Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Discovering Velocity Outside of the Classroom

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A physics lab activity where students gather data from classmates running at different rates on a football field. They then share their gathered data and transfer it to a graphing program to ultimately calculate average velocity.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Navigating at the Speed of Satellites

For Teachers 6th - 9th
For thousands of years, navigators have looked to the sky for direction. Today, celestial navigation has simply switched from using natural objects to human-created satellites. A constellation of satellites, called the Global Positioning...
Interactive
Other

Ask Numbers: Measurement Conversion Calculators and Charts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
What kind of unit conversion would you like to do? This site will allow you to do a multitude of conversions. Just click on the specific measurement you are needing to convert. It also provides a history of measurements and a chart of...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Episd: Position Time Graphs

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Understand how to evaluate data presented in graphs based on speed and velocity calculations.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Projectile Motion

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students are introduced to the concept of projectile motion, of which they are often familiar from life experiences,such as playing sports such as basketball or baseball, even though they may not understand the physics involved. Students...
Activity
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Nctm: Figure This: The Race [Pdf]

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
A challenge that combines skills in problem solving and logical reasoning. See if you can figure out who will win the race by determining the rate of speed of each runner. A one page activity from NCTM Math Challenges for Families...
Unit Plan
Sophia Learning

Sophia: Velocity: Lesson 3

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson will introduce the concept of velocity, explaining what it is, how it is calculated, and common units used to represent it. It is 3 of 3 in the series titled "Velocity."
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Physics Aviary

Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Motion on Incline Level 2

For Students 9th - 10th
Students must calculate the distance an object will move up an incline using Newton's Laws. Mass, angle, gravitational field, coefficient of friction and initial speed will be generated randomly.
Activity
University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge: Nrich: Bike Ride

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
On this one page website sharpen your logic and rate measurement skills while working on this challenge. The solution is available to double check your solution.
Activity
University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge: Nrich: Walk and Ride

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
On this one page website sharpen your logic and rate measurement skills while working on this challenge. The solution is available to double check your solution.
Activity
University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge: Nrich: The Hare and the Tortoise

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
On this one page website sharpen your logic and rate measurement skills while working on this challenge. The solution is available to double check your solution.
Lesson Plan
PE Central

Pe Central: Pe Lesson Ideas: How Far to Mount Katahdin

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Organized into 5 parts, this lesson combines physical activity with academic subjects including math, health, and geography. In part I, students calculate how many steps it would take to complete the Appalachian Trail. In parts II and...
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: The Science of Racing: Newton Knew

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For race car engineers, F = m a, is the backbone of the vast majority of calculations. The selection of gear ratios is one example. Investigate and create a mathematical model for the relationship between force, speed, mass, distance and...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Illustrative Mathematics: 8.g Bird and Dog Race

For Teachers 8th
In this race between a bird and a dog, 8th graders are provided with information about their starting locations on a map and their speeds. They are asked to predict a winner, draw the paths they might follow, decide how to determine who...
Unknown Type
Physics Aviary

Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Soccer Shot Simple

For Students 9th - 10th
Students must calculate the maximum distance they can be from an soccer net and still hit a randomly generated target. The speed and angle of the kick will be generated randomly.
Activity
University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Alternative Record Books

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a look at the amazing limits that athletes push themselves to in search of Olympic glory. Which events see the fastest speeds, furthest distances and highest forces? This activity challenges students to undertake some research,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Calls of the Wild: Bats and Echolocation

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Explore bats' navigation systems by experimenting with echolocation. Approximate an object's distance by analyzing reflected sound waves, measuring the delay in sound and calculating the ratio to the speed of sound.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Math Space Odyssey: How Long Is a Light Year?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson helps students to demonstrate the ability to use a light year as a standard of measurement to calculate time and distance from the earth. They will also solve problems based on light years.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Fast Do Seismic Waves Travel?

For Students 6th - 8th
Here's a geology project that uses historical seismograph data that you can collect from the comfort of your own computer. You'll use a web interface to a network of seismometers run by the Northern California Earthquake Data Center, at...
Lesson Plan
Other

Sprk: Macro Lab Lesson 4 Percentages: Teacher Guide [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students will use Sphero to explore percentages using speed and color. The speed experiments are quantitative and the color experiments are qualitative. They will program the Sphero to move at 100% speed for a particular amount of time,...
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: A Steep Hike Adventure 3

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use the CBR 2 to gather distance and time data for various walking speeds. They observe the effect of change in direction and speed of motion on distance versus time graphs. Students interpret and analyze graphs, calculate slope...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: It's About Time

For Teachers 6th - 9th
In past times, ocean navigators tossed a piece of wood over the side of their ships and noted how long until the ship passed the wood. They used this time measurement and the length of the ship to calculate their speed and estimate how...
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Ti 89 Riemann Sum Activities for Calculus

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this Computer Algebra System (CAS) activity students use Riemann sums to estimate the distance traveled on a trip at various speeds. They utilize the concept of Riemann sums to calculate the area under a curve. Students find limits of...
Activity
Physics Aviary

Physics Aviary: Car Acceleration

For Students 9th - 10th
Calculate the final speed and the distanced covered by a car that is accelerating because of a certain set of forces acting on the car.