Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: A Comprehensive List of All the Physics Formulas

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides a long list of physics formulas for easy reference.
Unit Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Our Solar System: Gravity & Inertia

For Students 3rd - 5th
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on the topic of gravity and inertia, and how they work together to keep objects from floating off into space.
Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Secrets of Lost Empires I: Stonehenge

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Investigate center of gravity by changing the weight distribution of a suspended object.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: The Center of Mass

For Teachers 7th - 9th
This site from the Illinois Institute of Technology provides a lab activity in which students determine the location of the center of mass of an irregularly shaped object. Observations are related to the balancing point of the object....
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Wow! That Captures It!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students learn how motion capture (mo-cap) technology enables computer animators to create realistic effects. They learn the importance of center of gravity in animation and how to use the concept of center of gravity in writing an...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Rocking the Boat

For Teachers 7th - 9th
The concepts of stability and equilibrium are introduced while learners learn how these ideas are related to the concept of center of mass. They gain further understanding when they see, first-hand, how equilibrium is closely related to...
Activity
PBS

Pbs Kids: Dragonfly Tv: Do It: Balancing Act

For Students 3rd - 8th
An experiment kids can do at home to discover how the center of gravity can affect whether things will balance or not.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Take It From the Top

For Students 9th - 10th
Play with the center of gravity as you balance a set of blocks in a way that looks impossible.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Balancing Stick

For Students 9th - 10th
An activity to study how the position of the center of gravity is affected by the distribution of mass of an object. This activity ask students to balance a dowel on their finger and by moving the playdoh around the dowel they see how it...
Activity
Other

A Magic Classroom: Nail Balance Puzzle [Pdf]

For Students 1st - 8th
In this lesson, students try to balance fourteen nails on the head of one nail by outwitting gravity.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Rocket Me Into Space

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
One of the exciting challenges for engineers is the idea of exploration. This lesson looks more closely at Spaceman Rohan, Spacewoman Tess, their daughter Maya, and their challenges with getting to space, setting up satellites, and...
Lesson Plan
Utah STEM Foundation

Utah Stem Action Center: Angry Birds Are Mad About Physics

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learn about catapults and Newton's laws of motion.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Science of Fun!

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the science behind circus acts. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Unit Plan
University of New South Wales (Australia)

University of New South Wales: School of Physics: Physclips

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Physiclips thoroughly presents mechanics concepts with animations and film clips.
Activity
Other

University of Evansville: Centroid

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Evansville contains information on the centroid. The information is brief and two picture images are given as well.
Unknown Type
Physics Aviary

Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Find Mass With Torque Hard

For Students 9th - 10th
Determine the unknown mass that is being balanced by two known masses for a meter stick balanced at its center of mass (50.0 cm mark).
Website
NASA

Nasa: The Space Place: What's a Barycenter?

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site from NASA helps in explaining a barycenter. "In the case of the Earth and the Sun, both bodies actually revolve, or spin, around the center of the mass between them. This point is called the barycenter."
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tightrope Trials

For Teachers 7th - 9th
To learn about the concept of center of mass, students examine how objects balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string. Students see the concept of center...
Article
Open Curriculum

Open Curriculum: Velocity and Relative Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
An illustrated article helps physics students learn about center of mass and velocity, and define the concept of inertia.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: 21st Century Medicine: Virtual Fear

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Explore phobias - irrational fears of an object, situation or activity - and how sufferers endeavor to avoid the cause of their extreme anxiety. Perform activities to explore center of gravity, and describe its effect on sufferers of...
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Take It From the Top

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students defy gravity by stacking blocks in different ways in this exercise. Other projects are linked to this lesson as well.
Activity
Other

Center for Education Partnerships: The Marble Roll

For Students 3rd - 9th
In this Science-athon, students try to make their marble roll the farthest across a flat surface, using their knowledge of forces, motion, and energy to guide them through their apparatus design. Teachers must enroll online.
Website
NASA

Nasa: Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics

For Students 9th - 10th
Includes exhaustive information and a wealth of activities pertaining to aerodynamics and the physics of flight.
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: The Center of Population in the United States, 1790 1900

For Students 9th - 10th
A map from 1904 of the eastern United States showing the westward progression of the centers of population from 1790 to 1900. "The centre of population is defined as 'the point at which equilibrium would be reached were the country taken...

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