Curated OER
Speedy Trials
Fifth graders investigate how forces affect the motion of an object. In this physics lesson, 5th graders calculate an object's speed using a mathematical formula. They discuss how force and mass affects the speed.
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
One way to identify possible volcanic activity on other planets is by testing the planet for magnetism. A science lesson plan begins with pupils constructing their own planet from a dead battery, magnets, paper, and tape before...
Curated OER
Marbles in Motion
Fourth graders explore how to play marbles while learning the scientific concepts of force, motion, mass, acceleration, friction, and inertia.
Curated OER
Traveling Bowls
Students investigate the relationship between force and motion while conducting an experiment to answer the question,"How do objects move?". In small groups, they predict how many washers are needed to pull a bowl across a finish line.
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students investigate how water goes from a solid to a liquid then back again. In this experimental lesson students conduct their own experiment and see how water changes form.
Curated OER
Constancy and Change
Second graders investigate how objects can move in different ways. They move in different ways across the room and develop a class list of movement words. Students also conduct a measuring motion experiment, create a bar graph for the...
Curated OER
Surface Friction and Wear Characteristics of Common Materials
Students identify the factors affecting friction. In this physics lesson, students construct their own rocket car and race them. They graph the average speeds and discuss how lubricants affect friction between rubbing surfaces.
Rice University
College Physics for AP® Courses
Take a look at an organized physics course. The 34-section electronic textbook covers material in AP® Physics 1 and 2. Teachers use the text to supplement lectures and have the class work through the labs. Each section contains...
Curated OER
The Legendary Raptors
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
Earth Day Network
Staying Green While Being Clean
Clean up the environment with a lesson that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various surfaces...
Curated OER
Investigation 1 - Push and Pull
Third graders study the forces of push and pull on motion
Curated OER
Pushy Kids in Physics
Students examine the concepts of balanced forces, unbalanced forces, and resulting net forces. They participate in a force and motion demonstration by pushing students in various directions, and calculating and identifying the resulting...
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
EngageNY
Why Are Vectors Useful? 1
How do vectors help make problem solving more efficient? Math scholars use vectors to represent different phenomenon and calculate resultant vectors to answer questions. Problems vary from modeling airplane motion to the path of a...
Discovery Education
Jets in Flight
This Discovery Education activity provides the information needed to understand the basics of flight. Before taking off, young pilots learn the eight stages of the engineering design process. Small groups then design and build...
EngageNY
Graphing Quadratic Functions from the Standard Form
Use context to explain the importance of the key features of a graph. When context is introduced, the domain and range have meaning, which enhances understanding. Pupils use application questions to explore the key features of the graph...
University of Colorado
Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...
Columbus City Schools
It’s Electric!
Shocking! Who knew so many great ideas existed for teaching middle schoolers about electricity? Find them all within this energetic framework. You'll light up at the variety of printable and web-based resources within! After building...
Curated OER
Gyroscopes in Motion
Physics stars will enjoy learning about the conservation of energy as you demonstrate gyroscope precession. The lecture is broken into five subtopics: cross product, rotating vectors, angular momentum, rotating rigid bodies, and torque...
Teach Engineering
Tissue Mechanics
Engage your class by showing them how silly putty and human tissues are alike. Pupils learn more about tissue mechanics by reflecting upon their experiences with silly putty. The lesson covers collagen, elastin, and...
University of Colorado
Distance = Rate x Time
Every year, the moon moves 3.8 cm farther from Earth. In the 11th part of 22, classes use the distance formula. They determine the distance to the moon based upon given data and then graph Galileo spacecraft data to determine its movement.
NASA
Cosmic Microwave Background
Begin your next class with a BANG! Pupils discuss the formation of our universe and its expansion before proceeding with an activity designed to demonstrate what most likely occurred billions of years ago. They conclude with a discussion...
NASA
Measuring Dark Energy
You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...
Curated OER
Temperature Changes Everything
Middle school chemists visit interactive websites in order to discover what happens to molecular motion when heat is added to matter. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the expansion of matter with the addition of heat. A lab...