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Sliding Shutters at a Rainforest Hide

Investigate balanced and unbalanced pulls, interpret motion data, and judge shutter designs for a rainforest observation shelter.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-PS2-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use observations to identify balanced and unbalanced forces.
Students explain how opposing pulls can start motion, slow motion, or leave motion unchanged.
Students compare shutter designs and plan a fair test using evidence about forces.

How to use

Read the model setup together. Have students use the trial records and graph to judge designs, then discuss how repeated tests could strengthen their conclusions.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-PS2-1

Investigate how balanced and unbalanced forces change, or do not change, an object's motion.

Preview

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Name Date

Sliding Shutters at a Rainforest Hide

Use force tests to judge a sliding-shutter design.

1. Investigate the Model

Read the setup and trial records. Use the evidence to answer the questions.

A Window for Watching Wildlife

At a rainforest research station, visitors watch wildlife from a small shelter called a hide. A sliding shutter covers its window. The design team wants the shutter to stay still while the window is open. When it is time to close, the shutter must begin moving left. The team will compare designs before building a full-size shutter.

Imani's class tests a lightweight model on a smooth, level track. An adult sets up the model. Students use gentle pulls and keep fingers away from the track. Pull meters have three marked strength bands: small, medium, and large. Two readings in the same band mean equal-strength pulls in this model.

Each trial uses the same shutter and track. Track rubbing is too small to noticeably affect these short tests. Students record the shutter's starting motion, the direction and strength of each pull, and its motion afterward. Balanced pulls are equal in strength and act in opposite directions. Pulls that do not cancel are unbalanced. Use the records to work out how these pulls affect motion.

Trial A: The shutter starts at rest. A medium pull acts left, and a medium pull acts right. The shutter stays at rest.
Trial B: The shutter starts at rest. A medium pull acts left, and a large pull acts right. The shutter starts moving right and speeds up.
Trial C: The shutter starts moving right. A medium pull acts left, and a medium pull acts right. It keeps moving right at about the same speed.
Trial D: The shutter starts moving right. A large pull acts left, and a small pull acts right. The class records how far it moves during each second in the graph below. It moves right during all three seconds.