Forces & Structures Resources

     This is the LAST resources post regarding my Grade 7 Science curriculum planning and it covers the unit of Forces & Structures. All together, there are four units covered over the course of the school year and I have been sharing my individual unit breakdowns and online resource database. Until I actually meet my students and spend time learning their needs and interests, I have been building a plethora of resources to have in my back pocket as we make our way through the school year. Over the past 2 months, I have been sharing these resources with you! Check out my previous Grade 7 Science resources posts, broken down by individual units:
- Interactions with Ecosystems
- The Earth's Crust
- Particle Theory of Matter

Engineering the Future. (2013). Uploaded by Living Children Multimedia. Available online at: http://legacy.mos.org/etf/force.html

     This unit was really enjoyable to plan out because it lends itself very naturally to having a lot of hands-on building activities. In regards to my full year planning, I have placed this unit as our very last one so that students have an opportunity to have lots of busy, hands-on, exploratory learning opportunities at the end of May and June. I feel like this will be a good fit for that time of year when students are not feeling like being in the classroom listening to lecture or working on written assignments.

Forces on Structures

Enduring Understanding: Structures are under internal and external forces that affect their strength and stability.

7-3-01     Use appropriate vocabulary related to their investigations of forces and

                structures.

                Include: frame, shell, solid, centre of gravity, stability, compression,

                tension, shear, torsion, internal and external forces, stress, structural

                fatigue, structural failure, load, magnitude, point and plane of application,

                efficiency.

7-3-02     Classify natural and human-built structures found locally and around the

                world.

                Include: frame, shell, solid

7-3-03     Identify the centre of gravity in a model structure, and demonstrate that

                changes in the location of a structure’s centre of gravity affect its stability.

7-3-04     Identify internal forces acting on a structure, and describe them using

                diagrams.

7-3-05     Identify external forces acting on a structure, and describe them using

                diagrams.

7-3-06     Recognize the internal and external forces apply stress to structures, and

                describe examples in which this stress has lead to structural fatigue or

                structural failure.

7-3-07     Investigate to determine that the effect of a force on a structure depends on

                its magnitude, direction, and point and plane of application.

Analyzing & Designing Structures

Enduring Understanding: Specific materials & structural shapes can increase the strength and stability of structures so that they can withstand external forces.

7-3-08     Describe, using diagrams, how common structural shapes and components

                can increase the strength and stability of a structure

7-3-09     Describe and demonstrate methods to increase the strength of materials.

7-3-10     Determine the efficiency of a structure by comparing its mass with the

                mass of the load it supports.

7-3-11     Evaluate a structure to determine the appropriateness of its design, using

                the design process.

7-3-12     Use the design process to construct a structure that will withstand the

                application of an external force.

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     In addition to hard-copy resources I have available in the school and from colleagues, I also started to organize some online resources to supplement our classroom activities. Here are the resources I found, organized by the themes I stated above. For each one I've included the title, a very brief point about what it includes, and the link. 

Forces on Structures

Structures & Forces YouTube Video

- Review Video

- No sound but good demonstration and explanation of vocabulary

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IN544ZKzmQ

Science 7: Forces & Structures YouTube Playlist

- 13 Videos

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8wKV0UQtlo&list=PLAwN8FBhTbzZbo-MX649EUZGry0cLjWrn

Sturdy as an Egg Test

- U of M Lab Test

- Investigating pressures

- http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/crystal/Grade%207%20Science.html

Structures & Forces Textbook

- Chapter from a Textbook

- Good to put on website or pull info from

- http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b682/pdfs/Science%207/Structures%20and%20Forces%20T1-2.pdf

Domino Tower

- U of M Lab

- Centre of Gravity test

- http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/crystal/Grade%207%20Science.html

Unit 4 Structures & Forces Webquest

- External & Internal, classifying structures, strength & stability

- http://www.edquest.ca/pdf/sia74rb.pdf

Types of Forces

- U of M Lesson

- Compression, Tension, Torsion, Shear

- http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/crystal/Grade%207%20Science.html

Structures & Forces PowerPoint

- Good teaching resource

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=Zm1jc2QuYWIuY2F8aGFuZHxneDplYmM2YTJiYzdlOTY1MmQ

Investigating Forces & Structures

- Webquest Activity

- Good for Supplementary Activity or if there is a Sub

- http://content.blackgold.ca/ict/Divison3/Structures/structures.htm

Forces of Wonder Game - Wonderville

- In-class Fun Activity

- Good game to have when students are done early

- http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/forces-of-wonder

Forces & Structures Study Notes

- Good review activity

- Includes everything

- http://daferguson.horizon.ab.ca/docs/library/sf_unitstudynotes.pdf

Analyzing & Designing Structures

Canada’s Wonderland Structure Design Lab

- Good for real-life application

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&ved=0CFQQFjAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canadaswonderland.com%2Fimages%2Fuploads%2Ffile%2FScience%2520Grades%25207%2520%26%25208(1).doc&ei=tcTlUfqhHeLMiQKuhoDwAQ&usg=AFQjCNHF-chJBwzD8s37l1nZIgSsZMRLow&sig2=ODsS9VP_06_CXDRN3ThltA&bvm=bv.49405654,d.cGE

Structures Around the World

- Interactive, large-group activity

- http://www.exploratorium.edu/structures/

Children’s Engineering Educators

- LOTS of different labs, interactives, and articles

- http://www.childrensengineering.com/linksstructures.htm

Building Big PBS Forces Lab

- SMART Board, large-group activity or center activity

- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/lab/forces.html

NOVA Physics of Stone Arches Interactive

- Large-group activity

- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/arch-physics.html

Structures & Forces Interactive

- Really good online activity

- Vocabulary, design sky scrapers

- http://legacy.mos.org/etf/force.html

Stable & Unstable Structures Discovery Ed Lesson

- 2 Day plan

- http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/stable-and-unstable-structures.cfm

NOVA Smart Bridges Video

- Analyzing structures

- 9 mins

- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/smart-bridges.html

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I hope you find these resources as awesome as I do! If there is something you think I should add to my list let me know, I'd love to hear about the awesome things you are using with your class :)