Handoff - Free Classroom Simulation

Science (Forces & Motion) Grades 6-8 7 roles 45 min 1 class period

The cargo module of a space station on unloading day, with a supply ship docked at one end and the lab at the other.

A space station crew moves cargo by hand down a cargo tube where nothing has a motor: every push moves both things, opposite ways, and nothing stops unless something pushes it.

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Class Time

45 minutes

Designed For

1 class period

Roles

7 roles

Class Sizes

4 groups, 5 groups, 6 groups, 7 groups

Learning Objectives

5 objectives

Standards

4 standards aligned

Where This Fits in Your Curriculum

This belongs in a middle school forces and motion unit, right where Newton's third law and the idea that a push changes speed come in. Students need whole numbers, halves and simple division; they need only two one-step formulas, given on the Counter card, and no vectors or earlier physics. Under the space station story, every turn makes students predict what one push does to two objects of different mass: the bag and the astronaut both change speed, and the lighter one changes more. Stopping a bag kicks the stopper backward, two pushes on one astronaut cancel, and a thing in motion keeps going until something pushes it. The class plans together, out loud, so the third law gets said dozens of times in one period. It fits an 8th grade physical science course or a 6th or 7th grade integrated science course, and a teacher who wants a lab day before or after the math of forces.

What Students Will Learn

Predict the change in speed of two objects of different mass after one push between them.
Explain, using Newton's third law, why stopping a moving bag moves the astronaut who stops it.
Calculate the push needed to stop an object from its mass and speed.
Explain why two equal and opposite pushes on one object leave its speed unchanged.
Plan a sequence of pushes with other groups to deliver cargo before a deadline.

Cases Included

NGSS MS-PS2-1 (supports) - students apply Newton's third law to plan the motion of two colliding objects: both things move after every push, stopping a bag moves the stopper, and two pushes on one astronaut cancel.
NGSS MS-PS2-2 (builds toward) - students compare how one push changes the speed of objects of different mass in the Practice 1 push table; the sum of forces appears in the two-sided push on the tank and the double push.
NGSS crosscutting concepts - cause and effect; systems and system models; scale, proportion and quantity.
NGSS practices - using mathematics and computational thinking; developing and using models (each group's prediction checked against the projector every turn).

Social & Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Aligned to the CASEL framework's core competencies. These are the SEL skills students actively practice while playing.

Relationship Skills Three jobs on paper cards, switched on a schedule, so every student speaks every turn and the group shares one Chromebook.
Self-Management A 45-second clock and a cargo list that only works with a plan made ahead of time.

Flexible Class Sizes

4 groups

4 to 20 students. Port 6 stays empty and the water tank stays aboard: 10 items.

5 groups

5 to 25 students. Every port has a crew: 14 items.

6 groups

6 to 30 students. Port 12B handles the bags passing Port 12: 16 items.

7 groups

7 to 35 students. Ports 12B and 18B handle the bags passing their ports: 17 items.

How the Game Plays Out

Roles Your Students Will Play

Click any role to see their background and what they are trying to accomplish.

Ship

You are the supply ship's crew, docked at square 0 with the end wall at your back. When you push a bag toward the lab, or stop a bag coming at you, the kick-back pushes you into the end wall. The wall pushes back, so you stay on square 0. You send the ship's bags (and, with 5 or more groups, the water tank) out to the ports and the lab, and you stop every trash bag that comes back.

Square 0. Mass: bag 1, tank 2, astronaut 2. Speed change = push / mass. Push to stop = mass x speed.

Goals

Send every bag early enough for its crew to stop it.
Stop every trash bag before it goes past square 0.

Port 6

You are the galley crew at Port 6, on square 6. Your hatch opens off the cargo tube. When you push a bag, its kick-back pushes you the other way, off your square. Then push the handrail to stop. Next, push the handrail toward home. On your square, push the handrail once more to stop. Two bags at once does not move you.

Square 6, the Galley. Mass: bag 1, tank 2, astronaut 2. If it is moving past you, push up to 2. If not, push up to 3.

Goals

Stop every bag tagged 6.
Send your trash bag to the ship.
Slow or speed up a bag passing your square when another crew asks.

Port 12

You are the greenhouse crew at Port 12, on square 12. The gap starts two squares toward the lab: squares 14 to 16 have no handrails. A crew that drifts in there cannot stop itself, so watch your own speed and direction after every push. With 6 or 7 groups, the Port 12B crew handles every other bag passing square 12. You may not push those bags on square 12, even when Port 12B has drifted away. You still stop the bags tagged 12 and send your own cargo.

Square 12, the Greenhouse. The gap: squares 14 to 16. Mass: bag 1, tank 2, astronaut 2. Push to stop = mass x speed.

Goals

Stop every bag tagged 12.
Send your trash to the ship and your plant samples to the lab.
Stay out of the gap, or call for help when you are in it.

Port 12B

You are the greenhouse's second crew, on square 12. You handle the bags passing your port: you slow a fast bag down or speed a slow one up so the next crew can stop it. The Port 12 crew handles the port's own cargo.

Square 12, passing bags. Moving past you: up to 2. Push to stop = mass x speed.

Goals

Slow or speed up every bag passing square 12 that needs it.
Send the herb tray to Port 6.

Port 18

You are the workshop crew at Port 18, on square 18. The gap ends two squares toward the ship. Slowing a trash bag kicks you toward the ship, so after a stop, check your drift before you end up in the gap. With 7 groups, the Port 18B crew handles every other bag passing square 18. You may not push those bags on square 18, even when Port 18B has drifted away. You still stop the bags tagged 18 and send your own cargo.

Square 18, the Workshop. The gap: squares 14 to 16. Mass: bag 1, tank 2, astronaut 2. Moving past you: up to 2.

Goals

Stop every bag tagged 18.
Send your trash to the ship and the fixed pump to the lab. With 6 groups, also send the tool kit to Port 12. With 7 groups, also send the air filter to Port 6.
With 4 to 6 groups: slow fast lab bags on their way past.

Port 18B

You are the workshop's second crew, on square 18. You handle the bags passing your port: you slow a fast bag down or speed a slow one up so the next crew can stop it. The Port 18 crew handles the port's own cargo.

Square 18, passing bags. Moving past you: up to 2. Push to stop = mass x speed.

Goals

Slow or speed up every bag passing square 18 that needs it.
Send the tool kit to Port 12.

Lab

You are the lab crew at square 24, with the end wall at your back. Five things are coming to you, and lab bags sent from the ship arrive late in the run. A bag that lands on square 24 still moving waits there one turn. Stop it then, or it goes out. A bag that would pass square 24 goes out.

Square 24, the Lab hatch. Mass: bag 1, astronaut 2. Push to stop = mass x speed. Moving past you: up to 2.

Goals

Stop every bag tagged LAB.
Send your trash to the ship. With 5 or more groups, also send the lab report to Port 18.

Hand Each Student Their Own Sheet

One click on the teacher dashboard prints a dossier for every role - background, goals, key facts, and their confidential briefing - plus the primary-source packet and a vocabulary sheet. Print them, or save as PDF, so each student reads their role on paper instead of huddling around one screen. The app still runs the votes and the action; the paper just carries the reading.

Primary Sources

Every role includes real historical documents. Students read them because they need the information to make their case.

Key Terms Students Will Learn

forcepushmassspeeddirectionNewton's third lawforce pairkick-backnet forcebalanced forcesunbalanced forcesinertiadriftpush to stopfree fallorbitmicrogravity

After the Game: Debrief Questions

Why does everything float if gravity up there is nine-tenths of ours? Use free fall, orbit or microgravity in your answer.
Why does a port crew move when it pushes a bag? Why do the Ship and Lab crews stay put when they push a bag toward the open tube? Name the force pair and Newton's third law.
Why does pushing two bags at once, one each way, leave the astronaut still? Were the forces on it balanced or unbalanced, and what was the net force?
Why does a bag going 3 need two pushes to stop? Use push to stop and 'moving past you: up to 2'.
What did your class change in run 2? Name one push you would make differently next time.
When Port 12's clip snapped, who decided what to do? What did your class's answer cost, and was it worth it?
Where is everything falling? Look at the orbit picture and use inertia in your answer.

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