Curated OER
Energy Conservation Games
Students become acquainted with the first law of thermodynamics, which concerns the conservation of energy as it is transformed from one form to another. They identify forms of energy, and devices or processes that transform energy from...
LABScI
Projectiles: Target Practice
Angry Birds prepared them, but now pupils must prove their skills with projectiles! Scholars test different variables to determine which ones impact the distance the projectile flies. The experiment provides connections to kinetic and...
Curated OER
Gas Pressure, Volume, and Temperature
Physical science learners conduct a simple experiment using the heat of their hands to affect the fluid pressure. They place a balloon atop a freezing cold bottle and observe what occurs as it warms up. Both activities demonstrate how...
NASA
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
Science is magic that works. Magical color-changing beads and a coffee can that follows voice commands are just two examples of magic tricks that rely on science. After completing a hands-on activity and an experiment investigating the...
Kenan Fellows
Sensors in Chemistry
The Environmental Protection Agency monitors sensors to track air pollution and set clean air standards. Enthusiastic young scientists use similar sensors to gather data in their area and then apply the gas laws and conservation of...
Curated OER
Energy Transformation
Students identify different kinds of energy such as heat energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and magnetic energy. They investigate the concept of conservation of energy.
Curated OER
The Sum of All Thrills
Learners make a bungee cord. In this potential and kinetic energy instructional activity, students work in groups to create a bungee cord for an egg. Learners evaluate and test their cord. After performing the experiment the students...
Weebly
Definitions of Conduction, Convection, and Radiation
There's quite a bit in this physical science packet. First, how is heat transferred? Learners read a brief explanation of conduction, convection, and radiation before identifying common occurrences (with pictures) as one of the three....
Colorado State University
If Hot Air Rises, Why Is it Cold in the Mountains?
Investigate the relationship between temperature and pressure. Learners change the pressure of a sample of air and monitor its temperature. They learn that as air decreases its pressure, its thermal energy converts to kinetic energy.
Curated OER
Bounce Back - The Long and Short of It
Upper elementary scientists test basketballs with differing amounts of air to find if inflation affects bounce height. The lesson introduction poses the question of whether or not the composition of a ball determines bounce height, but...
Teach Engineering
Making Moon Craters
Create an egg-citing study of energy. Pupils investigate the effect of height and mass on the overall amount of energy of a falling object. The fourth segment in a six-part series on energy uses a weighted egg falling from different...
Teach Engineering
Ramp and Review (for High School)
Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform several...
PHET
Masses and Springs
Have you ever stretched out a Slinkie so much it wouldn't go back to its original shape? Slinkies, like all springs, follow Hooke's Law. A simulation uses springs and masses to demonstrate kinetic, potential, and thermal energy. It...
It's About Time
States of Matter: Solid, Liquid, and Gas
Solid, liquid, and gas: they all matter. Scholars create an animation of the various states of matter, experiment with the temperature of water as it changes states, and observe carbon dioxide as it changes states. The lesson also...
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
Curated OER
How Hard is Chocolate?
Students conduct an experiment mimicking a hardness test. They determine the hardness of chocolate bars. Students examine indentations to determine the hardness of chocolate bar and infer reasons for the differences in hardness. They...
Curated OER
DOWNHILL DISCOVERIES
Learners studykinetic energy, friction, drag and acceleration by relating it to the Winter Olympics. In this physical properties lesson students create tracks and determine how the course conditions affect bobsled, luge and downhill ski...
Curated OER
Kinetics Homework Problem Set
In this chemistry worksheet, learners determine the reaction rate as specified for each in seconds. Then they determine the activation energy for the reaction and preexponential factor as stated. Students also determine the concentration...
Curated OER
Breaking Energy
Pupils experiment with the amount of work required to break a piece of wood by hanging masses from a string attached to a thin dowel of wood. At the completion of activity, students calculate if a fast moving hand could break the dowel.
Curated OER
Bombs Away!
Students design and build a device to protect and accurately deliver a dropped egg. They review and study a number of vocabulary words that are associated with this instructional activity. They work in a small group in order to develop...
Curated OER
Kinetic and Potential Energy
Students calculate kinetic and potential energy in the lab. In this physics lesson, students demonstrate how energy can be transformed from one form to another. They collect data from the experiment and write a detailed lab report.
Curated OER
Kinetics Challenge Problem
In this kinetics worksheet, students use date from two experiments to determine the reaction order, calculate the rate constant and activation energy, and predict the mechanism for the reaction. This worksheet has 7 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Energy Conversion
Students describe how energy can be transformed from one form to another. In this physics lesson, students calculate kinetic and potential energy using mathematical equations. They give real life applications of this lesson.
Curated OER
Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...