Curated OER
Motion Commotion!
Students explore the drawings of Rube Goldberg to design and construct a simple machine. They discuss simple machines, and using various materials and toy parts, design and construct a "Rube Goldberg" style machine to ring a bell.
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Sound Box
Students make simple observations and identify relevant variables, such as frequency and diameter. They then discuss the relationship between variables. The task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations and make...
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What’s That, I Can’t Hear You?
Students investigate forms of energy as well as light and sound. In this science lesson, students participate in hands-on activities that require them to evaluate how sound affects astronauts in flight. A video of this lesson being...
Curated OER
Vibration and Pitch
Fifth graders investigate the relation between vibrations and pitch. They observe and discuss an experiment involving a bicycle and a piece of cardboard in the spokes, listen to a comb with cardboard, and listen to various sounds and...
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Latent Heat and Clouds
Students explore latent heat and how it relates to clouds in the atmosphere. For this earth science lesson students investigate how clouds are formed. Students examine clouds and the water cycle.
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Let the Sunshine in
Students collect and analyze data to study wavelengths of visible light. They cover Styrofoam cups with three different colors of sun filtering products and shine a lamp directly on the cups. They determine the most effective filtering...
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The Sun Affects Earth
Third graders read, write, and listen to information about the sun and its effects on the Earth.as it relates to its axis, orbit, rotate, and revolution. In this solar system instructional activity, 3rd graders examine how the sun...
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Sizing Up Sound
Sixth graders are introduced to the concepts of sound waves and frequency. As a class, they listen to the differences between different types of instruments. To end the activity, they practice identifying low and high pitches and playing...
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How a Circuit Works
Learners discover the basic principles of circuits by designing and testing some of their own. They are told that circuits usually have a power source such as a battery and a resistor such as a light. Students make a circuit using a...
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Light the Bulb
Students explore electricity. In this power experiment instructional activity, students determine what is required for lighting a bulb. Students develop an understanding of open and closed circuits, and how energy is formed
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Forces And Energy
Middle schoolers investigate the atom and how it is formed. They conduct research using a variety of resources and then construct a model of the atom. Then students have class discussion. The lesson includes background information for...
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Climate And the Greenhouse Effect
Students demonstrate the greenhouse effect. They recognize that relatively small changes to our environment can stimulate significant climate changes. They determine that the "scientific method" is a process of testing hypotheses and...
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Applied Science - Physics Pre-Lab
Students describe the science of physics. In this Physics lesson plan, students observe examples of physics within their classroom. Students create a definition for physics.
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Scouting for Circuits
Fifth graders investigate electricity and how it used in a circuit to be useful energy. They also use this investigation in order to understand how energy can change forms and still be considered useful if put into the right form.
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Curricular Correlations
First graders listen to prerecorded sounds and put them into categories. They discus the sounds that would be heard outdoors, and indoors. They go outside for a few minutes and take a "hearing walk." Then they come inside and close their...
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Searching For Power
Fourth graders explore different forms of energy and discover ways that natural resources are important. They research how your town would be affected by building your type of power plant.
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More Power to You
Learners construct a simple galvanometer in order to detect the presence of an electric current as well as determine the amount of the current. Activity is divided into two parts, first part as group work and second as individual.
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Physical Science: Magnetism and Electricity
Students use a variety of objects to test for ability to "stick" to a magnet. They perform an experiment to see that electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects. They discover magnets attract and repel...
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Convection Activities
Young scholars conduct a series of hands-on activities to demonstrate that heated air expands and that warm air rises because it is less dense.
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Making Waves, Making Music, Making Noise
Sixth graders watch a demonstration on how talking cans produce sounds. In groups, they compare and contrast the sounds from different sized cans. They participate in a variety of activities to discover how sounds are made and how...
Rice University
College Physics for AP® Courses
Take a look at an organized physics course. The 34-section electronic textbook covers material in AP® Physics 1 and 2. Teachers use the text to supplement lectures and have the class work through the labs. Each section contains multiple...
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Electromagnetic Spectrum
Learners define electromagnetic radiation, list major categories and uses of electromagnetic waves, identify potential health risks with electromagnetic waves, and demonstrate understanding of Plank's constant by solving quantitative...
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The Physics of Toys
Learners explore physics by experimenting with classic toys. In this physical science lesson, students utilize gliders, energy balls, bouncing balls, marbles and other toys to explore how they work. Learners explore each toy at a work...
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Sources of Electricity
In this online electricity worksheet, students are asked 10 questions about electric current and battery energy, an online answer key provided.