Curated OER
I'm Inclined to See
Students examine motion of a sphere on an inclined plane. In this inclined plane lesson students complete an activity to discover basic relationships.
Curated OER
Bobsled Challange
Students investigate the effects of materials on the friction between a "bobsled" and the track. They explore the effects of weight on the motion of the bobsled. Students design a bobsled for either fast or slow movement. They discuss...
Curated OER
Hang Time
Students use the equation to calculate the vertical distance an object fall during 1 second in 1/10 second increments. (The acceleration due to gravity on the Earth=a= 9.8 m/s2) Using a graphing calculator, students plot the path of a...
Curated OER
Amusement Park Physics
Students get up close and personal with principles of motion. In this physics lesson, students collect and analyze acceleration data on amusement park rides. Students use CBLs to collect data in this lesson.
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Motion in a Circle
Students explore uniform circular motion, and the relation of its frequency of N revolutions/sec with the peripheral velocity v and with the rotation period T. They examine how uniform circular motion is a type of accelerated motion.
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How Mass Affects the Speed of a Coaster Car
Students determine what factors affect the speed of the car. In this physics lesson, students calculate speed, velocity and acceleration from experimental data. They construct and interpret motion graphs.
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Newton's Laws and Winter Sports
Young scholars investigate past winter Olympic games utilizing any skiing or snowboarding event to take Newton's Challenge. Helpful Web resources are provided and students enjoy learning science laws along with researching Olympic events.
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Perpetual Motion
High schoolers are introduced to the concept of Energy Conservation with the example of: Tony Hawk seems to defy the conservation of energy as he keeps reaching new heights on each pass on the halk-pipe. Actually, Tony is supplying the...
Kenan Fellows
Man vs. Beast: Approximating Derivatives using Human and Animal Movement
What does dropping a ball look like as a graph? An engaging activity asks learners to record a video of dropping a ball and uploading the video to software for analysis. They compare the position of the ball to time and calculate the...
Curated OER
I'm Inclined to See; Physics, Math, Science, Experiments, Graphs
High schoolers discover the motion of a sphere on an inclined plane and discover basic relationships involving distance, time, speed(velocity), and acceleration.
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Building a Roller Coaster
Students describe the law of conservation of energy. They identify the conversion between potential and kinetic energy. They investigate and describe the application of Newton's Laws of Motion.
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May The Fastest Toy Win
Young scholars determine which wind-up toy is the fastest. However, they can NOT race the toys. They must find another way. On the first day of the activity, students work in pairs or small groups to develop and write a plan.
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Walking on Water
High schoolers use this problem to help them to relate to force vectors: Suspend a meterstick horizontally between two tables. Place a 1kg mass in the middle of the meterstick. Notice the bend of the meterstick. Explain why the...
Curated OER
Force/Newton's Laws/Friction
Young scholars describe how to recognize a force, define balanced and net forces, state Newton's first law of motion, explain why friction works, state Newton's second Law of Motion, and explain why the direction of force is important.
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Arc of Ball To Make Basket
Students examine the mathematical relationship in scoring a basket. They observe the arc of the ball as it travels to the basket from different points on the floor.
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The Way Things Fall
High schoolers see that light and heavy objects fall at the same rate, as established experimentally by Galileo. They see that falling objects, and balls rolling down an incline, tend to accelerate at a constant rate a. Their velocity...
Curated OER
Bouncing Ball Experiment
Students collect data for a bouncing ball and select one bounce to analyze. They explore the relationship between velocity, position and acceleration. They seek out connections between the graphs and the physical motion of the ball.
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You Drive Me crazy
Students calculate the distance and acceleration of an object. In this algebra lesson plan, students collect data and create table and graphs to analyze it. They complete a lab as they collect and analyze data on acceleration and distance.
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Newton's Laws
Students give examples of each of Newton's three laws as they occur in everyday experiences. They visually represent and differentiate the difference between a direct proportion and an inverse proportion. Students explain how the...
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Construction and Use of an Accelerometer
Eighth graders, in groups, study acceleration and build an accelerometer.
Curated OER
Frames of Reference: The Basics
Students learn the concept of frames of reference in physics. They examine how two frames of reference, each moving with respect to the other with a constant velocity v (constant speed, constant direction).
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Big Wheels Keep on Turning
Eleventh graders work in groups and investigate how force determines the speed and distance then they view the video, "Math Vantage #7: What's Your Angle?." They are given a real life problem to solve using speed, ramps, angle, incline...
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Bungee Man Lab
Students explore the motion of a toy bungee jumper using the scientific method. They view a video of a bungee jumper and discuss what can be measured about a bungee jump. Students discuss the scientific mehtod and how to design an...
Curated OER
Matter and Energy
Young scholars explore energy by completing a science worksheet in class. In this principles of matter activity, students define the vocabulary terms force, gravity, nuclear, and electromagnetic before reading assigned text about energy....