+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weightlessness

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students compare and contrast the terms "weight" and "mass". In this physics lesson, students observe an experiment in which objects are placed on a balance scale and weighed under different circumstances. Partners drop items and observe...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Incredible Light Bulb-Egg Drop Challenge

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students examine how spacecraft land on Mars. Using eggs or lightbulbs, they design a craft that withstand a drop from a table or ladder, competing in groups to see which module demonstrates the most successful landing.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tightrope Trials

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students research the concepts of center of mass and how to make different things balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Parachutes

For Teachers K - 8th
Pupils control the parachutes using arm movements. They follow directions while participating in games. Students explore the effects of wind on several objects. They study the effects of shape, size and weight on a parachute.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How do engineless planes stay aloft?

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore how a plane can stay aloft. For this engineless airplane flying lesson, 5th graders experiment to find how the design of a plane and Bernoulli's principle keep planes in the air. Student's create a plane and answer...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paper Towers

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students have the opportunity to use model-building as a way to help comprehend the forces and phenomena at work in the world around them. They describe gravity as a universal force that pulls everything toward the center of the earth....
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where We've Been and Where We're Going

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners travel with Christa McAuliffe through space demonstrations. In this space lesson, students follow through the past to the present air travel. Learners understand the benefits and problems associated with zero gravity and how it...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do Things Fall?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students observe falling objects. They discover the rate of falling is based on air resistance and not the weight of the objects. They discuss how engineers use this type of information to design aerodynamic shapes.
+
Activity
NASA

Make a Planetary Exploration Balloon

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Balloons aren't just for parties! An inquiry-based lesson explores the idea of using balloons for space exploration. Learners become engineers as they attempt to control the ascent and descent of a helium balloon using different masses.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catapults!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students work together to discover the relationship between the angle of catapults and the flight of different objects. They discover the heavier the object the more force is needed. They examine how engineers use this information to...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Harmonic Motion

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study harmonic motion and its oscillation.  In this simple harmonic motion lesson students demonstrate a series of regular oscillations and explain the theory behind the experiment. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Look Mom, No Wings!

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explain how drag, weight, lift and thrust work together to make something fly. In this physics lesson plan, students measure their jump height and record data on the table. They reason out why they can't remain airborne for long.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Things Fly

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners explain basic principles of aeronautics such as gravity and lift. In this How Things Fly lesson, students visit the interactive, hands-on How Things Fly gallery at the Smithsonian. Learners perform three experiments that...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnets 2: How Strong is Your Magnet?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students work together to test the strengths of various types of magnets. After testing, they create a graph showing how the strength changes as the distance from the magnet increases. They discuss how forces can act from various...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree…You Might Become Famous

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars explore Newton's laws using CEENBoTs. In this physics instructional activity, students collect data and create tables and graphs. They calculate speed, acceleration and forces using mathematical formulas.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Conservation

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Open learners' eyes to the challenge of finding safe drinking water – something we often take for granted in our country. The PowerPoint presentation includes images, graphs, diagrams, and even a video to stimulate discussion on how we...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the River Run

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the environment by reading a story in class. In this water formation instructional activity, students define environmental terms such as rivers, streams, gulf, oceans and lakes. Students read the story A River Ran Wild...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Circle of Pong

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Buoyancy

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars use materials found at a resource table to design simple devices that will house instruments to take water samples from a tub of water. They design 3 instruments, each varying in density so that one will float, one will...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build A Borneo Glider!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students construct a paper glider. In this physics of gliding instructional activity, students first learn about Borneo and it's rainforest habitat. After students discover the way animals in Borneo glide from tree to tree, they use...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnet Circus

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the properties of magnets by designing a device that can move as far as possible using only magnets to move it, and design a machine that will stay in motion for the greatest period of time.
+
Activity
DiscoverE

Action Figure Diver

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Will your next buoyancy lab rise to the occasion? Make a splash with action figure divers! Teams of young physicists explore the relationship between mass and buoyancy by adding weights or balloons to achieve a diver that neither sinks...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cold, Clouds, and Snowflakes

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore satellite data and graphing. For this weather data analysis math and science lesson, students analyze NASA satellite data to draw conclusions about geographical areas where precipitation might have happened. Students...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
PBS

Inspector Detector

For Teachers 4th - 8th
How do spacecraft detect magnetic fields? The fourth installment of a five-part unit has learners develop a device with magnets that allows for the detection of magnetic fields. They use a map of an imaginary planet to try out their...

Other popular searches