Teach Engineering
Exploring Energy: What Is Energy?
...Then the water heater exploded like a bomb. Using a video of an exploding water heater, the resource presents the definitions of energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy to be used in later lessons of the unit.
Teach Engineering
Pushing it Off a Cliff
Focus on the conservation of energy, specifically looking at gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, with a lecture that involves having friends throw light objects at each other to determine which has more kinetic energy and...
Curated OER
TE Lesson: Kinetic and Potential Energy of Motion
Middle schoolers investigate the difference between potential and kinetic energy. They examine the formulae associated with both types of energy. They complete how quickly a pendulum with swing by converting potential energy into kinetic...
Curated OER
Bouncing Superball Physics
Ninth graders experiment with bouncing balls to investigate the elasticity coefficient of different sizes and types of balls. In this superball physics lesson, 9th graders bounce various types of balls from differing heights. They...
Curated OER
Introduction to Work
Fifth graders define work, force, and energy and calculate work done using a simple formula. They observe the teacher using an Equi-beam and identify the fulcrum, calculate different work problems, and participate in a class discussion.
Virginia Department of Education
The Rate of a Chemical Reaction
If your pupils think a catalyst is a list of their cats, then this might be the lesson for you! Young chemists study the effect of temperature, catalysts, concentration, and particle size on reaction rates during four different...
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
Lou-Vee-Air Car
Who said teaching a STEM lesson had to be challenging? Incorporate a career and technology-centered car build into your upcoming force lesson plan, and your class will be moving down the road in no time! Pupils practice...
Curated OER
Newton's Laws
Students examine and discuss Newton's Laws and discover his contribution to physics. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they much apply the Laws to the world around them. They describe contact and conservative forces...
Curated OER
Kepler's Second Law
Young scholars gain an understanding of Kepler's 2nd law--that planets (and satellites) move fastest at their closest approach to the center of attraction, and slow down when far away. They explore the concepts of "potential energy" and...
Curated OER
Kepler's Second Law
Students explore orbital velocities and how they vary along each orbit, according to Kepler's Second Law.
Curated OER
Harnessing the Wind for Electricity
Ninth graders explain how wind can produce electricity. In this geometry instructional activity, 9th graders construct their own pin wheel turbine and calculate its power. They discuss the pros and cons of using wind generator.
Curated OER
Comparing Notes: a Mathematical Exploration of the Piano
Students examine the history of equal temperament, the modern standard of tuning a piano. Proportion calculations of octaves and perfect fifths are utilized to calculate the frequency of each note in a major scale.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Flight to Mars: How Long? Along What Path?
Demonstrate how, with the use of orbital mechanics, a space mission to Mars can be planned. Using no more than algebra, Kepler's laws and the formula for the energy of an object in a Kepler orbit, the exercise derives the time for an...