Worksheet
K12 Reader

Galileo and His Telescope

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Learn about Galileo Galilei's contribution to modern science with a reading passage that focuses on reading comprehension. After kids read several paragraphs about his life, they answer five questions about the information they have just...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swing in Time

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Harmonic Motion with Dr. DAQ

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students study the work and accomplishment of Galileo. In this physics lesson, students calculate the period of a pendulum's using a mathematical equation. They explain the different factors affecting its period.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swinging on a String

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release.
Article
Story Behind the Science

Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The history of the pendulum and its importance both in timekeeping, and in how timekeeping was used to solve other problems, such as determining longitude on a map.
Graphic
Rice University

Galileo Project: Galileo Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Galileo Project of Rice University contains a detailed description of Galileo's life and work on a timeline. Links are provided throughout for additional information on related subjects.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Swing in Time

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an...
Handout
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Galileo: His Experiments

For Students 9th - 10th
This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.
Article
Story Behind the Science

Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion, Time, and Shape of Earth [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Article outlining the scientific history behind the evolution of theories about measuring time based on the movement of a pendulum, and about how gravity would impact a pendulum's movement depending on one's proximity to the Earth's...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Hanging Out With Galileo

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars isolate the factors that determine the period of a pendulum, and then test their hypotheses to determine if their experimental results come close to the mathematical results.