Virginia Department of Education
A Crystal Lab
Young chemists grow ionic crystals, metallic crystals, and supersaturated crystals in three different lab experiments. Observing these under a microscope allows pupils to compare the various structures.
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Fluid Friction
Students, using wood blocks and model boats, investigate how the shape of an object affects friction it encounters as it is drawn through a towing tank.
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Civil Engineering: Designing Bridges
Students examine the bridges of the United States. They discuss the concept of balance. They draw their own design of a suspension bridge.
Baylor College
Gravity and Muscles
Humans are so used to gravity as a force that we don't tend to pay much attention to it on a daily basis. Through a couple simple activities, learners experience changes to their center of gravity and come to the understanding that...
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Flight Physics
Pupils apply the knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle and construct simple aerodynamic designs. In this flight physics instructional activity, students explore the history of man's interest in flying and the forces influencing an object in...
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Action Figure Diver
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...
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How Do Airplanes Get Off the Ground
Students construct various types of paper airplanes, exploring action and reaction forces by conducting a paper airplane rodeo. Students then discuss how Newton's Third Law of Motion affected their planes.
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Swinging on a String
Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release.
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Toying Around with Newton's Laws
Eighth graders identify balanced and unbalanced forces that affect the movement of objects and Newton's three Laws of Motion. Students also design a contraption utilizing Newton's Laws of Motion that will launch a marshmallow five meters.
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World in the Balance
Students make estimates on how many people they believe live on Earth. While watching a video, they take notes on the issues facing Kenya, Japan and India. In groups, they calculate how long it takes for a country to double in size. To...
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Aerodynamics of a Boomerang
Students examine how aerodynamic forces affect the flight of aircraft, animals and sports balls and projectiles (like a javelin or boomerang). They discover the origins of the boomerang and early usage in hunting.
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Aerodynamics of Cycling
Pupils study aerodynamic forces - lift and drag - and see how those forces affect cycling performance. They see how those forces are calculated and how
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To Dam or Not to Dam
Young ecologists explore the Aswan Dam in Egypt via the internet. Each collaborative group is assigned a specific article about the ecological impact of the dam. Then they prepare a presentation to share with the rest of the class. Some...
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The Dinosaur Body
Students recognize that body design affects balance. They investigate the basic structure of a dinosaur body to see how it achieved balance, then build any dinosaur body system they want, using small marshmallows and extra straws as needed.
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How Things Fly
Students research the mechanics of flight and create a slideshow with one slide dedicated to each of these topics: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. They create a short quiz regarding the material that they presented and give it to their...
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Katrina Case Study: Watershed
Students explore the importance of the coastal wetlands. In this environmental lesson, students observe a model of wetland transformation over time. They discuss what changes occur in the wetlands and how hurricanes can affect the...
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Lesson 2. Symbols of the Stalemate
Eleventh graders identify and analyze the factors that led to WWI's stalemate. They examine The Schliefflen plan and analyze and rectify its strategic flaws.
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Economics Using SimCity 2000
Fifth graders build a city and balance a budget for the population.
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The Brain Eater
Students view a video clip about Mad Cow Disease. They identify the challenges of health professionals in dealing with the disease. They work together to complete a Public Health Task Force worksheet. They make recommendations on how...
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Heart Rate
Students move through a variety of locomotor skills at different paces to see how they affect their heart rate. In this health, human body, and physical activity lesson plan, students measure their heart rate and discuss health. A...
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Go Car, Go!
Young scholars design and build their own car. In this physics lesson plan, students collect data to determine the speed of the car. They plot the data on the graph analyze the relationship between variables.
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Swingers
Students investigate the motion of a swinging pendulum. They experiment with a pendulum to find out why it might swing at different speeds at different times.
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The Effects on Flight Characteristics/Performance Due To Variations in Design of Sled Kites.
Students expand upon previous lessons with sled kites by varying the dimensions or materials while building a news sled kite while working in a team. They fly their original kites and the new ones under similar conditions to determine...
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World Geography: Climate Change Round Table
Students are able to explain the suspected causes of relatively recent climate changes, specifically the observed global warming. They discuss how unusual or extreme global warming disrupts the balance of the earth's geo-spheres.