Students analyze the power ratings of appliances they use on a daily basis and for the amount of time used each day. After examining their electric energy usage, students develop examples of compromises that could be made in order to...

Students study the conservation of energy.  In this energy lesson students explain the differences between potential and kinetic energy.

Students discuss the importance of power grids in power generation. In this physics instructional activity, students explain the impact of power failure. They investigate the power blackout in 2003 and discuss their findings.

Students discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They investigate the thermal properties of different materials. They evaluate the usefulness of each material.

Students define thermal equilibrium. They distinguish between internal energy and heat. Students describe how the quantity of heat that enters or leaves a substance is measured.

Twelfth graders investigate the proper filling order of electrons in the energy levels of an atom. They practice how to "read" these occupied energy levels as electron configurations and demonstrate their understanding through creative...

First graders study heat and light and how they come from various sources. They list sources of heat and light and identify the different energy sources as heat, light, or both heat and light.

Seventh graders experiment with white light, plane mirrors, and curved mirrors in order to demonstrate the physical principles of living systems. In this physical principles lesson plan, 7th graders take 3 days to discover what happens...

Ninth graders investigate motion. In this science lesson, 9th graders conduct experiments on objects to analyze motion and speed. They define motion in everyday life.

Students use a selection of solar panels, lamps, motors, and an AA battery to get as many motors or lights to operate as they can in an allotted time period. For each successful arrangement, they draw a diagram of their setup, label the...

In this physics review worksheet, students compare average and instantaneous speed, review Newton's laws, electricity, and magnets. This worksheet has 12 fill in the blank, 8 short answer questions, and 6 problems to solve.

Students explore alternative energy sources. In this environmental lesson plan, students discuss alternative energy sources and construct a plan to incorporate an alternative home technology into a bedroom. Students build a model of...

Model the transfer of energy during a typical 24-hour period. Young scholars use a game-like approach to learning the patterns of heat transfer through the day and night. Groups of four exchange different tokens as the energy...

Viewers learn to recognize direct and inverse relationships in the world of physics with a presentation that reveals how to recognize a direct versus an inverse relationship from a formula or graph. After showing basic examples, the...

Finally, an electromagnetic spectrum lab that will get glowing reviews from your class! Explore the nature of light using red and blue LED sources and fantastic phosphorescent paper. Young scientists compare the effects of blue light...

Students recognize different consumer products, found in and around the home, that have reactive or denaturing properties when used together. They explore chemical and physical properties of each product by identifying chemical formulas...

The water cycle is one of earth's most easily observable processes, but demonstrating each step within classroom walls can be a challenge. Through a series of videos and quick demonstrations, cover each aspect of the hydrologic cycle in...

How does electricity travel through power lines? The simulation demonstrates the how changes in voltage and resistance are related to the distance between power polls and the thickness of the cable. Scholars control three variables in...

We can see the result of electricity  but not the process itself. The simulation compares electric circuits to a water tower and water wheel cycle. Young scientists adjust the height of the tower, the amount of resistance, and if...

Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.

The Law of Conservation of Matter can be complex for young scientists to fully grasp. Use this experiment to help simplify the process as pupils perform two experiments to determine mass: one that melts a substance and the other that...

Chemistry and earth science meet in a lesson on carbon dioxide emissions. After reading about atmospheric problems caused by using fossil fuels, science stars balance equations for the burning of different alkanes. They compute the...

On this physics handout, pupils read about the Hadron Collider used to make new sub-atomic particles by accelerating protons. They solve 6 math problems that include translating electron volts to Joules. This is geared toward high school...

In a simple activity, physical scientists model nuclear fission using a droplet of oil. This can be used alone in a unit on different types of energy, or as part of the energy conservation unit produced by the Texas State Energy...