By: Nate Miller

 Was born on January 4 th 1643, in the county of Lincolnshire in England.  He attended The King’s School, Grantham when he was twelve and left when he was seventeen, when his mother had widowed for the second time attempted him to make him a farmer.  He hated farming and his master at the King's School, persuaded his mother to send him back so that he might complete his education. Motivated partly by a desire for revenge against a schoolyard bully, he became the top-ranked student.  In June 1661, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge as a sizar—a sort of work- study role. At that time, the college's teachings were based on those of Aristotle, but Newton preferred to read the more advanced ideas of modern philosophers such as Descartes and astronomers such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. In 1665, he discovered the generalized binomial theorem and began to develop a mathematical theory that would later become infinitesimal calculus. Soon after Newton had obtained his degree in August of 1665, the University closed down as a precaution against the Great Plague.  Although he had been undistinguished as a Cambridge student, Newton's private studies at his home in Woolsthorpe over the subsequent two years saw the development of his theories on calculus, optics and the law of gravitation. In 1667 he returned to Cambridge as a fellow of Trinity.  He died at the age of 84 on March 21, 1727 from natural causes.

 A lot of the different ideas that Isaac Newton had, derived from Galileo Galilei.  Galileo was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and on sequent astronomical observations, and support for opernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy," the "father of modern physics," the "father of science," and "the Father of Modern Science." Stephen Hawking says, "Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science.”

 If force is not present, an object is at rest or is moving in a straight line with a constant speed.

 A body experiencing a force F experiences an acceleration a related to F by F = m a, where m is the mass of the body. Alternatively, force is proportional to the time derivative of momentum.

 When on object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts a equal opposite reaction.

 Newton's First Law of Motion, Part 1 Checker Challenge Objective: To demonstrate the first part of Newton's first law of motion. To make observations and record data  Context: Small cooperative groups  Materials: 5 checkers, 1 ruler, lab sheet  Procedure:  1. Stack the checkers to make a tower. 2. Predict what will happen to the checkers when you hit only the bottom checker with a ruler. Record your prediction on the lab sheet.  3. Lay the ruler flat on the table. Swing the ruler sideways quickly so that you only hit the bottom checker. Record your results on the lab sheet.  4. Stack the checkers again. Try removing the checkers one by one without knocking over the tower.  Results: As the ruler hits the bottom checker, the checker should slide out of the way without knocking over the rest of the tower. The remaining checkers are not acted upon by the force of the ruler, so they remain at rest. Suggestions: This activity will also work with sugar cubes or wooden blocks.

 Eraser Racers Objective: To demonstrate Newton's second law of motion. To measure, record and interpret data  Context: Small cooperative groups  Materials: 3 felt chalkboard erasers, string, paper clip, spring scale, lab sheet  Procedure: 1. Tie the string around the outside edge of one eraser. Attach the paper clip to the string on one of the narrow edges of the eraser. Stack the remaining erasers on top of the first eraser. 2. Hook the spring scale to the paper clip and slowly pull the stack of erasers across a table. Record the amount of force needed (as shown on the spring scale) to accelerate the three erasers. 3. Remove the top eraser. Pull the remaining two erasers across the table using the same amount of force you used in step 2. Record what happened to the acceleration of the erasers on the lab sheet. 4. Remove the top eraser. Predict what you think will happen to the acceleration of the eraser when you pull one eraser using the same amount of force. Repeat step 3 using just one eraser. Try to use the same amount of force as you did in step 2. Record what happened to the acceleration of the eraser on the lab sheet. Results: As the mass of the erasers decreased, the acceleration of the erasers should have increased. Students should then be able to infer that as mass increases, acceleration decreases. Suggestions: The erasers should be approximately the same size. Other items could be used instead of erasers, such as wooden blocks or small flat cans (tuna). It is important that students try to use the same amount of force each time. The spring scale should be helpful in measuring the amount of force used.

 Water Whirl Objective: To demonstrate Newton's third law of motion  Context: Small cooperative groups  Materials: empty aluminum soft drink can with pull tab attached, hammer, small nail, string, water, deep sink or bucket, lab sheet  Procedure:  1. Have an adult use the hammer and nail to punch two or three evenly spaced holes around the can close to the bottom. When the nail is in each hole, push it to the left to angle the hole slightly. 2. Pull the tab straight up and tie one end of the string to it.  3. Over the sink or bucket, fill the can with water. Hold the loose end of the string and observe the action and reaction.  Results: As the water goes out of the holes (the action), the can should begin to spin (the reaction). Suggestions: If no sink is available, the can could be filled by dunking it in a partially filled bucket of water. This activity can be done outside using a bucket to prevent water from being spilled in the classroom. The can spins more quickly at first. As the water pressure decreases in the can, the spinning slows down. Have plenty of water available because students will want to repeat this several times. Small holes will work better. A thumbtack might even work better than a hammer and nail.