Center for Precollegiate Education and Training
Buoyancy Boats
What did the sea say to the boat? Nothing, it just waved. An inquiry-based lesson starts with a simple concept on the Archimedes Principle and challenges pupils to make something out of clay that floats. Then, they design...
Curated OER
Suited for Space
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
Curated OER
Apollo Moon Landing
Students explore paper rockets, learn about the Apollo Program and Apollo spin-offs, and use simple office supplies to design and create a new useful product. This amazing plan is incredibly well written and leads students through a...
Curated OER
Fish and Clips
Youngsters test magnetic strength by measuring the mass of paper clips that they "hook" with a magnet. Your first and second graders should love the hands-on activities associated with this plan. The reproducible materials are quite good...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
Curated OER
Engineering Lessons Adapted for Special Education
Modifying engineering lessons from NASA makes them accessible to a wider variety of learners.
Curated OER
Exploring Buoyancy
Students use materials found at a resource table to design simple devices that will house instruments to take water samples from a tub of water. They design 3 instruments, each varying in density so that one will float, one will hover...
Batesville Community School Corporation
Energy in a Nutshell
Reduce the work it takes to plan a physics lesson on energy with the help of this instructional presentation. Beginning with clear explanations of kinetic and potential energy, this resource continues on to familiarize young...
Curated OER
Simple Machines IV - Wheels and Axles
Youngsters are introduced to the basic principles and uses of the wheel and the axle. They come up with every day examples of simple machines and look into why the wheel and the axle are best-used as a paired machine instead of used...
Curated OER
Build A Borneo Glider!
Students construct a paper glider. In this physics of gliding instructional activity, students first learn about Borneo and it's rainforest habitat. After students discover the way animals in Borneo glide from tree to tree, they use...
Curated OER
Magnet Circus
Students explore the properties of magnets by designing a device that can move as far as possible using only magnets to move it, and design a machine that will stay in motion for the greatest period of time.
Curated OER
Free Up the Ketchup!
Students, in teams, use given materials and their knowledge of Newton's First Law to create a device that will remove a sticky ping pong ball from a 16-oz. cup (which represents ketchup stuck in a bottle.)
Curated OER
Solid, Liquid, and Gas
Delve into the differences among solids, liquids, and gases with this PowerPoint. It is both applicable and attractive. Large, colorful diagrams display the molecular arrangement of each state of matter and their properties are arranged...
DiscoverE
Touch Down
Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.
Curated OER
Erosion in Different Soils
Fourth graders observe and identify the effects of weathering and geological activities. They take part in an excellent hands-on group activity called "Erosion Race," in which each group tries to simulate erosion of soil in the quickest...
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 Southern California
Design and Test an Air Lift Siphon
Build an air lift siphon using your mad physics skills! Learners first investigate the importance of circulating water in aquaponics systems. They then use density to their advantage as they engineer an air lift siphon
DiscoverE
Action Figure Diver
Will your next buoyancy lab rise to the occasion? Make a splash with action figure divers! Teams of young physicists explore the relationship between mass and buoyancy by adding weights or balloons to achieve a diver that neither sinks...
DiscoverE
Slinky® Science
Toys are great for learning about physics. Scholars use Slinky® toys to study Newton's laws of motion and types of energy. After a little play, they then model longitudinal and transverse waves with the Slinky® toys.
DiscoverE
Build a Straw Bridge
Build teamwork skills while building a bridge. Scholars work together in groups to create a bridge out of 20 straws and tape. There is a minimum span length of 25 centimeters, but otherwise, let creativity run wild.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
The Pinch Test
Test your pupils' understanding of the scale from macro to atomic. While displaying images of different materials, learners identify what they would need to make that material visible. Their choices range from the human eye to an...
Curated OER
Sediment Sleuths
Are you looking for a good, solid lesson on sedimentary rocks? This one, produced by the Illinois State Museum, is just such a lesson. Middle schoolers identify common rocks and minerals by analyzing sediments from local water sources....
Teach Engineering
You Are There... First Flight
Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...
Curated OER
The Scientific Revolution
Scientists participate in studying how new scientific advances have changed the world. They explain how astronomers have changed the way people view the universe, summarize the advances that were made in chemistry and medicine, and...