Anchorage School District
Roller Coaster Project
Emerging engineers work in teams to design pipe insulation roller coasters for marbles that meet specific parameters. They are required to label along the track the areas where kinetic and potential energy are highest and lowest, where...
Curated OER
Magic Mountain Coaster Computation
Students use the Internet to do research on the roller coasters at Magic Mountain Amusement Park. They must use mathematical formulas to calculate the highest and fastest coaster at the park.
Curated OER
Take a Roller Coaster Ride
Students investigate how roller coasters are built. In this physics lesson, students research the laws of physics that affect roller coaster construction. Students create their own roller coaster design.
Curated OER
Let's Outrage the Bull
Learners study kinetic and potential energy. In this energy lesson, students in grades K-2 understand the differences between kinetic and potential energy. Learners in grades 3-5 demonstrate that kinetic and potential energy. Students in...
Curated OER
Simple Machines and Modern Day Engineering Analogies
Young scholars apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the...
Curated OER
Services for the Disabled At Wild Safari
Middle schoolers discover and enter the website for Six Flags Amusement park. Individually, they identify and discuss the types of services available to the handicapped. After reading the website, they answer comprehension questions...
Curated OER
Chemistry World The Five Types of Chemical Reactions
Students research five types of chemical reactions in order to design a learning center. Students use technology to research and present their material.
Curated OER
Catapults!
Students work together to discover the relationship between the angle of catapults and the flight of different objects. They discover the heavier the object the more force is needed. They examine how engineers use this information to...
Curated OER
Running for Public Office
Students engage in the election process. In this public office activity, students review the election and campaign process then design a campaign for their own selected office election using provided guidelines and links.
Teach Engineering
Accelerometer: Centripetal Acceleration
Scholars build robotic arms that swing back and forth and use them to collect velocity and acceleration data. To analyze the results, pupils compare data to the equations for angular velocity and centripetal acceleration.
Teach Engineering
A Shot Under Pressure
You've got to pump it up! Using the equations for projectile motion and Bernoulli's Principle, class members calculate the water pressure in a water gun. The pupils collect data on the number of pumps and distance traveled in order...
Teach Engineering
Manned Mission to Mars
To go or to not to go — the question for a mission to Mars. This resource provides details for a possible manned mission to Mars. Details include a launch schedule, what life would be like on the surface, and how the astronauts would...
Curated OER
Making Predictions About Measurement
Upper graders experiment with measurement. They estimate the length, volume, and weight of various objects, then rotate through stations making predictions concerning measurements and then testing their predictions.
Curated OER
Homeschooling Chronicles - Educational Vacations
You can make a vacation an educational and fun experience.
Curated OER
Ring Around the Rosie
Learners examine the concept of angular momentum and its correlation to mass, velocity, and radius. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, conduct an experiment with rotational inertia, angular momentum, and rotation speed by making...
Curated OER
May The Force Be With You
Eighth graders investigate Newton's Laws of Motion. They use the example of a roller coaster for illustration purposes. A force associated with a roller coaster is tested, data graphed, and a conclusion is drawn. They use excel in order...
Curated OER
Top Ten Summer Lesson Plans: Make the Kick Off to Summer Fun!
The right summer lesson plans can help both teachers and students spend the final days of school in a fun and productive way.
Curated OER
What Do Companies Do?
In this social studies worksheet, 5th graders focus on the work performed by the names of various well known companies. Students complete 10 matching, 12 fill in the blank, and 6 short answer questions.
Curated OER
It's All about Expression
First graders practice rereading selected passages to improve their reading fluency. Working in pairs, 1st graders read and reread decodable, leveled passages. They create a tape recording of their reading to assess their fluency and use...
Curated OER
Ring Around the Rosie
Students work together to discover the concept of angular momentum. They participate in experiments in which they test rotation and relate it to an object's mass. They participate in a literacy activity in which they compare mythology...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Amusement Park Physics: Roller Coaster
This interesting and interactive exhibit demonstrates how Newton's Laws of Motion impact the design and safety of roller coasters.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Amusement Park Ride: Ups and Downs in Design
This unit has students design and build foam tubing roller coasters. The design process integrates energy concepts as they test and evaluate their designs that address the task as an engineer would. The goal is for students to understand...
Other
Hstry: Roller Coaster Design Brief Template
Interactive site by STEM teacher Mariana Garcia-Serrato in a lesson on physics in which students design, budget for and analyze their own roller coasters.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging With Style
Students experientially learn about the characteristics of a simple physics phenomenon - the pendulum - by riding on playground swings. They use pendulum terms and a timer to experiment with swing variables. They extend their knowledge...