Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motion Capture and Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners investigate the concepts and relationships of speed, displacement and time. They capture the serve motion of a tennis player via video or digital camera and analyze the speed of the ball and racquet head.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motion Capture and Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers capture the serve motion of a tennis player with a digital or video camera. Using transparencies or a software package, analyze the speed, acceleration, displacement and time of the racquet head and ball in the tennis stroke.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigation 4 - Collision Zone

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders study how forces of push and pull can change speed or direction.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flying With Mathematics!

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders fly miniature airplanes to discover characteristics related to velocity and average speed. After measuring the time and distance of their flights, 3rd graders calculate the average velocity of their planes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Acceleration

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students develop an understanding of velocity and to distinguish it from speed. To determine the difference between a scalar and a vector quantity. To explore how acceleration is derived from velocity and time.
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Linear Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module where students gain an understanding of the relationships between the different kinds of motion. Students will be able to explain free-fall motion and use kinematics equations to calculate problems involving falling...
Interactive
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Virtual Car: Velocity and Acceleration

For Students 9th - 10th
Take control of a virtual car and learn how vectors are used to represent velocity and acceleration in this interactive activity developed for Teachers' Domain.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Firefighter Training

For Students 6th - 8th
In this video segment from Cyberchase, Harry decides to train as a firefighter and uses line graphs to chart his physical fitness progress.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Bianca Goes to the Movie

For Students 6th - 8th
This Cyberchase video segment features Bianca, who must figure out the fastest route to a movie premiere.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Fastest Broom

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
The CyberSquad tests which broom can travel the furthest in five seconds in this video from Cyberchase.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: A Race to Motherboard

For Students 6th - 8th
In this video from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad figures out how fast their broom must go so they can reach Motherboard before Wicked.
eBook
University of California

Ucla: Speed and Velocity

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the meaning of velocity in terms of a graphical representation. Calculus-based discussion. Good graphics.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Digit in Pursuit

For Students 6th - 8th
The CyberSquad tracks Digit's position in time and then studies graphs to figure out what Hacker is scheming in this video from Cyberchase.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: To Survive at High Velocity

For Students 9th - 10th
This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at speed, velocity, and centripetal force on the racetrack. [6:28]
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Fast Is Your Computer?

For Students 3rd - 8th
Computer technology continues to develop at a rapid pace. A new home computer is noticeably faster than a machine from five years ago, and dramatically faster than a machine from ten years ago. Exactly how much faster? This project will...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: She Shoots, She Scores!

For Students 6th - 8th
While watching an ice hockey game, have you ever wondered what differentiates a good player from a great player? For sure, the great player is athletically superior to the good player. But maybe it is a combination of athleticism and...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Drag Racing in the Water

For Students 3rd - 8th
It's fun to go swimming. To feel the power of your body as you launch yourself into the water. But did you know that swimming isn't just about skill and athleticism? The human body consists of skin, contours, and curves. How the water...
Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Ramp: Forces and Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore forces and motion as you push household objects up and down a ramp. Lower and raise the ramp to see how the angle of inclination affects the parallel forces.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Motion Graphing Speed

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this introduction to motion activity, students will get a personal understanding of speed and acceleration by experiencing it firsthand. Wheeled office chairs or other cart like devices are used to give one student a ride as a fellow...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Speed and Acceleration Using Tornado Tubes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students will use a plywood ramp and various tornado tubes (made from tornado tube connectors and 2 liter pop bottles) to calculate the average speed of the tornado tubes. They will set up 4 investigations filling the 2...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Motion: Calculating and Graphing Students Walking Speed

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity young scholars will collect and analyze data of their walking speed. They will compare their speed to an outside speed walker. They will determine their speed every 20 meters up to 100 meters. They will complete five...
Lesson Plan
University of Texas

Inside Mathematics: Snail Pace [Pdf]

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
This task challenges a student to demonstrate understanding of concepts involved in rates. Students must make sense of proportional relationships of speed in minutes and inches.
Activity
PBS

Pbs: Nova: Time Travel: Think Like Einstein

For Students 9th - 10th
Addressed with questions about relative speed and the speed of light, students begin to "think like Einstein" while exploring the science behind the mystery of time travel.
Website
PBS

Pbs in the Mix: Drug Abuse Altered States

For Students 9th - 10th
This PBS series takes a hard look at teenage drug use. Content includes a focus on how and why teens use drugs, the long-term health effects of drug use, and more.