1. Activating Strategy: You are a professional athlete in any sport of your choice(s). You will be competing on a neighboring planet that has a smaller gravitational pull than you’re used to. Make a list of differences that you might encounter.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should pose the scenario to the class. Students can either work individually or with a partner. After 5 minutes or less, ask for volunteers to share their responses. Tell students that by the end of the lesson they should have a better understanding of gravitational pull.

2. Essential Question: How do mass and distance affect the gravitational pull of an object?
Standard: S8P5a. Recognize that every object exerts gravitational force on every other object and that the force exerted depends on how much mass the objects have and how far apart they are.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should introduce the essential question and the standard that aligns to the essential question

3. What you have learned so far…
Instructional Approach(s): Gravity was covered briefly in a previous lesson. The teacher should pose the question on the slide to the students to review the previously learned concepts. The next few slides [slides 4-7] review the concepts from the previous lessons.

4. Gravity
Gravity is a force of attraction between objects that is due to their masses.
All objects experience an attraction toward all other objects. This gravitational force pulls objects toward each other.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should review the concepts on the slide from previous lessons.

5. Gravity
Compared with all other objects around you, Earth has a huge mass. Therefore, Earth’s gravitational force is very large.
You must apply forces to overcome Earth’s gravitational force any time you lift objects or even parts of your body.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should review the concepts on the slide from previous lessons.

6. Gravity
Earth’s gravitational force pulls everything toward the center of Earth.
Because of this force, the books, tables, and chairs in the room stay in place, and dropped objects fall to Earth rather than moving together toward you.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should review the concepts on the slide from previous lessons.

7. Unbalanced Forces Air resistance is pushing upwards
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should review the concepts on the slide from previous lessons.
Gravity is pulling to the ground

8. What happens if you drop an elephant and a feather at the same time
What happens if you drop an elephant and a feather at the same time? Which will hit the ground first?
Why?
The force of air resistance is greater on the elephant because of its size and shape.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes.

9. What if gravity was the only force acting on the elephant and the feather?
They would both fall at the same speed due to the earth’s gravity. This is known as freefall.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes.

10. Remember, all objects exert a force on other objects.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the animation on the slide as review from previous ppt.

11. The Law of Universal Gravitation
All objects in the universe attract each other through gravitational force.
The size of the force depends on the masses of the objects and the distance between the objects.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes

12. Gravitational Force Increases as Mass Increases
Imagine an elephant and a cat. Which has a larger mass?
The amount of gravity between an elephant and Earth is greater than the amount of gravity between a cat and Earth. So, a cat is much easier to pick up than an elephant.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes. The teacher should ask the class or call on students to answer the question.

13. Gravitational Force Increases as Mass Increases
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes. The teacher should ask the class or call on students to answer the question.
There is also gravity between the cat and the elephant, but that force is very small because the cat’s mass and the elephant’s mass are so much smaller than Earth’s mass.

14. Watch the video clip below
Watch the video clip below. Turn to an elbow partner and discuss how the video illustrates the law of universal gravitation.
The moon has less mass than Earth does. Therefore, the moon’s gravitational force is less than Earth’s. The astronauts are not being pulled down with as much force as they would have been on Earth.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the link. Think-pair-share. Partners can be determined by the students or the teacher can provide more specific directions such as turn to the person directly in front/behind you or to the right/left of you, etc. It may be necessary to have a group of three if you have an uneven number of students. Do not allow more than 30 seconds to 1 minute of discussion time. The teacher should be walking around listening and redirecting discussions as needed. The teacher can briefly discuss student responses.

15. Gravitational force is small between objects that have small masses.
The gravitational force between objects increases as the masses of the objects increase. Arrows indicate the gravitational force between two objects.
Gravitational force is small between objects that have small masses.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes
Gravitational force is large when the mass of one or both objects is large.

16. The reason is that the sun is so far away.
The gravitational force between you and the Earth is large. Whenever you jump, you are pulled back down by Earth’s gravitational force.
The reason is that the sun is so far away.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes
On the other hand, the sun is more than 300,000 times more massive than Earth. So why doesn’t the sun’s gravitational force affect you more than Earth’s does?

17. Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes
The gravity between the sun and the planets is large because the objects have large masses. If the sun’s gravitational force did not have such an effect on the planets, the planets would not stay in orbit around the sun.

18. The gravitational force between objects decreases as the distance between the objects increases.
Gravitational force is strong when the distance between two objects is small.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the information on the slide while the students record the important information on their notes
If the distance between two objects increases, the gravitational force pulling them together decreases rapidly.

19. StudyJams: Gravity & Inertia
Mr. Parr’s Law of Gravity Song
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should present the video as a review of the concepts.

20. Summarizing Strategy: Refer to Earth Science where learned about planets and gravitational pull towards the Sun. List any 5 different planets and place them in order based on decreased gravitational pull.
Instructional Approach(s): Instructional Approach(s): Each student should complete the summarizer. The teacher should use the summarizer to determine the level of student mastery and if differentiation is needed. Distance is the key