Pendulums

Length of the pendulum impacts the swing of a pendulum. Students will apply findings to a pendulum they are most familiar with – the swings on their playground or at their local park.

The goal of this lesson is not for students to explain how the pendulum works but to observe the pendulums and use evidence (observation and measurement) to report their results. Students will begin to develop an understanding of the big idea: some- times changes to a system impact how the entire system works, but not all changes impact how a system works. This activity models for students how to systematically manage changing variables for experiments. Stations will be set up to allow students to change a variable and observe and record what happens.

A writing component in this lesson is optional. You may wish to have students make notes and record observations in their science journals.

Student Workbook

Parent/Educator workbook