Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines make work easier.

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how simple machine work can make work easier.  In this machines lesson students complete an activity that shows them what makes up a machine, and how to measure displacement and velocity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do Airplanes Get Off the Ground

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students construct various types of paper airplanes, exploring action and reaction forces by conducting a paper airplane rodeo. Students then discuss how Newton's Third Law of Motion affected their planes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Falling

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students should describe the path that the motion would take as well as what might begin or stop the motion. The common characteristic of all the motions that students have experienced directly is that one or more forces are acting on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Third Law

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Students use inquiry and observation to explore Newton's third law of motion: for every action there is a reaction. In this physics lesson, students rotate through six stations set up with materials and picture directions illustrating an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's All in the Wrist

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students conduct experiments with balloons, pennies, marbles and cups to help them understand the concept of centrifugal force or Newton's Law of Motion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graphing Your Motion-Day 1

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore the concepts of motion, velocity and acceleration through graphing their own movement using LoggerPro. They become more familiar with the computer technology. Students explore graphing in real time and graph on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Friction and Inertia

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students study friction and inertia, make predictions, and compare data.  In this investigative lesson students view a demonstration on friction, divide into groups, and complete an activity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fundamental Terms

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students explore Newton's Laws of Motion and how they apply to flight.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VECTORS

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore vectors.  In this vectors lesson students complete a lab activity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swinging on a String

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weightlessness

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study weight, force and mass as it pertains to the earths pull.  In this weightlessness lesson students are divided into groups and complete an activity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habits of Mind

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students study tree leaves to complete the activity, In this tree leaf experiment lesson, students observe, measure, and sort tree leaves individually, in groups, and in relationship to the entire tree.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does a Satellite Stay in Orbit?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore placing a satellite into orbit, then about forces needed to keep an object in orbit. They examine how satellites orbit in elliptical paths and about properties of ellipses. They learn Kepler's 3rd Law of Planetary Motion
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Far?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore how different textures provide varying amounts of friction to objects moving across them. They build a tool to measure the amount of friction between a note card and various surfaces by measuring the distance that a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amusement Park Physics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students get up close and personal with principles of motion. In this physics lesson plan, students collect and analyze acceleration data on amusement park rides. Students use CBLs to collect data in this lesson plan.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tractor Construction

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students working in small groups will build tractors. They must design a tractor that is able to pull various weights.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Science of Weather: Hurricanes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use this USA today activity to learn about hurricane season. For this hurricane lesson, students study the map of the earth and hurricane science. Students complete discuss questions. Students draw a map of the United States and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating and Falling Flows

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Snack Attack: Food Packaging Activity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students design and create packaging material for food. For this snack attack lesson, students design a package to protect a food item from heat and water. Students consider costs of materials, design, and test the package to see if it...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Energy: A Day in My Life

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
If only we could harness the energy of fifth graders, our energy problems would be over! The class discusses where different forms of energy come from and how we use them. They complete a chart of the activities that they do daily...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

FORCES, MOTION, AND ENERGY

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders engage in a variety of activities in order to investigate the basic concepts of physics. They read and answer questions in a written text. This is only one type of activity that is part of many others.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WHAT HOLDS US TO EARTH?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students they imagine they are Galileo and try to duplicate Galileo's experiments and results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life Without Flight

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students keep a journal for an intire week recording their observations of the ways aircraft affect society, The students discuss their findings and categorize them into areas such as military, commercial, research, and so on.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

THE WRIGHT IDEA!

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners learn about the technological development of flight by organizing a presentation on the history of flight.