Fourth graders use a matchbox car to push across a hard surface and observe what happens. They then push the car across a soft or rough surface and discover what happens. The two ideas are discusses as Newton's First and Second Laws of...

Students discuss Newton's laws of motion. The conduct motion experiments by building "Newton Rocket Cars" from assorted materials. They propel the cars with rubber bands and wooden blocks and record the distance traveled on data sheets.

High schoolers distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the...

In this energy learning exercise, high schoolers read about potential energy and kinetic energy. Then students complete 16 matching, 8 fill in the blank, and 9 word problems.

For this forces worksheet, students calculate life force, acceleration, and displacement for 8 word problems. Students must label force diagram and a summation force model.

How do the laws of motion work in space? Learners explore Newton's laws of motion in different experiments as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They rotate around the room in three stations to experience each law in action using...

Eighth graders build and run mousetrap cars in order to measure distance, time, and mass for their cars. They use these measurements to calculate average speed and kinetic energy, then create a slide show to visually explain how the car...

In this force activity, learners draw motion maps given diagrams and construct qualitative force diagrams. They calculate such things as acceleration, upward forces and the magnitude and direction of the forces.

Young scholars form their own hypothesis about the relationships between force, mass, and acceleration for their dynamics cart system. They collect data and express it in a graphical format to visualize the relationships.

Learners discover the relationship between force and acceleration in a skateboard experiment. In small groups, they attach a spring balance to a skateboard and pull a group member across the floor using a constant amount of force. They...

Student identify the three stationary positions, on the Earth, on the Moon, and in a house floating atop the cloud layers of Jupiter. They also identify the three orbiting positions, orbiting the Earth, orbiting the Moon, and orbiting...

Students design a roller coaster that allows a marble to run the course as fast as possible. Students create an experimental roller coaster taking into account the steepness of the hills and the sharpness of the turns. Students use a...

Acceleration, velocity, mass, and gravity all play a role in the motion of a rocket. Young scientists explore the connection among these components using an interactive tutorial. They adjust the mass and thrust force to experiment with...

If a car gets heavier, it goes farther? By running an activity several times, teams experience Newton's Second Law of Motion. The teams vary the amount of weight they catapult off a wooden block car and record the distance the...

Students investigate the force of gravity and how it effects different objects that are put into acceleration when applied the experiment of free falling. They drop different objects that have a variety of masses and some that cause air...

Each of the slides here gives a definition, equation, or calculation example for a component of force and motion. This large collection covers topics from momentum and Newton's laws to centripetal forces and simple machines. Animations...

Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...

For this universal gravitation worksheet, students fill in the blanks to complete sentences with 11 given terms about gravity, inertia, acceleration, mass and force. Students also answer 7 questions about mass, weight and force.

Students observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...

Beginning with definitions of mass and foce, this excellent set of slides summarizes Newton's Laws of motion and universal bravitaions. Components of each law are explained along with examples and questions to inspire discussion. This is...

In this forces activity, students use the equations for acceleration and Newton's second law to learn about different motions and forces. This activity has 7 problems to solve.

Force acts on objects in mysterious ways ... until now! A comprehensive presentation explains the balance of forces acting on objects. Learners draw free body diagrams to show these invisible forces and make force calculations.

Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...

Learners study the physical force of linear momentum by investigating collisions. They analyze the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions. They calculate linear momentum.