Copyright © 2012, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
Reprinted with permission from Science and Children, Vol. 50, No. 2, Oct 2012.
By Bill Burton
W
ith the new focus on Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math (STEM) education, it’s important to keep
an open mind about incorporating technology into
science lessons. In many cases, lessons that incorporate
technology are not about the technology itself. Rather, the technology
serves as a tool to enhance the lesson or add a new dimension to the
students’ educational experience. During a lesson on friction, my
first grade-students were able to experience friction and technology
in a whole new way.
Students explore
friction and use
technology to
collect data.
68 Science and Children
During a unit on forces and motion, we explored
the concept of friction. My students discovered that
friction is a force that resists motion. Students also
had a chance to acquire and see representations of real
data about how friction opposes motion. According to
A Framework for K–12 Science Education, by the end
of grade 2, students should understand that “an object
sliding on a surface or sitting on a slope experiences a
pull due to friction on the object due to the surface that
opposes the object’s motion” (NRC 2011). The goal of
this lesson was to introduce the first-grade students to
the concept of friction and help them form a beginning
understanding.
Introducing Friction
Show and Tell
The students examined pieces of sandpaper with various levels of grit. Before passing around the sandpaper
samples, students were asked to observe and predict.
The different sandpaper elicited a small discussion.
Students made comments such as “the rougher sandpaper will have more friction.” As the students examined
the sandpaper, they could feel the differing levels of
grit. As they gently rubbed their fingers on the sandpaper, they could feel the different amounts of friction
and confirm their predictions.
Great! The first-grade students could make observations and inferences about which items might cause
more friction. There are various types of sandpaper
(e.g., aluminum oxide, garnet, silicon carbide, ceramic,
and so on.). Some students may be allergic to
the airborne particulate formed by rubbing the
sandpaper. Check the Material Safety Data
Sheet or Safety Data Sheet first for allergens or other
potential health issues prior to using the sandpaper for
this activity. Also remind students not to touch their
eyes when using sandpaper. It can irritate eyes and cause
abrasions. Eye protection like safety glasses or goggles
is recommended.
Photographs courtesy of the author
Before teaching my first-grade classes about friction, we
explored what we already knew about the subject. We
assessed prior knowledge by discussing the term friction. As might be expected, some students had heard the
term before and some had not. One student said “friction happens when you rub things together.” Another
student rubbed her hands together and said “like when
you rub your hands together to make them warm.” More
students rubbed their hands together and demonstrated that friction produces heat. Then we all rubbed our
hands together.
Great! Some students already had a basic understanding of friction and some were just being intro-
duced to it through our conversation. The next step
was to see if we could push their understanding to the
next level.
A force plate on a chair provided real data for students to analyze.
October 2012 69
Students viewed their data on-screen, allowing them to attempt a slow-and-steady pull to reduce friction.
Friction in the Real World
Students were asked to look at the clothes they were
wearing and asked, “What is everyone wearing that uses
friction to help us move?” Shoes!
Sitting together, we looked at the bottoms of each others’ shoes and discussed how they use friction. Students
pushed down on the floor and tried to slide their shoes
against the carpet. They experienced varying degrees of
friction depending on the type of sole on their shoes. We
had a discussion about how different types of shoes were
designed for different functions. Some students wore shoes
that were designed for sports and some wore dress shoes.
Students were asked, “When you wear these shoes, how
might the friction you experience be different?” Student
responses included that the sports shoes would “grip
better” and help you “turn faster” and “stop better.”
I asked, “What happens if you wear dress shoes while
playing sports?” Student responses included that those
shoes “don’t grip as well” and “you’d probably slip and
fall down a lot.”
I pointed out that they used the word grip in a few of
their examples. Then I asked, “Is grip similar to friction?”
Students agreed that grip is a word that can be used to
describe friction.
When talking about ways people reduce friction, the
class examined some ball bearings. Students could feel how
70 Science and Children
they rolled around in their casings with very little friction.
Some students commented on how the ball bearings were
oily. Oil! It’s another way we reduce friction. Ball
bearing lubricant can be an eye, skin, or respiratory
irritant. If students handle the ball bearings, they
should do so with gloves or in plastic bags only. Small-size
ball bearings are a safety hazard for primary level students.
They should only be used under direct adult supervision.
Students were given a plastic bin and asked to rub their
finger on the bottom. They felt the friction. They were
asked, “What will happen to the friction if we put some
oil on the plastic bin?” There was a quick consensus that
it would almost certainly reduce the friction.
We put cooking oil (standard vegetable oil) on the
same plastic bin and students were asked to rub their
finger on it just as they had before. “How does the oily
plastic compare to the dry plastic?” I asked. Student responses included “It’s slippery” and “It feels smoother.”
One student said that there was “less friction.” The
students confirmed their prediction and were able to
experience a reduction in friction. Students should be
reminded not to put their fingers in their mouths
or eyes. Also, wash hands with soap and water
after doing this activity. Use caution—oil on the
floor is a slip/fall hazard and needs to be wiped up immediately if spilled.
Experiencing Friction in First Grade
Experiencing Friction
Figure 1.
Here’s where the lesson became
much more experiential. For this
Graph of student trials.
part of the lesson, the class used a
long rope, a smooth board, a classroom chair, and a Vernier force
plate (see Internet Resource). We
collected data using the force plate
connected to a laptop using Vernier’s Logger Lite software. If the
technology is unavailable, students
can do the activity and make subjective observations. Alternatively,
a bathroom scale can be used in a
similar setup as the Vernier force
plate with a student or teacher recording data by hand.
In view of the projection screen,
students sat on top of the
wooden board and held
one end of the rope. Handle rope with care; it can cause “rope burns” in this
When I said “go,” the student on the board slowly
activity. Teachers should consider having students use
pulled himself across the carpet using the rope. The
gloves to handle the rope. Also make sure the trajectory
rope, attached to the force plate, graphed the amount of
path is clear of all furniture and other objects to prevent
force the child exerted to overcome friction. The student
injury should the student trip, slip, or fall. The other
stopped pulling when he reached the chair where I sat.
end of the rope was attached to the force plate and the
While he was pulling, the student watched the projecchair. I sat in the chair to hold it in place (first-grade
tion of Logger Lite software and saw data graphing in
students are light).
real time. This helped the student keep a slow, steady
Before the activity, procedures were discussed with the
pull on the rope.
students. Students were told that they would create a force
Vernier lab probes are great tools for showing stu(in this case a pull) that we were going to try to measure
dents data as they experience it. Not only can students
using a graph. It was explained that slow and steady pullsee empirical results, but also younger students get good
ing would make the best, most even graph and show us
practice reading graphs. For first grade, an understandthe amount of force they were using.
ing of the numbers behind the graph isn’t necessary.
Students came to my class with a basic understanding of how to read graphs based on lessons
in their math classes. My first-grade students
quickly determined that a line higher on the graph
indicated more friction while a line lower on the
graph indicated less friction.
Experiencing a Reduction in Friction
Students saw graphs created in real time and then made their own
predictions.
Now that we had some base data on the screen,
students were given the challenge to find ways in
which we could reduce the friction. We had a brief
discussion and the question was posed: “What can
we do to make the friction less?”
There were a few clues in the room that led them
to a possible solution. Namely, five or six tennis balls
sitting on the floor.
One student thought back to an earlier part in
the lesson and suggested that we use ball bearings
October 2012 71
Experiencing Friction in First Grade
to help reduce friction. At that point, lightbulbs clicked
on and the classroom erupted with students suggesting
we use the tennis balls.
The class quickly determined that five or six tennis balls
probably wouldn’t work very well. I proceeded to dump a
couple hundred tennis balls on the floor (some tennis ball
manufacturers donate factory defect balls to nonprofits; a
nearby tennis club will save “dead” balls for your use). It
was an exciting moment.
Before testing, it was time to make some more predictions. Logger Lite allows students to draw a prediction
line on the graph. The original data for the run without
any tennis balls was still being projected on the board.
A volunteer came up and drew a prediction line where
he thought it would be compared to the earlier data.
The class as a whole agreed that the tennis balls should
reduce friction, and they were happy with the student’s
prediction.
The student sat on top of the wooden board again. This
time, it was atop a sea of tennis balls. He was reminded
that pulling slowly and steadily was the key to a good
graph. Tennis balls on the floor are a major slip/fall hazard. Make sure all furniture and other objects are removed
from the area prior to this activity. Trajectory paths need
to be restricted with barriers preventing students
from walking on friction-reducing material. Also
make sure the wooden board is smooth to reduce
the risk of slivers.
We began collecting data and the student pulled himself
across the tennis balls while watching the graph appear
on the screen. It was a close match to his prediction line.
Figure 1 (p.71) shows the initial test, a student prediction line, and the reduced friction. The purple line
is the initial test with the wooden board directly on the
carpet. The blue line is the student prediction, and the
yellow line is the friction test with the board on top of
tennis balls.
As would be expected, every student wanted a turn
experiencing friction. Everyone had a chance to test it out.
Wrapping Up
After cleaning up the hundreds of tennis balls, we sat
together to revisit our earlier questions about friction
and talk about what had happened. We discussed the
idea of friction again. Students talked about the problem
they were given and how they had solved it. We thought
about how we might reduce friction even more or what
we might do if we wanted there to be more friction. We
had tennis balls to help us, but what other materials
might have worked better? Students brainstormed several testable possibilities. One student said, “We could
go to the gym and try it on a smoother floor.” Another
student suggested that “We could use marbles or wheels
72 Science and Children
Connecting to the Standards
This article relates to the following National Science
Education Standards (NRC 1996):
Content Standards
Grades K–4
Standard A: Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
Standard B: Physical Science
• Properties of objects and materials
• Position and motion of objects
Standard F: Science and Technology
• Understanding about science and technology
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National
science education standards. Washington, DC:
National Academies Press.
on the gym floor.” Marbles, ball bearings and other similar friction-reducing items are major slip/fall
hazards. Trajectory paths need to be restricted
with barriers preventing students from walking
on friction-reducing material. We explored these possibilities together by drawing graphs and predicting how
friction might be impacted by student-generated ideas.
As students graphed their ideas, they demonstrated a
beginning understanding that increased friction requires
more force to overcome and decreased friction requires
less force to overcome.
Overall, my first-grade students had a great experience with friction and enjoyed the use of new technology.
Through discussions, experiences, predictions, data collection, and quite a bit of fun, students gained a better
understanding of friction and how we can alter its impact.
We all learned that fun can go hand in hand with authentic
use of technology and experiential lessons. n
Bill Burton ([email protected])
teaches first- through fourth-grade science and serves as
the science curriculum coordinator at The Lamplighter
School in Dallas, Texas.
Reference
National Research Council (NRC). 2011. A framework for
K–12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts,
and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies
Press.
Internet Resource
Force Plate
www.vernier. com/products/sensors/force-sensors/fp-bta/