Students spend this lesson discovering how electricity makes the appliances in their kitchen operate. In groups, they explain how energy is being converted in a microwave oven and practice giving others directions to how to use them. ...

Class members build a machine to demonstrate Lenz's law and help this scientific principle come to life. After building a ring fling machine, instructions for properly operating the machine and a few thought-provoking questions lead to...

Students investigate the muscle system operating in the kick of a ball. The order in which the six muscle groups contract is noted as the movement is produced by the contraction of opposing muscles required to move a limb in opposing...

Students explore magnets through the five lessons of this unit. The everyday uses of magnets and an awareness of magnetic attraction form the basis of the skills presented in these lessons.

Students are able to answer basic questions about the process of turning light energy into electrical energy. They are introduced to the basic physics and chemistry behind the operation of a solar cell. Students explore how a single...

Learners, after reviewing and analyzing Newton's third law of motion, make balloon rockets and experiment with a variety of models. After the experiment, they chart the results and form conclusions. In addition, they compare/contrast...

If a car gets heavier, it goes farther? By running an activity several times, teams experience Newton's Second Law of Motion. The teams vary the amount of weight they catapult off a wooden block car and record the distance the...

A wonderfully rich presentation teaches about magnets and magnetism. Each slide is packed with interesting information on the discovery, history, physics, and uses for magnets. Good photographs, and an emphasis on vocabulary are part of...

What is a watt? This tongue-twisting, mind-bending question and others are answered through this lesson on the different lighting options available. With the support of a PowerPoint, teach your physical science class about units of...

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

Display seven items for your biologists to consider. Are they living or non-living? How can you tell? This is a simple outline of what you can display and questions that can be discussed as this topic is explored. One way to use this...

Learners identify and describe the poles of a magnet. They demonstrate how the poles interact with one another.

Fourth graders discover the principles and uses of gears noting that they can be used to change the direction of motion or the speed of an object. They may also change the force and/or distance through which an object turns. They then...

Students investigate how rocks are modified into construction materials. In this building up and breaking down lesson plan, students explore what happens to building materials over time and how people modify natural materials. Students...

For this STEREO satellites worksheet, students are given a chart with the intensity of the signals from the satellites received on Earth and the distances of the satellite from Earth. Students convert the intensity at each distance to...

In this physics worksheet, learners solve 12 problems on DC motor circuit. They make predictions and construct the corresponding circuit to verify if they are correct.

Students weigh objects using a triple beam balance. In this mass lesson, students use an inertial balance made with a metal rod to measure and graph vibrations of varying numbers of pennies in a bucket. References and discussion prompts...

Students visit a web page that gives a brief introduction to two color models and experiment with mixing different color intensities to create different colors. They visit links that give more detailed information on color.

Students examine the concepts of balanced forces, unbalanced forces, and resulting net forces. They participate in a force and motion demonstration by pushing students in various directions, and calculating and identifying the resulting...

Students investigate how to make a lever. In this construction lesson plan, students explore how to construct a lever using dog and tail templates, cardboard, and fasteners. Students construct their simple machine in order to learn about...

Students complete analysis activities to compare and contrast an opposing view point in writing and orally. In this opposing views lesson, students complete research about cloning. Students make presentations for their view points on the...

Students explore naturally magnetic elements. In this magnets lesson, students examine the periodic table of elements. Students discover the parts of an atom and determine which three elements are magnetic.

Students visualize the relationship between acceleration and velocity as they maneuver a model spaceship in a 2-dimensional applet.

Students explore electrophoresis, a technique used to isolate DNA. They assemble a gel chamber for separating mixtures. Students observe separation influenced by electric charge. They define separation through gel electrophoresis.