Middle School Challenge 2: Newton's Laws

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most famous physicists and scientists of all time, came up with three different laws that describe motion.

Supplies

String
Tape
1 Paper Cup
2 Bendable Straws
Modeling Clay or Play-Dough

Let's Learn About: Newton’s first law of motion

Let’s take a look at his first law of motion. The first law teaches us about motion and inertia. Inertia is the concept that objects do not want to change their motion; they want to stay at rest if they are still and keep moving if they are in motion. Have you ever been riding your bike and stopped really fast? Did you keep moving forward even though your bike stopped? That’s inertia! Your body wanted to continue moving forward like you were a few seconds before. This is what Newton describes in his first law of motion. If an object is at rest it will stay at rest or if an object is moving in a straight line it will continue moving in a straight line unless it is acted upon by an outside force.

Learn more about Sir Isaac Newton

Let's Learn about: Newton’s second law of motion

The second law teaches us about force. Force is when different objects come together in a way that causes one to change its motion. It creates something like a push or a pull motion. It is a vector too because it has magnitude and direction! Have you ever kicked a ball and it went flying? That’s because you applied a force to the ball with your foot.

Newton describes force in his second law of motion. A force is mass multiplied by acceleration.

Newton’s third law of motion

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most famous physicists and scientists of all time, came up with three different laws that describe motion. Let’s take a look at his third law of motion. Do you remember what we learned about force? Force is when different objects come together in a way that causes one to change its motion. The third law teaches us about how two objects exert force on each other when they come into contact. Newton’s third law tells us that when two objects touch or hit, they exert an equal and opposite force on each other. For example, if you bounce a ball against the ground, it bounces back up right? That is because not only does the ball exert a force on the ground, but the ground exerts an equal and opposite force on the ball which sends it back up into your hands.

Newton's Third Law and the Hero's Engine

In this activity we will learn about Newton’s 3rd Law and use it to make a water-propelled engine!

Supplies/

1 Paper Cup
2-3 feet of string
2 Bendable Straws
Modeling Clay or Play-Dough

STEM Challenge

With this STEM challenge, we are going to give you three different activities and have you determine which of Newton's Laws matches which activity!

To earn your apple badge, use this form below to complete the activities.

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