Students use this introductory lab using a tennis racquet, however it is very difficult to study because of the strings and the racquet stretch so little and so quickly during a match that students were unable to make simple...

Students add a gear system to a car they built out of K'NEX parts in a previous lesson. After the gear system is added, a rubber band power system is added to the car in order to propel the car.

Take a marble out for a roll. Using a section of flexible tubing, pupils build a roller coaster that will allow for a marble to act as the car. Learners create a loop, hill, and jump in their coasters by taping the tubing to different...

How high will it bounce? Groups determine the height different balls bounce off of different surfaces. By performing the necessary calculations, they determine the initial and final momentum of the balls. The included worksheet provides...

Teams design and build a windmill, under budget, that can lift an object. The groups evaluate and reflect on their own design, then on those produced by other teams. The goal is to determine which design is the most...

Think bungee jumping looks scary? Knowing the science behind bungee jumping might make it less so. Using an egg and rubber bands, young engineers model bungee jumping. They test the distances that the egg falls for different numbers of...

You'll bounce off the walls with glee after finding a fun resource. Young engineers design trampolines for golf balls. They build and test out their design and make improvements based on the results.

Get your learners interested in space exploration. Groups design space rovers using design software and then build prototypes of their designs. The farther the rovers can travel, the better. The catch? The rovers must be powered by...

Class, start your engines. Future engineers design a car with old CDs as wheels. The power source? Some rubber bands will do the trick! This is the first installment of a five-part series.

Create egg drop soup. Teachers first set up eggs that are held up above cups of water with a piece of cardboard and cardboard tubes. Learners try to determine a way to get the eggs to drop into the cups. Using a broom, the instructor...

Students make a bungee cord. In this potential and kinetic energy lesson, students work in groups to create a bungee cord for an egg. Students evaluate and test their cord. After performing the experiment the students answer...

Students investigate conservation laws using a potato launcher. In this physics lesson, students measure angles, time and distance of the potato. They discuss applications of experiments like this.

Students discover the science behind a tennis racket by looking at a simple toy that works in a similar way. After looking at the related mathematical equations, students experiment with the simple toy to find the spring constant k by...

Eighth graders engage in a variety of activities in order to investigate the basic concepts of physics. They read and answer questions in a written text. This is only one type of activity that is part of many others.

Students are able to give specific examples of what to do and what not to do during given safety situations, and classify materials as metals, polymers, ceramics/glass, or composites. They are able to distinguish between chemical and...

Eighth graders distinguish between and apply Newton's Laws. They take a quiz reviewing Kinetic and Potential Energy. Students explain that they have just demonstrated Newton's three laws of motion. They also explain what forces are...

Students investigate the connection between work, potential energy, kinetic energy, and heat. In this physics lesson, students use pulleys to produce mechanical advantages and incline planes to demonstrate energy conversion.

Students define kinetic energy and know the effects of weight and speed on momentum.  In this investigative lesson students get into groups and design a roller coaster. 

Eighth graders describe the energy transformations as cars travel over a roller coaster. They explain the principle of conservation of energy as it relates to a roller coaster ride. The integration of technology is done using educational...

Young scholars calculate the escape velocity of planets in our solar system and use that knowledge to calculate the escape velocity for NGC 2300 group. They then suggest reasons for the escape velocity to be higher than possible given...

Students participate in an experiment dealing with kinetic energy. They predict which cans they believe will win the can race and why. They answer questions based on the experiment.

Students investigate the use of biomass as a fuel. They discuss energy and its uses in their homes. They explore the two types of energy, potential and kinetic and examples of both types. They study the process of photosynthesis and...

Students experiment with the bounce of balls on various surfaces. For this physics lesson, students use various surfaces to bounce balls to study the momentum. This hands-on activity with the concepts of elasticity of surfaces which is...

Intended for science instruction, this word search could be used to reinforce vocabulary. Class members find the following words: electrical, potential, heat, chemical, gravitational, kinetic, mechanical, nuclear, and radiant. While the...