Curated OER
Walking on Water
Students use this problem to help them to relate to force vectors: Suspend a meterstick horizontally between two tables. Place a 1kg mass in the middle of the meterstick. Notice the bend of the meterstick. Explain why the meterstick...
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...
Curated OER
Don't Slip!
Students measure, record, and graph the force of moving a block of wood along sand paper. In this friction lesson plan, students read a spring scale, collect data, construct a graph, and propose a model to explain how fiction works.
Curated OER
Using Graphs to Compare
Pupils use the FoilSim computer simulation program, and demonstrate an understanding of the lift variables by explaining their graphical representations. They demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion.
K20 LEARN
Ace in the Hole
How does inertia affect an object's trajectory? After watching a video on safety belt use, pupils discuss the notions of inertia. Using their knowledge, individuals try to drop a ball on a target while running, and classmates observe the...
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
Acceleration, Drag, Gravity, Motion, Forces, and Friction
Eighth graders build and run mousetrap cars in order to measure distance, time, and mass for their cars. They use these measurements to calculate average speed and kinetic energy, then create a slide show to visually explain how the car...
Curated OER
Pendulum Motion
Students explore questions which cannot be handled with simple pendulums, and examine both the usefulness and the limitations of approximations in science. A Java applet created from a Stella model is included.
Curated OER
Seeing Mathematics in the Forces of Nature
Students study waves and their characteristics. In this wave activity students calculate the speed of waves, wavelength and the period.
Curated OER
Aircraft vs. Spacecraft
High schoolers investigate differences between aircraft and spacecraft, and the differences in propulsion systems. They build pinwheel airplanes and balloon rockets. An interactive activity quizzes students on thrust.
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus Taking Flight
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students see how gliders coast by exploring the way different paper objects fall to the ground.
Curated OER
Matter in Motion
Second graders examine matter, what it is and what the different states are. In this matter activity students view The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule and answer questions.
Curated OER
Leonardo Lives
Students investigate the concepts of force and motion. They describe how motion is created by force. Also students define a simple machine and the factors of application to creating force or motion. They analyze the plans of Leonardo De...
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Newton's Second Law of Motion
Sixth graders study Newton's second law of motion and verify it. In this force and motion lesson students complete a lab activity and collect data, analyze it and graph it.
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Jungle Gym Drop
Students drop a variety of objects from a jungle gym to explore how different shapes, sizes, and masses relate to forces and motion.
Curated OER
Terminal Velocity
Students calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
STEM: Lou-Vee Air Car
A comprehensive activity on acceleration awaits your physicists and engineers! Two YouTube videos pique their interest, then sample F=ma problems are worked and graphed. The highlight of the activity is the building of a Lou-Vee air car!...
Curated OER
Qualitative Aspects of Rotational Dynamics
Explanations for six different physics lab activities and five suggested assessments are contained in this resource by the National Science Teachers Association. Any combination can be used to open learners' eyes to rotational motion....
Curated OER
Hooke's Law, Vibrations, Mechanical Waves, and Sound
Dangle a spring to experiment with vibration and discover if period is dependent on amplitude. Strum a guitar and adjust the strings to compare displacement and sound. Use a Slinky® and guitar strings on a ring stand to uncover the...
Curated OER
Medieval Catapults
Students design and build a working catapult or trebuchet to explore the concepts of force, motion, and distance.
Curated OER
Rock-A-Bye Pendulum
Third graders analyze the effects of force on an object in motion and its relationship to a change in speed. This lesson uses a pendulum to demonstrate the principle.
Curated OER
Physics and Me
Sixth graders compare and contrast mass and weight. In this physics lesson, 6th graders calculate speed given distance and time information. They construct a rocket and relate this to Newton's 3rd Law of motion.
Curated OER
Vectors
Young scholars are introduced to the bridge building challenge. They perform two labs and work in small groups to finish the vector worksheet. Students review vector additions. They then move onto the Forces on an Inclined Plane Lab. ...
Curated OER
Newton's Laws
Students experiment with and analyze moving objects and explain their motion in relation to Newton's Laws of Motion. Students then work with partners to design and construct cars that are powered by balloons.