Students demonstrate the attraction of small pieces of paper to a charged plastic rod and conduct experiment with other objects to determine whether they can hold a charge. They then use online applets to apply their experiments to...

Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM instructional activity. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in...

Focus on the conservation of energy, specifically looking at gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, with a lecture that involves having friends throw light objects at each other to determine which has more kinetic energy and...

Geology beginners examine three different rock samples and determine their origin by their characteristics. By making and recording observations, they become familiar with features of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types....

Eighth graders discuss the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They study artwork of various sculptors showing the concept of flight. They write a paragraph and design a papier-mache' sculpture that shows movement.

Eighth graders create a surrealistic composition that depicts flight.

Second graders discover that people can connect the dots of the stars to make pictures in the sky and have been doing so for thousands of years. They understand that throughout the United States people worked together to plan an escape...

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...

High schoolers investigate the refraction properties of gelatin to calculate its index of refraction. They discover that as the light travels through the gelatin, its speed and wavelength also change. Students find th indes of refraction...

Students read about and discuss water and how it is used as a resource and how engineers use technology to preserve it. In this water lesson plan, students look at a picture of water treatment and tell what is wrong with the picture.

Learners determine the spring constant by conducting an investigation. In this physics lesson, students collect data and create a graph of force vs. displacement. They compare the results of two different methods to find spring constant.

Learners remember the orderly changes of a butterfly by performing physical motions to a song.

Students should describe the path that the motion would take as well as what might begin or stop the motion. The common characteristic of all the motions that students have experienced directly is that one or more forces are acting on...

Students compare and contrast the properties of substances and mixtures. In this chemistry lesson, students simulate spontaneous mixing by performing a short class activity. They differentiate heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures.

Students predict the path of a ball bouncing off an object. In this physics instructional activity, students conduct the rolling ball experiment to test their prediction. They perform several trials for accuracy.

Students discuss how all objects fall at the same rate and vertical motion is independent of the horizontal motion. Students apply this information to center of mass activities before solving equations.

Students determine the muzzle velocity of projectile launcher. In this physics lesson, students compare the pendulum method and kinematic method in calculating the initial velocity. They analyze data and discuss results in class.

Students investigate conservation laws using a potato launcher. In this physics lesson, students measure angles, time and distance of the potato. They discuss applications of experiments like this.

Students describe the motion of solids, liquids and gases. In this chemistry lesson, students describe how temperature affect motion of the particles. They determine the physical properties of each phase.

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...

Students study scientific names and descriptions of forces.  In this motion lesson students organize information into a graphic organizer then teach it to other students. 

Young scholars discover basic machines and how they make completing work easier. They identify two basic machines, the inclined plane and the lever and the functions of these simple machines.

Students are introduced to the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky and the way it changes in summer and winter.

Twelfth graders examine illustrations and animations on a Physlets CD in which they must describe motion, analyze graphs, and calculate initial velocity. The Physlet assists in providing active class participation in discussion.