NEW AQA GCSE (2016) Physics - Speed and distance-time graphs

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA Physics GCSE, particularly the ‘Motion’ SoW.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA Trilogy specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics please see my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

The lesson begins with an animation which shows a car travelling a distance of 5km over a period of 250s. Students are then introduced to the calculcation for speed, for an object moving at a constant speed. Students are then shown how this calculation can be easily rearranged to find either the distance travelled, or time taken. Next, students will be given a set of questions where they will be required to use and rearrange the speed equation. The answers to these questions are included, so students can assess their work once complete.

In the next part of the lesson, students are introduced to distance-time graphs. The first graph shows an object moving at a constant speed, students are told that if a car travelled faster then the gradient of the line would be steeper. The gradient of a line on a distance-time graph represents speed.

Next, students are shown a graph where the car is not moving at a constant speed. Students are asked to ‘Think > Pair > Share’ their ideas on what is happening to the car at different parts on the journey. After a short discussion, going on to the next slide helps to demonstrate that the journey can be broken up into three sections. At the beginning, the car is traveling at a constant speed, then the car is stationary, and then finally it moves again and moves at a faster speed than the start of the journey.

For the next activity, students will be required to complete an investigation to determine the walking speed of their partner. Students will set up a course using metre rulers and cones/bean bags, they will then measure the time it takes for their partner to walk the route set out. Using the data collected, they will plot a distance-time graph. Students will then be asked some questions about the data they collected.

Lastly, students will complete a worksheet assessing their knowledge of what they have learned today. The mark scheme for this task is included in the resources, for students or class teacher to mark their answers.

All resources are included at the end of the presentation. Thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated :)