Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inertial Mass, Weight, and Newton's Second Law of Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The stage is set for you to guide future physicists through three forceful activities about motion. In the first, learners experiment with rolling carts to discover how objects interact. In the second, they inspect images of an object in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Laws and Rocketball

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars investigate Newton's Three Laws. For this Newton's Law lesson, students write the laws in their own words. Young scholars then do an experiment with a ping pong ball. Students drop the ball from a set distance and record...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forces and Newton's Three Laws

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students watch demonstrations of forces and Newton's Three Laws. For this forces lesson, students watch four demonstrations and complete the associated worksheets associated with Newton's Laws. There is a PowerPoint that can be accessed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forces and Newton's Laws Unit

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students participate in lessons on Forces and Newton's Laws by selecting activities and assignments to complete in a Layer Unit. Students select assignments and activities in the C Level, B Level, and A Level.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Hat Trick

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers are challenged to develop skits illustrating each of Newton's three laws of motion. They are asked to identify examples of Newton's laws in sports. Students are asked how does Newton's third law allow a runner to run?
Lesson Plan
NASA

Two Versions of Gravity: Newton and Einstein

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
We have all heard the debate about teaching both theories, but an innovative lesson takes the discussion to a new level. Scholars research and debate Newton's Law of Gravitation versus Einstein's General Theory of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of Skateboarding

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are able to analyze gravity as an universal force. They are able to determine how the force of friction retards motion. Students are able to apply Newton's Laws of Motion ot the way the world works.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Terminal Velocity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Airboats

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Don't let the resource blow you away. Scholars build airboats from basic materials and collect data on how far the boats move. They refine their designs taking Newton's laws into consideration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Legendary Raptors

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Relaxing with Impulse

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Pupils discuss Newton's second law of motion in terms of momentum and impulse using examples of landing on concrete versus dirt if you were to jump off an elevated platform or football players wearing protective padding. Mathematical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walking on Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton in Motion Project

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students investigate Newton's Third Law of Motion as it exits in real world applications. They watch as the teacher makes a simple balloon powered car before explaining how the motion of the car demonstrates Newton's Third Law of Motion....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motion Experiment

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students experiment with the laws of motion. In this motion lesson plan, students explore Newton's Laws of Motion. Students work in groups experimenting with different objects and observing different types of motion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Waterskiing in Circles

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars discuss and give examples of Newton's three laws. They then answer questions in reference to Newton's three laws. One example of the questions that students answer is: A water-skier typically uses a 75 foot tow rope. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Earthquake

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students discuss Newton's 2nd and 3rd laws using the example of a football linebacker and a small child pushing against each other on an ice rink. Students are able to visualize the results of the push and link it to the laws. Discussion...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planet Paths: Studying Planetary Orbital Paths

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners define and identify planetary orbit, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola, and simulate Kepler's Second Law. They explore interactive websites demonstrating orbital motion and complete modeling activities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocket Me into Space

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students engage in a lesson that reinforces rockets as a vehicle that helps us explore outside the Earth's atmosphere by using the principles of Newton's third law of motion. Also, the principles that engineers deal with when building a...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Alka-Seltzer Rockets

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Third Law

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students describe an everyday situation which demonstrates Newton's Third Law. They state Newton's Third Law;"Every action has an equal and opposite re-action, or every force has an equal and opposite force" in their own words. ...
Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

The Rate of Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How much time does it take to jump over three balloons? Pupils calculate the speed of tasks that require different motions. They determine motions for tasks such as walking, skipping, hopping, and jumping before creating a...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Kinesthetic Astronomy: Mars Opposition Dance

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Your class will watch as one child orbits the sun as Earth, while another orbits as Mars. If the timing is right, they will see the repetitive dance between the two planets and discover how often they are opposite from each other. For...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cosmic Ray Momentum

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students describe how cosmic rays achieve high kinetic energy via conservation of momentum.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breathing Victory

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Pupils discuss anaerobic respiration and how it relates to sprinting. After discussion of related processes, students create a brochure that explains the complex processes behind every muscular interaction.