"Motion and You" is a PowerPoint for primary and secondary students that provides an overview of motion and speed - highlighting how to describe and measure both. Additionally, this lesson can be paired with the following activities: Gum Chomp, Speed Challenge or Ladar Guns.
8. How can we describe different types of motion?
1.) Measure distance and time
2.) Create a map showing various positions
9. What is an object in motion?
An object is in motion when its distance from another object is
changing…
10. Units of measure
To describe motion, you need to use units of measurement.
Scientists all over the world use the same system of units so that they
can communicate information clearly.
This system is called the International System of Units.
- SI is based on the number 10.
- The SI basic unit of length is the
meter.
11. Objects in motion
While moving objects are very common in our daily lives,
measuring the motion of an object is a very sophisticated notion.
YOU will be introduced to FOUR useful ways of measuring and
describing motion…
12.
13. Speed
Speed measurement consists of a unit of distance by a unit of time.
So…
If you measure distance in meters and time in seconds, you express
the speed in meters per second.
To calculate: speed = distance/time
If you know the distance an object travels
in a certain amount of time, you know the
speed of the object.
14. Velocity
Speed in a given direction is called velocity.
So…
When you know both the speed and direction of an object’s
motion, you know the velocity of the object.
Knowledge of velocity is important to:
-Air traffic controllers
-Weather forecasters
-Stunt pilots
15. Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes (remember, velocity
has 2 components – speed and direction).
In science, acceleration refers to increasing speed, decreasing speed or
changing direction.
So…acceleration involves a change in either speed or direction.
16. Calculating acceleration…
Acceleration describes the rate at which velocity changes…
So to determine the acceleration of an object, you must calculate the
change in velocity during each unit of time.
Acceleration = Final velocity – Initial velocity
Time
17. Graphing motion
You can show the motion of an object on a line graph in which you plot
distance against time. A point on the graph represents the location of
an object at a particular time.
X-axis = time
Y-axis = distance distance
time
18. Graphing motion
You can use a graph to analyze the motion of an object that is
accelerating (Speed vs Time).
If acceleration is constant, for
every increase in unit of time
that the speed increases in the
same amount, the graph will be
a straight line.
If the object accelerated by a
different amount for each unit of
time, the graph would not be a
straight line.
19. 1. The motion of an object is determined by its change of position relative to a reference point.
2. Speed is the distance an object travels in one unit of time. Speed can be determined by
dividing the distance it travels by the time taken (this will give you the object’s average
speed).
3. When you state both the speed of an object and the direction in which it is moving, you are
describing the object’s velocity.
4. Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. It involves increasing speed, decreasing
speed or changing direction.
5. Acceleration can be calculated by dividing the change
in velocity by the amount of time it took that change
to occur.
Key ideas about Motion and You!
Motion is the action or process of moving or of changing place or position.
Is it hard or easy to measure the motion of a cloud in the sky?
Is it hard or easy to measure the motion of a sprinter moving down the track?
Is it hard or easy to measure the water level rising in a bath tub?
Is it hard or easy to measure the movement of a hand moving on a clock?
Ball rolling down a hill
Earth spinning
Bike rider
Most objects do not move at a constant rate of speed for a very long time. So to find the average speed, divide the total distance traveled by the total time.
Examples of acceleration: a car “giving it gas” or moving forward at a stoplight, a runner sprinting down a track and a pitcher throwing a baseball.
And just as an object can speed up, they can slow down. Motion in which speed decreases is also called acceleration in science. This change in speed is typically referred to as deceleration or negative acceleration.
The steepness of the slope (or slant of the line) depends on how quickly or slowly an object is moving. The faster the motion, the steeper the slope, because the object moves a greater distance in a given amount of time. A horizontal line represents an object that is not moving at all.