TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Flocculants: The First Step to Cleaner Water!
Learners experience firsthand one of the most common water treatment types in the industry today, flocculants. They learn how the amount of suspended solids in water is measured using the basic properties of matter and light. In...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Balloon & Straw Experiment
Investigate air pressure, motion and the forces of air currents using a bendy straw, a balloon and a rubber band.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Discovering Friction
With a simple demonstration activity, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. Then, in the Associated Activity (Sliding and Stuttering), they work in teams to...
Center of Science and Industry
Cosi Columbus: Boomerang
Students will make and fly boomerangs and discover that their spinning action is what makes them return to the thrower. Includes full list of materials, procedures, and scientific explanation of "gyroscopic precession".
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Centripetal Acceleration
In this activity, students observe the centripetal acceleration of an object in uniform circular motion. Relate the changes in velocity and radius to the centripetal acceleration.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Air Resistance
Young scholars use the Motion Detector to measure the effect of air resistance on falling objects. They determine how air resistance and mass affect the terminal velocity of a falling object and then choose a force model that fits the data.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Engineering Out of Harry Situations
Under the "The Science Behind Harry Potter" theme, a succession of diverse complex scientific topics are presented to students through direct immersive interaction. Student interest is piqued by the incorporation of popular culture into...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Blast Off
Hands on activity where learners focus on aerospace engineering to investigate space flight from the viewpoint of an engineer. They design, build, and launch their rocket, then share their experiences with the class.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Launch Into Learning: Catapults!
Students learn about catapults, including the science and math concepts behind them, as they prepare for the associated activity in which they design, build and test their own catapults. They learn about force, accuracy, precision and...
Middle School Science
Middle School Science: Balloon Powered Race Cars
An idea developed by a physical science teacher who applied Newton's Laws of Motion in creating a balloon powered race car. Find simple objective, materials, rules, and procedures.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Balloon Car
Make 4-wheeled, air-powered cars that jet across the floor. Experiment with the design process and thrust in this activity from Design Squad Nation.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Catapults!
Students observe the relationship between the angle of a catapult (a force measurement) and the flight of a cotton ball. They learn how Newton's second law of motion works by seeing directly that F = ma. When they pull the metal "arm"...
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Spring Thing: Newton's Second Law
In this activity, students' use a force sensor and a motion detector to collect force and acceleration data for an object moving up and down hanging from a spring. They use the data to test Newton's second law, and to estimate the mass...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Maximizing Kinetic Energy: An Investigation Using Marbles
Using marbles to construct a marble run, students will learn about projectile motion, kinetic energy, potential energy, final velocity, and forces.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Indoor Ramps
Have students make ramps out of flat pieces of cardboard and other materials.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Water Bottle Rockets Understanding Energy
For this activity, students will design and construct a water bottle rocket. Students will demonstrate understanding of a good experimental design and analysis of results.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Inertia
In this investigation, students will perform a simple ordering activity and demonstration to determine what inertia is and recognize how inertia affects objects. They will compare and contrast the masses of objects to predict the...
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Down the Slide
Take the students out to the playground so they can explore things that go down the slide.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Ramps All Around
Take the students outside on a walking field trip where they can notice ramps and slanted surfaces in the neighborhood.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Steep and Steeper
Students explore what happens to a rolling object when the steepness of the ramp is increased.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Explore and Play: Ramps Around Us
Set up several ramps around the room and allow the students to explore and investigate how they work.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Explore and Play: Sliding Peep
Students make their own ramps and test them out by sending various objects down them.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Read and Discuss: Ten on the Sled
Discussion and integrations ideas for the read aloud book, Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman.
PBS
Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Explore and Play: Snowy Hills
Students make two snowy hills, one steep and one gentle, to discover their effects on rolling objects.