Newton's Third Law - Station Lab - MS

This modular, student-led activity will keep your middle schoolers engaged while exploring Newton’s Laws of Motion. With everything included, you’ll save a ton of prep time while giving students the opportunity to direct their own learning.

In this interactive lab, students will plan and carry out an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces acting on it and the object’s mass. Designed for flexibility, this lesson works seamlessly for both in-class and virtual learning.

Texas Teachers: This resource aligns with the 2017 TEKS (not updated for the 2021 TEKS).

Differentiated, Modular, and Student-Centered

Each station lab features eight core activities plus a bonus challenge station, giving every learner a personalized experience. Teachers act as facilitators while students work independently or in small groups to explore concepts in force and motion.

All signage, passages, resources, and task cards are provided. The Explore It! station may require a few simple classroom materials you likely already have.

The Stations

Input Stations – Learn the Concepts

• Explore It! – Hands-on demo or digital drag-and-drop in PowerPoint/Google Slides

• Read It! – Differentiated passages (English & Spanish) with vocabulary and comprehension checks

• Research It! – Online tasks with images, facts, and graphs

• Watch It! – Short video with reflection questions

Output Stations – Show Understanding

• Organize It! – Printable or digital card sorts/manipulatives

• Illustrate It! – Sketching and modeling to reinforce concepts visually

• Write It! – Open-ended written responses in complete sentences

• Assess It! – Task cards + vocabulary-in-context writing

Bonus Station – Challenge It!
Fun extension activities for early finishers, including crosswords, games, and mini-projects

Virtual & In-Class Flexibility

This station lab is fully compatible with PowerPoint and Google Slides, making it easy to implement in both on-campus and online classrooms.

Why Teachers Love It:

• Differentiated for a variety of learning needs

• Multimodal design to keep students engaged

• Flexible for print or digital use

• Minimal prep required

This resource is also included in the Newton’s Laws 5E Lesson Plan, which expands to cover editable presentations, interactive notebooks, projects, assessments, and more.

This is a finished product; it will be updated with formatting or corrections as needed. Future improvements and new features will be sold as a separate product.