Just A Little Bit 3rd Grade STEM Activity Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Teach about Balanced and Unbalanced with this NGSS Aligned Third Grade STEM Activity!

In the story Just a Little Bit, the animals have a difficult time on the seesaw because the weight is not equally distributed. They have to work together to create enough force on one side of the seesaw in order for it to move.

In this STEM Activity, students work with a partner to investigate balanced and unbalanced forces. They use a balance (which can be easily built) and test how the balance reacts to different objects.

This activity is the perfect book companion to Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert .

This STEM Challenge aligns to NGSS Standards for 3rd Grade NGSS Physical Science 3-PS2-1 but can be used in 2nd-4th grade.

Material List:

• balance for each pair of students or materials to create your own balance (pencils, rulers, tape, scissors, string, binder clips, small clear plastic cups
• small materials to test on the balance (erasers, binder clips, counters, building bricks, math manipulatives, etc.)

Includes:

• Teacher Instructions
• Student STEM Journal
• Student Instructions
• STEM Activity
• Vocabulary Words (balanced, unbalanced, force)
• Student Reflection Sheet
• Rubric

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