Lesson Plan
University of Florida

Florida Museum of Natural History: Physical Science

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This guide focuses on four physical science topics that fascinate children and scientists alike. They are motion, magnets, sound, and light. With your guidance and support, these topics provide children with many opportunities to explore...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Swing Low: Investigate the Motion of a Pendulum

For Students 3rd - 5th
Kids love to ride the swings at the playground. The back-and-forth motion of a swing demonstrates the physics of a pendulum. In this experiment, you will investigate the factors that affect the speed and duration of a pendulum's swing.
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Other

Bscs: Forces and Motion Content Background Document

For Teachers K - 1st
In this document, we will try to answer a fundamental question of physical science, "Why do things start to move, slow down, speed up, stop moving or change direction?" In answering these core questions we can develop concepts that can...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Distance and Constant Acceleration

For Students 9th - 10th
This project is an experiment in classical physics. You'll be following in Galileo's footsteps, and investigating Newton's laws of motion, using a metronome as your timing device. This resource will help you get a firm understanding of...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Distance and Speed of Rolling Objects

For Students 9th - 10th
This project is an experiment in classical physics. You'll be following in Galileo's footsteps, and investigating Newton's laws of motion, but you'll be taking advantage of modern video recording technology to make your measurements. The...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Centripetal Force

For Students 3rd - 5th
What keeps you in your seat of a giant loop-de-loop roller coaster? Surprisingly, it is not the seatbelt but the seat. It works because of something called centripetal force and it does much more than make a great roller coaster. In this...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Paintball Ballistics

For Students 9th - 10th
In this science fair project, use a paintball gun to compare the calculated vs. the actual range of a projectile. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction, followed...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Science of Swinging

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students learn what a pendulum is and how it works in the context of amusement park rides. While exploring the physics of pendulums, they are also introduced to Newton's first law of motion - about continuous motion and inertia.
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Career Profile: Film and Video Editor

For Students 9th - 10th
After the cameras roll, someone has to spruce up the film and cut out what is unnecessary to make the story flow well. That's the job of the film editor. Read this Science Buddies career profile to find out the skills you need as well as...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Roller Coaster Marbles: How Much Height to Loop the Loop?

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a really fun project even if you don't like going on roller coasters yourself. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much of an initial drop is required to get...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Hey Gear Heads! The Physics of Bicycle Gear Ratios

For Students 9th - 10th
Here's an abstract of a project from Science Buddies that asks you to experiment with bicycle gears and the circumference of the wheel to determine revolutions per minute.
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Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Force

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about force in the science of physics and the laws of motion including units and measurement. How to calculate force from mass and acceleration.
Handout
Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Speed and Velocity

For Students 4th - 8th
Kids learn about speed and velocity in the science of physics and the laws of motion including units and measurement. What is the difference between speed and velocity?
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Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Work

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about work in the science of physics and the laws of motion including units and measurement. Calculate work using force times distance.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: 8 Albert Einstein Inventions That Impacted the World

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the refrigerator invented by Einstein and many of his discoveries in physics.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: The Accomplishments of Isaac Newton

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the life of Isaac Newton and his many accomplishments in physics, mathematics, optics, and religious study, and how his discoveries helped in space research.
Unit Plan
Vision Learning

Visionlearning: General Science: Energy: An Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
Instructional module focusing on energy. Discussion includes forms of energy, conservation of energy, and the laws of thermodynamics. Site also includes an interactive practice quiz and links relating to the topic.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Acceleration

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about acceleration in the science of physics and the laws of motion including units and measurement. How to calculate it from the change in velocity over the change in time.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Understanding the Gyroscopic Effect

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains what a gyroscope is and the physics behind how it works.
Activity
Michigan Reach Out

Newton's Apple: Soccer

For Students 9th - 10th
Learning physics can help you win your next soccer game as well as prepare you for your science studies.
Activity
Other

Puhinui School: The Atoms Family: The Mummy's Tomb: Raceways

For Students 3rd - 8th
Help the Mummy build a rollercoaster to entertain the Atoms Family monsters by investigating the concepts of kinetic and potential energy.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Colliding Spheres

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lab activity from the Illinois Institute of Technology lets students investigate the impact of collisions upon the velocity and momentum of the colliding objects. Requires understanding of vectors.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Objects Race

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this lesson plan grab a slope and different objects. Roll the objects down the slope and record which is the fastest. Learners analyze the features of the objects that make them slow or fast.