Museum of Science
Roller Coaster
Take a marble out for a roll. Using a section of flexible tubing, pupils build a roller coaster that will allow for a marble to act as the car. Learners create a loop, hill, and jump in their coasters by taping the tubing to different...
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl Matilda Lesson Plans
Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...
Curated OER
Build and Test Your Car Continued
Learners create and build cars to race in class. In this physics lesson, students calculate the speed using distance and time information. They evaluate their design and make adjustments when needed.
Curated OER
Design and Race a Solar Car
Students design, construct and evaluate a solar powered model car. In this solar power lesson students compete in a "solar sprint" race once their car is created.
Curated OER
Science Experiments - The Low-down
Third graders discover the process thinking about science experiments, and why they are important. They work in small groups using incline planes and a small toy car to design one scientific question that can be answered through...
Curated OER
Build Your Own Car
Students determine the factors that affect car speed. In this physics lesson, students design a car that can travel fast and far. They record test run data and use them to construct graphs.
Curated OER
Fast Cars and Roll-Over
Young scholars creat a ramp using cardboard and tape. They follow directions to perform an experiment to determine the degree of tilt needed to cause an empty milk carton to tip over. Students discuss their results in terms of center of...
Curated OER
Solar Racing
Students design and build solar-powered cars. In this renewable energy lesson, students view websites showing a Department of Energy contest and solar-powered car design guidelines. They work in teams to design and build prototypes of a...
Discovery Education
Drive it Green
Explore and brainstorm innovations for cars with a STEM lesson that asks scholars to weigh different options when considering when buying a car. They research the fuel efficiency and carbon emissions for various options, and then...
Curated OER
On The Go! Forces and Motion
Students create a car using physics. In this forces and motion lesson, students create a car and test which changes in design change the performance of the car. Students complete a graphic organizer with the different changes...
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...
Curated OER
Transportation and Environment
Students make an eco-friendly vehicle to help make transportation better for the environment. In this transportation lesson, students learn how transportation inventions are bad for the environment. They then see how engineers have tried...
Museum of Science
Balloon Racers
Watch those balloon cars go! Scholars build racers that run using the power of balloons and conduct races with the cars. They learn about Newton's third law of motion and how it applies to their balloon racers.
Cornell University
Predicting Chemical Reactions
Prove the Law of Conservation of Mass through a lab investigation. A well-designed lesson asks groups to combine materials and monitor indicators for chemical reactions. Measuring the mass of the reactants and products allows individuals...
Curated OER
Junior Solar Sprint Series: Electrical Power
Through scientific inquiry, middle schoolers discover how to arrange solar cells in order to produce electricity. This activity is intended to prepare learners to be able to design and construct solar cars. As with other resources...
Freecloud Design
Monster Physics™
Physics fanatics will shriek over this monster-themed construction application! They design an invention with the intention of competing one of 50 missions and test it out with real physics applications.
Science Matters
Energy Transfer and Transformation
When you take a simple task and create an exceptionally difficult way to complete it, it is known as a Rube Goldberg machine. These machines are filled with many types of energy transfers and energy transformations. Here, pupils...
Curated OER
The Bean Book
A well-designed book on beans teaches kids about the anatomy of a bean. They cut out parts of a bean and paste them together. There are a lot of good descriptions of the parts of beans, such as the embryo, stored food, and the seed coat....
Curated OER
Aerodynamic Design
Students research aerodynamic design. In this aerodynamic design lesson plan, students investigate wind resistance on a car. Students explore the reasons necessary for aerodynamic design.
Curated OER
The Air Car
Students, in groups, design and construct an air car capable of acceleration. They view a video on acceleration, test their cars and make adjustments as desired.
Curated OER
Science 911: Car Crash Testing
Students explore, experiment and analyze the concept of using dummies in a car crash test. They collaborate in a series of tests designed to simulate what really happens in a two-car collision. Each student incorporates probability,...
Curated OER
Solar Powered Cars
Students build and race solar powered cars after a teacher lecture. They answer questions based on their experiences with the car they build.
Curated OER
Electric Car: American Industry and Innovation
Students study how an electric car operates. In this electric car lesson students assemble an electric car motor from parts from an internal combustion engine.
Curated OER
Car Wash
Students determine the most appropriate site for a car wash, based on each site's soil characteristics (chemical, physical) and topographic features. They perform an experiment to determine the changes to three different soil types when...