Who is strong? An experience on forces in lower secondary school

Abstract

Knowing how to introduce students to fundamental physical concepts such as strength is one of the objectives of science teaching in lower secondary school. It is therefore important that the teacher knows how to master force phenomenologies to manage class activities, but even before that he must know how to give a new shape to his knowledge by adapting it to engaging situations that can direct thinking towards a defined concept. The starting point will therefore be to stimulate students' reflection on experiences that are part of their lives, but which have probably never been investigated in scientific ways. For this reason, it can be useful to break away from traditional patterns by making choices that may at first glance appear reductive, such as observing forces in their purely static aspects and considering interacting systems in their equilibrium condition.