Curated OER
Heart Rate
Learners move through a variety of locomotor skills at different paces to see how they affect their heart rate. In this health, human body, and physical activity lesson plan, students measure their heart rate and discuss health. A...
Curated OER
Thermo and Fluid Dynamics of a Homemade "Lava Lamp"
Students construct their own lava lamp using simple substances. In this physics lesson, students explain how difference in density causes convection. They solve for forces and buoyancy using mathematical equations.
Curated OER
Physical Education - Gallop
Students practice galloping. In this gross motor skills lesson, students review how to jump and hop using a jump-rope and hopscotch. The teacher shows the steps to gallop and they hold a noodle and pretend as if they are riding a...
Curated OER
Chemical and Physical Changes
Eighth graders investigate different gas behaviors. In this chemistry lesson, 8th graders describe how changing volume and temperature affect gas particles motion. They collect data and make a generalization about these variables'...
NASA
Pop Can Hero Engine
Hang a soda can from a string and watch it spin by the force created by water streaming out of slanted holes. This plan provides background information, detailed materials and procedures, discussion questions, a lab worksheet, and...
Curated OER
Velocity of Traffic on Highway 26
Physics fanatics time five cars as they pass on the highway. They use the times and a 20-yard distance to calculate velocity. They also graph distance vs. time. A page of student pre-lab questions is provided in addition to the activity...
Curated OER
Games on Echolocation
Get a little batty with life science! This fun simulation game replicates how bats use echolocation to hunt moths in their native Hawaiian habitat. After creating blind folds and discussing some basic principles of echolocation, students...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Applying Newton’s Third Law of Motion in the Gravitron Ride
Here is a collection of readings to be discussed in the science classroom. This one is in the form of a dialog between two boys in an amusement park, talking about the forces involved in a Graviton ride. Questions are listed at the...
NASA
Newton Car
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...
Curated OER
Simple Machines: Levers
Students discover the fundamentals and daily applications of simple machines. They practice basic engineering theory through their hands-on demonstrations of levers.
Curated OER
Weathering
Second graders explore weathering and how the water cycle plays a part in weathering. For this weathering lesson, 2nd graders put gravel and sugar cubes in a jar and shake, simulating weathering. Students use the scientific method...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Yogurt Cup Speakers
Sixth graders build a speaker as they investigate the roles of electricity and magnetism. They discover the properties of magnets, create an electromagnet, and determine the direction of a magnetic field. They show cause and effect...
Curated OER
Engineering: Simple Machines
Fourth graders participate in activities to examine how simple machines help build things. They identify the six types of simple machines. They discover how simple machines where use historically to build pyramids and how they are still...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How is Flowing Water an Energy Source? Activity C
Can the force of falling water through a tube vary by altering the diameter of the tube or its height? That is what physical scientists aim to discover in this activity, the third in successively more revealing activities on the power of...
It's About Time
Run and Jump
Has your class wondered how fast a human could run or how high they are capable of jumping? Help them understand these concepts as they explore acceleration and use an accelerometer to make semiquantitative measurements of acceleration...
PHET
Earth’s Magnetic Field from Space
Feel the pull of science! The final installment of this 18-part series is an application of everything learned in the previous high school lessons. Scholars are given a magnetic field map and must propose an arrangement of magnets that...
Curated OER
Slam On the Brakes!
Fifth graders study the concept of momentum and its application by Newton in his studies. They view a demonstration and complete an experiment with toy cars on a racetrack that shows them the properties of momentum and how velocity and...
Bowels Physics
Newton's Second Law
Were it not for Sir Newton, our understanding of physics and matters of the world would be drastically different. Present your class with detailed information of Newton's Second Law as they explore the concepts of mass and acceleration....
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
DiscoverE
Slinky® Science
Toys are great for learning about physics. Scholars use Slinky® toys to study Newton's laws of motion and types of energy. After a little play, they then model longitudinal and transverse waves with the Slinky® toys.
California Polytechnic State University
Australian Geography Unit
At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.
LABScI
Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table of Elements: The Secret Agent Lab
Food always gets attention! Model atomic structure using fruit loops to represent the subatomic particles. After building models, scholars create ionic bonds using their models. Finally, they use these concepts to create a periodic...
Curated OER
Energy At Play
If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Trebuchet Toss
Young engineers work in teams to design and build their own trebuchets according to certain criteria; they must be able to launch a mini marshmallow accurately into a pie tin. Background reading material, a planning sheet for trebuchet...