NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing. 

For this universal gravitation worksheet, students answer thirteen questions using the equation for universal gravitation, and force equals mass times acceleration.

The tension of the 236 strings in a grand piano exert a combined force of 20 tons on the cast iron frame. The presentation includes topics such as work, forms of energy, conservation of energy, gravitational and elastic potential energy,...

Do you want to hear a joke about nitrogen and oxygen? NO. We all know there is oxygen in the air and that plants produce oxygen, but how was it discovered? Scholars read a handout, answer questions, and analyze material in the...

Do you weigh slightly less when an elevator first starts its descent? The simulation teaches the change in the force based on the acceleration, constant speed, or deceleration of an elevator. Scholars control the mass and acceleration...

Blast off! An engaging hands-on activity has pupils create rockets powered by Alka-Seltzer. They learn about the physics behind these rockets throughout the process.

Students calculate distance, velocity, acceleration and time on their fantasy trip to the black hold. They apply Newton's Laws of Motion and calculate circular motion. They discuss any questions that may arise.

Go around and around in your physics class with this presentation on circular motion. Diagrams bring the definition to life. Formulas for angular acceleration, centripetal force, gravitation, and potential in a radial field are given....

Your class is asked to use inverse operations to solve eleven equations for unknown variables or to rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest. By using the same reasoning as solving one- and two-step equations, algebra...

Students derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius. They derive the Earth escape velocity and prove Kepler's 3rd law for circular orbits # A simple formula for the orbital period in a circular Earth orbit of given radius.

Students calculate the radius of the earth. They use the method and data suggested by Eratosthenes. They investigate the interrelationships among mass, distance, force, and time through experimental processes.

Did you know that Marie Curie's papers, as well as her cookbook, are radioactive and stored in lead-lined boxes? Did you know that Nikola Tesla developed a death ray? Famous scientists and inventors are the subjects featured in a series...

In this Newton's second law activity, high schoolers read about force, mass and acceleration and how they relate. They solve eighteen problems using Newton's second law.

Students familiarize themselves, through teacher demonstration, with Gavendish's apparatus first used for experimentally determining the value of the Universal Gravitational Constant G, and calculate theoretical value of Earth's...

Students study gravitational force an.  For this gravitational force lesson students observe a demonstration. 

In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about the achievements of Johannes Kepler. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.

Learners use Kepler's third law to derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius, and identify the Earth escape velocity.

Students, in small groups, research Eratosthenes and his calculations of the Earth's radius. They write a summary of the person, the experiments and his calculations to determine how accurate Eratosthenes was in his estimations of the...

Fifth and sixth graders practice working in pairs to determine whether they can walk with constant speed. They test themselves, collect their data, draw graphs with their data collected, manipulate the data, and then draw conclusions...

Young scholars relate the concept of gravity to math. In this algebra lesson, students define scientific terminology relative to gravity, weight and centripetal force. They measure the different dimensions of a cylinder as they...

Students participate in assessments regarding the history of astronomy. They listen and take notes, draw a time line, draw a solar sytem designed by Ptolemy and create flashcards. They write an essay on Galileo, watch a video, take a...

Students create an experiment in which they measure the speed of a wave and record the data in a graph. They work in small groups to write the procedure for the experiment and share it with another group for cross checking of the...

Students design a roller coaster that allows a marble to run the course as fast as possible. Students create an experimental roller coaster taking into account the steepness of the hills and the sharpness of the turns. Students use a...

Students participate in assessments involving gravity, forces, and inertia. They select from a menu of options assessments they would like to complete including worksheets, drawing posters, watching videos, creating crossword puzzles,...