Teach Engineering
Flight of the Fruit: Weight, Gravity and Imagination
Beware the falling fruit. Scholars design and build parachutes that can help protect fruit as it falls. They test out their creations, learning about gravity, weight, air resistance, and measurement concepts along the way.
Curated OER
Qualitative Aspects of Rotational Dynamics
Explanations for six different physics lab activities and five suggested assessments are contained in this resource by the National Science Teachers Association. Any combination can be used to open learners' eyes to rotational motion....
Curated OER
Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...
Curated OER
The Lure and Lore of Weight Lifting
Students examine the importance of physical activity and positive reasons for weight training. They analyze and discuss a famous ad, read and summarize an article, and identify the benefits of resistance training.
Curated OER
Simple Machines Made Simple
For this simple machines worksheet, students review how simple machines are used to do work. Students understand the distance of resistance and apply this to answer 6 problems.
Curated OER
MASS
Students distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the square...
Curated OER
Flight
Students are introduced to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight experiments. They "fly" for short periods and evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease their...
Curated OER
Mr. and Miss Big Feet
Third graders experiment with gravitational force. In this physical science lesson, 3rd graders send matchbox cars off a ramp while changing the amount of weight attached to the car. Students record their data and discuss the results.
Curated OER
Parachutes
Learners make a parachute. In this air resistance lesson, students create a parachute using materials they think will work the best. Learners try out their parachutes, noting which one worked the best. Students discuss how the size,...
Curated OER
Mass
Students participate in a qualitative discussion of the distinction between weight and mass, followed by a description of astronaut mass measurements in a zero-g environment.
Curated OER
Gravity
A summary of the science between gravity. Your students will find the resources links useful and the definition summaries relevant. This slideshow could be used to accompany a lecture or even for independent study.
Curated OER
Forces
Words, words, words! Each of these slides gives a wordy definition of a particular force, along with an example or diagram detailing that force. No photos or diagrams are shown, so make sure to demonstrate each concept for the class as...
Curated OER
Integrating Biology-Muscles and Work
In this muscle and work learning exercise, students read about aerobic, anaerobic and resistance exercise. They apply what they read and answer three questions about these three types of exercise.
Curated OER
Helping the Body Build Strong Bones
Learners explore the effects of diet and weight-bearing activities on bone mineral content. The influence of playing a variety of sports with different weight-loading levels is examined.
Curated OER
Physics and Me
Sixth graders compare and contrast mass and weight. In this physics lesson plan, 6th graders calculate speed given distance and time information. They construct a rocket and relate this to Newton's 3rd Law of motion.
Curated OER
Terminal Velocity
Students calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...
Purdue University
Healthy Body Image: A Lesson Plan for Middle School Students
This is a very valuable lesson for middle schoolers on the importance of maintaining a healthy body image through diet, exercise, and positive mentality. The resource includes four lesson plans. The first two plans outline the physical...
Curated OER
Force and Acceleration
In this force and acceleration worksheet, students solve 3 problems about moving objects, the forces working against them, the mass and their acceleration. Students determine if 6 statements about a falling elephant and a falling feather...
Curated OER
Just a Little Bit of Effort: Exploring Levers
Young scholars build models of types of levers. In this simple machines lesson, students use dowels and modified wooden rulers to build different types of levers. They compete to create the most efficient lever in the class.
Curated OER
Gravity Gets You Down
Students design an experiment to investigate how objects with different masses fall. In this physics lesson, students predict how these objects will fall in a vacuum tube. They write a report explaining experimental results and conclusion.
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Learners recognize that compression and tension forces are important considerations in building structures. They construct their own building structure using marshmellows and spaghetti to see which structure can hold the most weight.
Exploratorium
Falling Feather
Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...
Curated OER
The Slant on Slides Lab
In this inclined planes learning exercise, students investigate the effort force needed to move a 1 kg weight up a ramp to different distances on the ramp. Students calculate the work input and output for each trial as well as the...
Purdue University
Healthy Body Image: Healthy Exercises for Every Body
From three-way neck rolls to a figure-5 hurdler's stretch, this is an ultimate guide to healthy exercises. It begins with a bulleted list of general guidelines on cardiorespiratory exercise, flexibility, resistance exercises, and range...