. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis

8. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Lesson 3 and 4: Students conduct their investigation, record
their results and write a few sentences explaining what their
results mean. Share student’s results as a group.

9. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Lesson 5: This is the design part. Ask students to draw a
design of 3 marble runs of different speeds. Students need
to label each run and label the materials needed.

10. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Lesson 6 & 7: This is the making part. Ask students to make
their marble runs. You will need a range of junk materials. I
often ask students to bring any materials from home that
they would like to use. Remind students that they need to
refer to their design and if they change things throughout
the process the changes need to be recorded.

11. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis

12. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Lesson 6 & 7 continued: Students can use an iPad app called
Explain everything to record their design.

13. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Lesson 8: This is the testing and sharing part. Allow each
student to test and share their marble run with the class.
When I did this part several marble runs didn’t work as the
marble couldn’t fit through one of the paths or it got stuck to
sticky tape. If students’ marble runs don’t work it is
important to discuss why and what could be changed to
make it work.
Additional task: Allow students to play Tinker Ball online.
On the following page there are some marble runs for
teacher reference. I wouldn’t show students these images
until they have completed lesson 8. Showing them after the
lesson may inspire some students to create their own marble
runs in their own time.

14. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis

15. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
INCLINED PLANES INVESTIGATION
Aim: Students investigate how the slope of an inclined plane effects the
amount of force needed to move an object (ACTDEK011)
Lesson 9-10: The inclined plane is a simple machine. It is simply a flat
sloping surface. Ask students to think about their marble run. Did it
have any inclined planes? What were they used for?
Tell students that inclined planes can also be used to lift heavy loads to
a higher level. “Raising any object a certain distance takes considerable
work, but by moving that object up a gentle slope, instead of lifting it
straight up, less effort (force) is needed. Think about why mountain
roads wind around, rather than go straight up the mountain, or why we
use ramps to load heavy things onto trucks, or why we are less tired
after we walk up a gentle hill compared to a walk up a steep hill. These
are all examples of inclined planes” (source).

16. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
Download and conduct Professor Beaker’s Learning Lab about
inclined plans. For this investigation students will need:
a plastic sandwich bag with a twist tie
35 marbles
string (30 cm long)
a stack of books
a long smooth board (or cookie sheet)
a rubber band scale (instruction for
making this are provided in the
download)

17. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
The aim of the investigation is to find out if it is easier or
harder to pull the bag of marbles up an inclined plane
than to lift it straight up.
Although this investigation is more structured compared to
the marble run investigation, it allows student to
investigate how the slope of an inclined plane effects the
amount of force needed to move the marbles.

18. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
RUBBER BAND BOAT INVESTIGATION
Aim:
Students investigate how the twisting and releasing of a rubber band
effects the amount of force (movement) (ACTDEK011)
11 & 12: Show students a YouTube video on how to make a rubber band
boat. They can also follow the instructions on this website.
Ask students to describe what makes
the boat move? What happens if you
twist the rubber band once, twice or
10 times? How does the number of
twists effect the movement of the
boat? Invite students to plan and
conduct an investigation to test their
thoughts.

19. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
RUBBER BAND BOAT DESIGN
Aims:
Students design a rubber band boat and plan a sequence of
production steps in order to construct their boat (ACTDEP015)
(ACTDEP018)
Students select and use materials safely (ACTDEP016)
Lesson 13-14: Show students a range of materials. Invite them
to design their own rubber band boat using the materials
provided. Students need to draw and label their design,
including a list of materials needed. During this process, invite
students to think about the properties of the materials they
are choosing. Will they enable the boat to float? Will they
repel or soak up water. Students construct their boat, test it
and share it with the class.

20. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
PLASTIC CUP VOTEX GLIDERS
Aim: Students investigate how the stretch of a rubber band effects the
amount of movement of an object (ACTDEK011)
Lesson 15: I saw this idea at a Science Expo and they
gave me permission to take a photo of the image to
the right. This is a simple idea, yet challenges the
minds of students. Simply stick 2 plastic cups together
with sticky take, wrap a broken rubber band around
the middle, hold one end and launch. The rubber band
flings the cups spinning into the air.
Invite student to draw and label a diagram of the
vortex gliders. Invite them to describe what is
happening, what causes the movement? What
happens if they stretch the rubber band tighter? You
might even like to ask students to think of how they
might change one aspect of the vortex and how it
might effect the movement. This would involve a
process similar to the first investigation in this unit.

21. Forces and
the
Properties
of
Materials
Teaching
ideas by
Joanne Villis
COPYRIGHT
I give permission for the following:
Adaptations and sharing of this resources is for educational purpose only. I
do not give permission for commercial use of this work. When sharing or
adapting this work I ask that you give credit to the original creator, Joanne
Villis at http://intertecheducation.edublogs.org/ .These ideas may be used
for non-commercial purposes only. As noted in this PowerPoint, the
inclined plane investigation is not my work. It is the work of Professor
Beaker and a link to the original document has been provided.
Contact details:
http://intertecheducation.edublogs.org/
jvillis@inter-tech.com.au
http://www.pinterest.com/joannevillis/