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Air and Water Pressure
Students examine buoyancy and fluid pressure. They conduct a series of fun experiments to discover the effects of pressure and explore how pressure differences can be used to float, lift, transport, or hold a material in place.
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Electricity
Students examine basic electrical components. They build a simple electrical circuit which rings a buzzer. They experiment with conducting and nonconducting materials.
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Technology of the Deep: Experiments with Buoyant Forces
Students conduct a series of experiments to study the effects of temperature and salinity on the buoyancy of an object in water. They devise ways to make floating and sinking objects neutrally buoyant.
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Calibrating a Roverbot
High schoolers build and program a Lego Mindstorms Roverbot to travel for a given amount of time. They gather data on time versus distance traveled to determine a calibration constant for their robot, which relates time to distance.
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Simple Machines - Inclined Plane
Pupils learn the fundamentals and daily applications of simple machines.
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Design a Running Shoe for a Triathlete
Students examine the design and construction of athletic footwear. They analyze the magnitude and directions of forces on the foot and leg in different sports, interview people, and design a running shoe for a triathlete.
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Naturally Speaking
Students identify the Earth's natural resources and classify them as renewable or non-renewable. They simulate the distribution of resources and discuss the fairness and effectiveness of the distribution. They identify ways that they use...
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Portable Sundial
Middle schoolers work together to identify the accuracy of sundials. They track the position of the sun and create a shadow plot. They discover the difference between real time and clock time.
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Toddler's Delight
Students are challenged to design a toy or something that can attach to a toddler's car seat to help distract them during long car trips. Students research toddler toys prior to beginning the design process in order to determine the...
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Build a Better Bouncer
Students experiment with silly putty. In this chemical changes lesson students work in groups, perform tests and collect data.
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Mass vs. Weight
Students explore physical science by conducting a measurement experiment. In this mass lesson, students identify the differences between mass and weight and define a list of other vocabulary terms. Students utilize electronic scales and...
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Design a Paraplegic Equestrian Saddle
Students investigate a problem and background information including the typical capabilities /limitations of a paraplegic. They develop an understanding of the attributes of engineering design.
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Paper Structures
Students demonstrate that material strength varies with shape and arrangement.
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Parachutes And Parafoils
Students study deceleration devices like parachutes and parafoils.
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Aerodynamics of Cycling
High schoolers study aerodynamic forces - lift and drag - and see how those forces affect cycling performance. They see how those forces are calculated and how
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Aerodynamics of a Boomerang
Students examine how aerodynamic forces affect the flight of aircraft, animals and sports balls and projectiles (like a javelin or boomerang). They discover the origins of the boomerang and early usage in hunting.
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Motion Capture and Analysis
Students investigate the concepts and relationships of speed, displacement and time. They capture the serve motion of a tennis player via video or digital camera and analyze the speed of the ball and racquet head.
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SLIME!
Young scholars learn the effects of friction and examine how certain lubricants can only be used with certain materials.
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RESISTANCE IS FUTILE
Students explore friction and use objects such as coins and marbles to study the concept.
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LEGO Construction Basics-Axles and Wheels
Students examine axles and wheels using LEGO materials. They investigate the uses of axles, gears, and wheels.
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Building A Sturdy Car
Students build a sturdy Lego car using a motor and a pulley. They determine how sturdy the car is by dropping it from the height of the teacher's knee.
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Friction and Machines
Fifth graders experimentally determine the relationship of friction to the functioning of machines. They demonstrate that rollers can decrease frictional force and increase speed and research to discover other ways that friction can be...