Teach Engineering
Energy Storage Derby and Proposal
Small groups use the engineering design process to build and test a vehicle capable of carrying 250 grams a distance of five meters. The design must allow for the storage of potential energy and turn it into motion, allowing the...
WindWise Education
How Does a Windmill Work?
Can my windmill pick up a weight? Given the same set of materials, groups design and build the most efficient windmill. On the first day, groups concentrate on getting a windmill to spin, while on the second day, they modify their...
It's About Time
Exploring Energy Resource Concepts
Please turn off the lights to conserve energy. Or not, after all energy is always conserved. This first lesson in an eight-part series includes three parts. Part A contains one hands-on activity and two inquiry-based experiments on heat...
Virginia Department of Education
States and Forms of Energy
Energy is just energy, right? Explain various forms of energy to your young scientists by using an interactive experiment that contains common objects to demonstrate complex concepts. Pupils conduct experiments for radiant, thermal,...
Teach Engineering
Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Does a tennis ball have energy? What about a bowling ball? Demonstrate concepts of different forms of energy forms and states with a variety of objects. Using the equations for potential and kinetic energy, learners determine the amount...
Flipping Physics
AP Physics 1: Simple Harmonic Motion Review
Does your class feel unprepared for the upcoming exam? Use this video to review the simple harmonic motion concepts that will appear on the AP Physics exam. While maintaining interest and a fast pace, the presenter not only reviews the...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Six Kinds Do It All
Teach young engineers that all machines, no matter how complicated or complex, are made up of just six simple devices with this hands-on physical science lesson. Using the included templates, students first create paper models of...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Water Wheel
Middle school scientists construct a working water wheel from an aluminum pie pan. Because of the sharp edges on the cut aluminum, this activity is for mature learners only. You could have your class compete to see whose wheel can lift...
Curated OER
Typical Numeric Questions for Physics I - Work and Energy
A total of 29 word problems furnish practice in solving for work, energy, and force. A few of the questions display diagrams to help learners visualize the systems, and all of them list five choices from which they select the correct...
Curated OER
Energy
Wow! Colorful and simple, these 160 slides introduce the various forms of energy, along with a relevant image. Some of the images are animations, which help beginning physical scientists to visualize the flow of electrons or energy! This...
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.
Curated OER
Junior Solar Sprint Series: Gears and Drive Belts
Activate middle schoolers' minds with this physical science activity. Learners vary the diameter of gears and the number of teeth on them to find how energy output is affected. This writeup features well-developed background information...
Mr. E. Science
Electricity and Magnetism at Work
I don't get electricity jokes, watts so funny about them? The 13th in a series of presentations covers energy, motors, currents, generating electricity, calculating electrical energy cost, transformers, and batteries.
Mr. E. Science
Energy and Power
Teens often display potential energy in class and kinetic in the hallways. This third presentation covers the six types of energy, each in potential and kinetic form. It also covers the Law of Conservation of Energy and Einstein's Theory...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Roller Coaster Mania!
Raise the energy level of your physical science class with this exciting hands-on activity. Applying their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy and Newton's laws of motion, young engineers use foam tubing and marbles to create...
Curated OER
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation
Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
What is Energy? Different Kinds of Energy
Introduce physical science learners to the forms of energy using this PowerPoint. The concluding slides present scenarios for discussing the transfer of energy from one form to another. Informative text is crisp and attractive, but the...
Curated OER
IPC-Sources of Energy Assignment
In this sources of energy worksheet, students complete a concept map and they choose one of the sources of energy in the concept map to research. They create a magazine ad, a newspaper editorial, a newspaper article or any other creative...
Curated OER
Energy Transformation
In this energy transformation worksheet, students earn extra credit by choosing a energy transforming toy or ride at an amusement park and analyzing the energy transformation involved in its movement. Students draw a diagram to...
Curated OER
Steamship Portland: Where's the Energy?
Students examine how steamships operate. They describe the necessary energy conversions. They construct a model paddlewheel ship. They use rubber bands as examples of potential and kinetic energy as they unwind and set the models in motion.
Curated OER
Producing Electric Current
Essentially a list of definitions, this slide show will help your students understand the generation of electrical currents using magnets. There is information comparing the frequencies of currents produced and two slides to detail...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Energy in Motion
Fifth graders explore energy transfer. In this thermal energy lesson, 5th graders stretch rubber bands several times and estimate the band's temperature change. Students identify this action as an example of thermal energy. Students...
Curated OER
Potential & Kinetic Energy
Students test different sized marbles and how fast they can go. In this energy lesson plan, students test different sized marbles going down an incline. They predict which would have the most potential and kinetic energy. After the test,...
Curated OER
Potential Energy
In this potential energy worksheet, students determine the potential energy of objects, calculate the work due to conservative forces and the conservation of mechanical energy. This worksheet has 7 problems to solve.