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Rocket Racer
Young scholars design their racer then trace their designs onto Styrofoam tray and athen attache a balloon to a strw which is attached to the "car" to construct a rocket propelled "car." They collect data to determine the speed and the...
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Peak Performance
Students design and build a car that is capable of traveling across the floor quickly, and also up a steep ramp.
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Ultimate Ride Coaster Deluxe
Eighth graders describe the energy transformations as cars travel over a roller coaster. They explain the principle of conservation of energy as it relates to a roller coaster ride. The integration of technology is done using educational...
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It's a Crash Test, Dummy
Students use the internet to research air bags in cars and trucks. In groups, they discover air bags history and the safety issues surrounding them. They create their own design of a new air bag and test it using a raw egg in...
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Investigating Motion, Forces, and Energy Lab Book
Eighth graders create their own experiements using toy trucks, cars or balls to measure the time it takes two of them to travel 5 meters, as well as at each 1 meter interval. They make use computers to make a time/distance graph and...
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Things that Go Bump, Bump, Bump
Students program previously constructed bumper cars to keep bumping and reversing indefinitely. They use touch sensors attached to separate ports and complete a worksheet.
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Physics E3 Project Instructional Plan
Eleventh graders design and build their own solar cars. In this physics lesson, 11th graders explain the photoelectric effect. They discuss the pros and cons of using solar power as an energy source.
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How Do Things Fall?
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.
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Sailing Through Bernoulli
Learners participate in a class discussion about Bernoulli's principle while looking at cross-sections of an airplane wing, and discussing the sail on a sailboat and the spoiler on a race car.
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Monster Magnet Rally
Students explore the properties of the N and S poles on a magnet. They attach small bar magnets to the top of "match box" cars and attempt to crash them into each other. They each write a summary describing their findings.
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Balanced Forces
Students are able to explain why football running backs benefit from having a lower center of gravity when opponents are trying to tackle them. They explain why racing cars are designed to have a low center of gravity. Students explain...
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Does Contact Area Matter?
Students work together to design and implement an experiment on friction. They test to see if contact area affects the amount of friction. They discover how engineers use friction to make certain products better.
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Make Work Easier!
Pupils work in pairs to design a lever. They conduct experiments using a penny and nickel to explore the uses of a lever.
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One-Way Valves
Students explore how the heart pumps blood through its valves. They observe fluid moving through a one-way valve and build a model of a valve. in addition, they explore biotechnology design.
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Build a Snowplow
Pupils design and build a snowplow using LEGO materials. They compete in an Engineer's Challenge to clear a path through Styrofoam peanuts.
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Ramp Builder
Students plan and build a ramp designed for maximum distance a car can travel. In this physics and data collection math lesson, students work in groups to design a ramp using various household materials. Students test small cars on their...
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TE Lesson: Renewable Energy
Students examine renewable energy sources such as solar, water, and wind. They experiment to determine how renewable energy is transformed into electricity. They investigate the role of engineers who work in the field of renewable energy.
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Wind Power! 2
Fourth graders explore how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They see how design and position affect the electrical...
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Lego Robotics: Measuring Speed
Students build and program a LEGO robotic car as well as measure and graph its speed. They acquire familiarity with principles of construction, motion, design and problem solving. They compare a robot's speed over two different surfaces...
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Mobile Forces
Learners design and build original mobiles and consider how the forces of gravity and convection air currents affect the finished piece. They explore how an understanding of balancing forces is important in both art and engineering design.
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Land Use and Lawmaking in California
Students design a plan for a housing development in their city. In this house development lesson plan, students observe pictures of land use, research lawmaking, and develop a plan for an environmentally friendly housing development in...
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Newton's Laws and Seat Belts
Students study Newton's Laws of Motion. They review an assessment task and rubric and discuss Newton's Laws of Motion. They discuss how to test the relationships of mass and acceleration in personal situations. They write a one-page...
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Sliders - Static and Kinetic Friction
Students work in groups to conduct experiments the demonstrate the differences between static and kinetic friction. They consider how friction affects us in our everyday lives, determine the effects of weight on friction and complete a...
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Move It!
Students observe a demonstration presented by the teacher covering different types of energy. They participate in an experiment where they study numerous physics vocabulary words and visit websites that demonstrate examples of these...