Playground Forces in Action

Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

Students will be able to define playground design criteria and constraints for safety, fun, inclusivity, and local weather conditions.

Students will be able to explain how pushes, pulls, gravity, friction, and balanced or unbalanced forces affect playground motion and stability.

Students will be able to analyze multiple playground equipment ideas using a simple decision matrix based on evidence from tests and design criteria.

Students will be able to prototype and test a scale playground model with moving parts to collect data about motion, stability, and safety.

Students will be able to justify design revisions using test results, peer feedback, and observations from the playground investigation walk.

Students will be able to communicate how their playground design supports inclusive play for different ages and abilities.

Products

individual

Individual Playground Engineering Notebook and Design Decision Memo

Each student submits an engineering notebook with investigation notes, labeled sketches of at least two different playground solutions, a simple decision matrix, and a one-page memo explaining their final recommendation. The product shows individual understanding of forces, criteria, constraints, and evidence-based design choices.

team

Revised Scale Inclusive Playground Model and Design Expo Presentation

Teams build a working scale playground model with at least one moving part, test it, revise it once using data, and present it with a short explanation of performance, trade-offs, and accessibility features. The final presentation must show how the team used evidence and collaboration to improve the design for safety and inclusive play.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
Deeper Learning Competencies	Collaboration	I can work with my team to share ideas for our playground model and I can follow agreed-upon roles (like builder, recorder, materials manager) during planning and building.	I can collaborate with my team by listening to others’ ideas, making shared decisions about safe and inclusive features, and solving small disagreements by using calm, respectful communication.	I can collaborate to lead or support our design process by using feedback from peers/teacher, revising our plans together to improve stability and safety, and explaining how our group decisions make play more accessible for different children.	I can collaborate effectively and independently by exercising shared decision-making, resolving conflicts by proposing options, and coordinating roles to test and revise our moving-part playground model while ensuring inclusion and safety are prioritized.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Effective Communication	I can share my ideas respectfully with my team by listening to others and asking at least one clarifying question during planning, testing, or revision.	I can explain my thinking about forces, motion, and safety features using scientific words (push, pull, gravity, stability) and I can adjust my design after peer or teacher feedback.	I can communicate clearly in writing and speaking by using labeled sketches/data from our mini-prototype, describing how critique led to specific changes, and responding to questions from peers with evidence from my model.	I can present my team’s final design to families or classmates with an organized explanation (problem → test evidence → design choices → revisions), demonstrating empathy and collaborative communication while connecting our model to inclusive play and natural hazard considerations.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Self Directed Learning	I can use a checklist to plan small next steps for my playground model (like testing one moving part) and show what I tried during weekly reflections, with teacher support when I need to change my plan.	I can set goals for my team’s design work, use teacher/peer feedback to identify one specific improvement to make, and update my model notes or sketches to show how my actions helped make it safer and more stable.	I can monitor my learning during building and testing by comparing my results to our design criteria, ask focused questions when something feels unstable, and independently revise my plan and portfolio entry using evidence from tests and feedback.	I can take ownership of my learning by using feedback and my own self-assessment to guide repeated cycles of design, testing, and revision, clearly explaining what I changed, why I changed it, and how it improved forces, motion, stability, and inclusive safety for different children.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Critical Thinking & Problem Solving	I can identify the problem and ask testable questions about how pushes, pulls, and gravity affect playground motion and stability, using observations from our playground investigations to suggest a simple design change.	I can choose and explain one or more design options by connecting forces and stability ideas to safety and inclusion needs, and I can propose a clear test for my team’s moving-part mini-prototype (what I will change, measure, or watch).	I can evaluate results from prototypes and evidence (what moved, what felt unstable, and why) to make improvements to my playground model, and I can revise my plan using peer/teacher critique while applying scientific ideas to the design problem.	I can develop and justify an improved, inclusive design solution by comparing multiple alternatives and using Newton’s Laws/force interactions and stability concepts to explain how energy and forces will work under different conditions (like safety and weather-related constraints), then I can confidently guide my team’s final revision decisions.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Content Expertise	I can use evidence from playground tests and my notes to describe how pushes, pulls, and gravity affect motion, and I can connect these ideas to a basic feature of my scale playground model.	I can explain how different types of forces and interactions (push/pull and balanced vs unbalanced forces) influence motion and stability, and I can apply them to improve at least one moving part in my design.	I can justify design choices using scientific ideas about stability/instability and energy–force relationships, and I can revise my model with test results (including what felt unstable or unsafe) to make the moving parts work more reliably.	I can independently integrate forces, stability, and natural hazard considerations into an inclusive playground model, and I can accurately connect how my design meets the design problem (safe, fun, accessible) using data from multiple tests and critiques.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Academic Mindset	I can try new ideas for my inclusive playground design with help, and I can explain what I’m testing (push, pull, gravity, or stability) and why it matters for safe play.	I can persist and make improvements to my playground model when it feels unstable or doesn’t work as expected, using feedback from my team and keeping track of what I change and why.	I can confidently revise my design using scientific evidence about forces, interactions, and stability, and I can connect my choices to safety and inclusivity for different ages and abilities.	I can take initiative to refine solutions across iterations, actively seeking feedback, reflecting on how my learning shows up in my final model, and demonstrating how my design choices help the playground resist local natural hazards.