Bowling with Friction (es)

Overview

Activity Objectives

Opening Activity

In this hands-on activity, learners will use two notebooks to explore the concept of friction. By overlapping the pages and attempting to separate them, they will experience the resistance caused by friction. This exciting challenge will explore friction and its effects on everyday interactions.

• Encourage learners to investigate the forces at play and discover the intriguing world of friction.

Main Activity

Learners will engage in an interactive YAHAHA simulation to observe and analyze friction. Using the simulation, they will explore how surface roughness affects frictional force.

• Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills by connecting variables and their effects on friction.

Closing Activity

Learners will complete a short exit ticket to reflect on their learning about friction. They will answer questions or share their thoughts on the key concepts covered in the lesson. 

• Assess understanding, identify any areas of confusion, and express reflections on the topic.

Slide

Activity

3

Introduce the ground rules, lesson norms, and team roles to students. You can check out our lesson approach if it’s your first time conducting an Eddy lesson.

4-5

• Divide the students into pairs and distribute the materials.
• Instruct each pair of students to align the two notebooks so that the pages overlap.
• Encourage the students to press firmly on the notebooks to ensure they are tightly secured.
• Explain to the students that their task is to separate the notebooks without tearing or damaging the pages.
• After some time, ask if students were able to separate them.

  

6-7

• Ask the learners to think about and discuss with their partners how much force they believe will be required to separate two phone books.
• Show them the video in which attempts are made to separate two interlocked phonebooks.

Slide

Activity

8

• Use the question, "So what's this mysterious force holding these books together?" to engage the students' curiosity.
• Allow students time to share their ideas and responses with the whole class.

Possible students’ response

• "There is some stickiness or adhesive force between the pages."
• "The force holding the books together could be due to the weight of the books pressing the pages against each other."
• "It might have something to do with the properties of the paper and ink on the pages."

9-10

• Introduce friction as the resistance offered by the surfaces in contact when they move past each other. 
• Explain what causes friction.

  

11

• Introduce YAHAHA as a platform for 3D interaction that brings joy to everyone.
• YAHAHA allows users to create and enjoy unique 3D experiences without advanced technical knowledge.
• For this activity, we will be using this 'Bowling with Friction' game available on YAHAHA. For more information on how to play the game, see the tutorial attached. You can also check out the Micro-Learning Unit (MLU) for more information.

12

• Explain to the students that they will be using Yahaha to observe factors affecting friction. The game's objective is to enable students to identify the relationship between the nature of the surfaces in contact and the corresponding frictional force.
• Explain the game to the students and demonstrate how it works.
  • Invite students to predict how the different materials used will affect the speed of the boxes.
  • Invite students to predict what the different materials might be made of.
  • Ask the students to carefully observe and note their observations regarding the movement and interaction of the boxes with the surface and the pins.
  • Encourage the students to consider factors such as speed, distance traveled, and the impact on the pins.
• Guide the students to complete the worksheet given while observing the gameplay.
• Encourage the students to take notes, observe, and discuss their findings with their peers.

13

• Guide the discussion to highlight the relationship between the nature of the surfaces in contact and the magnitude of friction experienced.
• Reinforce the concept that rougher surfaces generate more friction.

14-15

• Ask students to predict if a larger cube will experience more friction rolling down an inclined surface than a smaller cube. (Ans: the larger cube will experience more friction, and roll slower, than a smaller cube.)
• Guide students to understand the impact of weight on the frictional force, i.e., heavier objects exert more frictional force.
• Summarize the main findings and ensure students understand the cause-and-effect relationship between (i) nature of the surfaces in contact and (ii) body weight on friction.

16-17

• Show the students images of two identical boxes side by side, but with one of the boxes flipped on its sides.
• Ask the students to observe the images and think about the following question: "In which case will there be more frictional force?"
• Explain to the students that there is a common misconception regarding the relationship between surface area and frictional force.
• Present the correct information to the students: Friction force is independent of the contact area between two surfaces. It depends only on the nature of the surfaces in contact and the object's weight.

  

18-19

• Engage the students in a discussion by asking them to think of examples where friction is necessary or beneficial in everyday life. 
• Next, focus on situations where friction is intentionally reduced or undesirable. Expect examples like ice skating, water sliding, or air hockey. 
• Explain that, in these cases, reducing friction allows for smooth movement or faster motion.

Criteria

Emerging

Developing

Proficient

Understanding

The learners exhibits a limited or incomplete understanding of concepts related to friction

The learner displays some understanding but with some gaps in knowledge or misconceptions

The learner demonstrates a thorough understanding of concepts related to friction

Observation and Analysis on Yahaha

The learner demonstrates limited ability to observe and analyze observations or draw meaningful conclusions

The leaner makes some observations but with occasional inaccuracies or gaps in analysis

The learner carefully observes and analyzes, providing insightful conclusions