Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hot Friction

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders use small electronic devices known as thermistors to measure the temperature beneath an object such as a coffee cup as it slides across a surface. By choosing different surfaces, 6th graders can compare in a quantitative...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Speed of a Wave

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students create an experiment in which they measure the speed of a wave and record the data in a graph. They work in small groups to write the procedure for the experiment and share it with another group for cross checking of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Help! I'm Under Too Much Pressure!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students play with a ping pong ball sized piece of modeling clay observing what happens to the clay as they play with it and write their observations in their notebooks. They share the results of their observations introducing the term...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Velocity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students determine the average speed of a toy car as it travels six different distances set up by Students. Three trials are done for each distance. The only requirements is that the longest distance must be at least three times longer...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physical Pendulum Lab

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students calculate the moment of inertia of a disc. In this physics lesson, students differentiate the two methods used in finding the inertia. They construct their own pendulum for the lab.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigation of Hooke's Law Lab

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students determine the spring constant by conducting an investigation. In this physics lesson, students collect data and create a graph of force vs. displacement. They compare the results of two different methods to find spring constant.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deceleration of a Toy Truck

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders complete labs using toy trucks to study deceleration, record thier data, and then transfer it to graphing software to produce a graph. They create a lab report of the completed lab using a word processing program.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Skyscraper Capers

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Pupils discuss skyscrapers and listen as the teacher introduces the project. They use the Internet to perform research on one skyscraper. Students use information they gather to create a brochure of their building . They create an Excel...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking into Eratosthenes' Radius of the Earth

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers, in small groups, research Eratosthenes and his calculations of the Earth's radius. They write a summary of the person, the experiments and his calculations to determine how accurate Eratosthenes was in his estimations of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Unit Circle

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers relate the trigonometric functions to the coordinates of the unit circle. They classify trigonometric functions as odd or even. Students determine the signs of trigonometric functions in each quadrant. They are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's 2nd Law

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders discuss Newton's Second Law of Motion, and the acceleration of fast and slow moving objects. They experiment with items with different masses to determine the effect mass has on acceleration using a toy car. They complete...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Did You Catch My Drift?

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students, through the use of the Curveball interactive software package, become familiar with the way in which the flow of air across or around an object affects its ability to lift, spin, and curve. After reading the explanation given...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Propulsion Pop!

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners demonstrate an understanding of the text by completing a propulsion activity, charting the results, and answering questions that demonstrate an understanding of rocket propulsion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using FoilSim to Measure Your Elevation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars, after designing model wings, demonstrate an understanding of wing design by testing models of the wing types both experimentally and by computer modeling in FoilSim and then presenting their results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Good Vibrations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars demonstrate sound waves and make changes in the waves resulting in changes in pitch. Students associate changes in pitch in various "musical instruments"with size and shape and the sound waves they produce.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cosmic Ray Momentum

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students describe how cosmic rays achieve high kinetic energy via conservation of momentum.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pendulum 2

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students use math to help them discover the movement of a pendulum.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Unit Circle

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young scholars relate the trigonometric functions to the coordinates of the unit circle with access to explorelearning.com. They determine the signs of trigonometric functions in each quadrant.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Worksheet 19

For Students 6th - Higher Ed
In this math worksheet, students use the following descriptions of a spring system to write a differential equation of the form my + γy + ky = F(x).
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wind Gauges

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students use FoilSim interactive software to become familiar with the way in which the flow of air across or around an airfoil affects its ability to create lift.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Analyzing Forces and Motion Graphs by Riding an Elevator

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A high school physics lab on classical mechanics in which students study force versus time and acceleration versus time. Students need access to an elevator to complete the experiments. A lab handout is provided.
Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Irwin and Ruthie

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about the relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration for two objects in one-dimensional motion. Experiment with varying approaches to the race for both Irwin and Ruthie to see how...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Motion Graphing Speed

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this introduction to motion activity, students will get a personal understanding of speed and acceleration by experiencing it firsthand. Wheeled office chairs or other cart like devices are used to give one student a ride as a fellow...
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Kinematics: Graphical Analysis of One Dimensional Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
By the end of this section, you will be able to describe a straight-line graph in terms of its slope and y-intercept, determine average velocity or instantaneous velocity from a graph of position vs. time, determine average or...