The amount of energy Americans use doubles every 20 years. The first lesson in a 10-part series teaches scholars about different forms of energy. They rotate through five stations with hands-on activities or experiments at each in order...

The potential of the energy in the class is moving. The third segment in a six-part unit on energy provides a deeper understanding of kinetic and potential energy. Learners understand the relationship between mass, speed, and energy and...

Spring into elastic potential energy with a lesson that provides background information on determining the elastic potential energy of springs and other elastic materials. General energy equations emphasize the conservation of...

Angry Birds prepared them, but now pupils must prove their skills with projectiles! Scholars test different variables to determine which ones impact the distance the projectile flies. The experiment provides connections to kinetic and...

If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...

Students investigate potential energy. In this potential energy lesson, students do an experiment with a bouncing ball. Students mark how high the ball bounces when it is dropped and record their results. Students discuss...

Students identify different kinds of energy such as heat energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and magnetic energy. They investigate the concept of conservation of energy.

Upper elementary scientists test basketballs with differing amounts of air to find if inflation affects bounce height. The lesson introduction poses the question of whether or not the composition of a ball determines bounce height, but...

Students discover the science behind a tennis racket by looking at a simple toy that works in a similar way. After looking at the related mathematical equations, students experiment with the simple toy to find the spring constant k by...

Young scholars use this introductory lab using a tennis racquet, however it is very difficult to study because of the strings and the racquet stretch so little and so quickly during a match that students were unable to make simple...

Students explore the concepts of potential and kinetic energy by bouncing assorted balls on different surfaces and calculating the momentum for each ball. They give examples of collisions and momentum in sports and understand that...

Students experiment with the bounce of balls on various surfaces. In this physics lesson, students use various surfaces to bounce balls to study the momentum. This hands-on activity with the concepts of elasticity of surfaces which is...

Students illustrate the changes in the properties of a material at its glass transition point. They gather data which they use to construct graphs regarding elastic modules versus absorption modulus, tangent delta, and the effect of...

Students make a bungee cord. In this potential and kinetic energy lesson, students work in groups to create a bungee cord for an egg. Students evaluate and test their cord. After performing the experiment the students answer...

Students, in groups, use given materials to devise a way to deposit a ping-pong ball into a paper cup that is located in the middle of a 6-foot diameter circle, while standing outside the circle.

Using footballs, basketballs, tennis balls, and more, learners conduct experiments to illustrate Newton's Laws of Motion.  The experiments are conducted outside, and require them to throw, kick, and hit a variety of balls. Your...

Students investigate the relationship between force and momentum using motion detectors and sensors. For this physics lesson, students graph experimental results. They calculate impulse using the area under the graph.

Students design and build their own cars. In this physics lesson, students test their car's speed and make changes when necessary. They graph data and analyze results.

Young scholars determine the spring constant by conducting an investigation. In this physics lesson, students collect data and create a graph of force vs. displacement. They compare the results of two different methods to find spring...

Students explore Newton and his Second Law by observing a demonstration involving a can that rolls away, then rolls back to where it started. They construct their own Come Back Can and describe how the cans work.

In Lesson 3, as part of the Research and Revise step, students investigate potential energy held within springs (elastic potential energy). Class begins with a video of either spring shoes or bungee jumping. Students then move on into...

Fourth graders use a toy to make observations that speed is related to the amount of energy in an object as well as work with gravitational and elastic potential energy.

As a continuation of the theme of potential and kinetic energy, this lesson introduces the concepts of momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions. Many sports and games, such as baseball and ping-pong, illustrate the ideas of momentum...

Students are presented with the question: "Why does a liquid jet break up into droplets?" and introduced to its importance in inkjet printers. A discussion of cohesive forces and surface tension is included, as well as surface acting...