Teaching with videogames: Exploring Newton’s Laws of Motion with Osmos
Help your students understand Newton’s three laws of motion by exploring them in a video game.
Osmos is a single-player computer/mobile game involving physics-based gameplay to solve puzzles. You are a mote, a blob of matter and your objective is to grow by absorbing other motes. To move around you need to eject matter behind you, propelling you forwards. However, you must balance ejecting matter (which causes you to shrink) and moving quickly.
Osmos provides a physics sandbox for players to explore forces and motion in a frictionless space. The controls are simple and easy for players of all ability levels to learn.
Year level: 7-10
Learning areas: Science
Suggested duration: 2 x 50 min lessons (flexible)
Download the full lesson plan
The lesson plan includes links to the Victorian and Australian Curricula, indications of lesson timing, and ideas for differentiation and assessment.
In this lesson, students will
| 1. Play through the levels of Osmos to experience with how objects move in a near frictionless environment, exploring concepts behind Newton's Laws. |
| 2. Communicate their understanding of the concepts. |
By the end of this lesson, students will
| When forces are balanced or unbalanced, the speed of the object is affected. (Yr 7-8) |
| Newton’s three laws of motion (Yr 9-10) |
| Identify and explain situations using the ideas of balance/unbalanced forces (Yr 7-8) |
| Explain situations using Newton’s three laws of motion (Yr 9-10) |
| Their ability to communicate scientific concepts using the correct terminology |