A three-part sheet on motion that repeats. Students first decide whether a seesaw, a swing, and a basketball move up and down or back and forth. They then read a pendulum data table that shows 4 swings in 10 seconds across three tests and predict Test 4. The final task has them pick an everyday object, such as a rocking chair or windshield wiper, and describe its pattern. It meets NGSS 3-PS2-2, and the key includes a sample answer for the open task.
3-PS2-2
“Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.”
Questions 4 and 5 use the pendulum table to predict Test 4, and question 6 applies the same idea to an object students choose.
Questions 1 to 3 ask how a seesaw, a swing, and a basketball move. The key gives up and down, back and forth, and up and down.
A student counts pendulum swings in 10 seconds with the same push each time. Tests 1 to 3 all show 4 swings, and students predict the missing value for Test 4.
Question 6 gives three sentence frames. Students name an object, describe its pattern of motion, and predict where it will move next.
With a real pendulum
Tie a washer to a string and let groups count swings for 10 seconds. Their counts may not be 4, which is a useful talk about why the push must stay the same.
Playground link
Do Spot the Pattern after recess. Students have just used the swings and seesaw, so questions 1 and 2 come from memory.
Short assessment
Question 5 has one right answer and question 6 is open. Together they show who can read a pattern and who can apply it.
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