Little Lab Coats

Design and Improve a Force Challenge

Physical Science — Forces & Motion | Unit 1, Lesson 6 of 6

📚 Grade: 5th Grade⏱️ Duration: 45–60 minutes🔬 Subject: Physical Science — Forces & Motion

🛠️🎯

Design, test, improve, and explain with evidence.

📋 NGSS Standard:
5-PS2-1 — Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

🎯 Learning Objective

Students will design, test, and improve a small force-based system and defend the improvements with evidence.

💡 The Big Idea

Scientists and engineers test designs, collect evidence, and improve their ideas based on what worked and what failed.

🔬 The Science

Science Snapshot

Design challenges reveal whether students can use force ideas to solve a real problem.

What is happening?

A force-design challenge asks students to use what they know about pushes, pulls, gravity, friction, collisions, and mass to achieve a goal. This turns isolated facts into applied physical reasoning.

Why it works that way

A strong design uses cause-and-effect thinking: if the object is too slow, reduce friction or increase the slope; if it overshoots, add friction or change mass. Each revision should connect back to one physical idea from the unit.

Look for this in the lesson

Students should name which force ideas guided their design. The lesson is richer when they can explain not just what they changed, but which physical principle they were testing.

Ask while you read: Which force concept from the unit most directly guided your latest improvement?

📦 Materials

🏠 Household Items to Gather

Cardboard, tape, or paper
Toy car, marble, or pom-pom
Books for ramps or launch surface
Target area
Worksheet and pencil

📋 Printables

Student worksheet page from this lesson

🧪 Engineering Challenge

Step 1 — Define the goal (5 min)
Choose a goal such as landing in a target or traveling a certain distance.

Step 2 — Build version 1 (10 min)
Create a simple setup using ramps or barriers.

Step 3 — Test and observe (10 min)
Run at least two tests and record what happened.

Step 4 — Improve the design (10 min)
Change one feature based on the evidence.

Step 5 — Defend the final design (10 min)
Explain why the revision improved the result.

💬 Discussion Questions

What part of the design helped most?Students should point to a specific design feature and evidence.

Why is testing more than once important?Repeated tests help you trust the pattern.

What improvement had merit?The best improvement made the design work better for the stated goal.

🚀 Extensions

Extension: Challenge a sibling or parent to improve your design in a different way and compare the evidence.

👩‍🏫 Parent/Teacher Notes

Teaching move: Keep the design challenge narrow and achievable. A tiny improvement still counts if the student can defend it with evidence.

Student Worksheet

Name: ________________________ Date: ________________________

1️⃣ My design goal

2️⃣ Test notes

Test	What happened?	What should I improve?
Version 1
Version 2

3️⃣ Final defense

🔑 PARENT ANSWER KEY — Detach before giving worksheet to students

Sample Successful Response

The student identifies a clear goal, names one improvement, and explains with evidence why the change worked better.

✅ What Success Looks Like

Student tested more than once.
Student revised the design based on evidence.
Student can explain why the final version had more merit.