NASA
Engineering Design for Human Exploration
What would it take to live on the lunar surface? Small groups build model rockets in order to simulate launching a habitat into space and rebuilding it. Divide the class into groups to design and build a model of a lunar habitat. The...
Curated OER
Kites: Patang - The Indian Fighter Kite
Students investigate the history of fighter kites and build their own. In this aeronautics lesson, students discover how other countries utilize fighter kites and where they originated. Students create their own fighter kites...
Curated OER
Boomerang
Students build their own boomerang. In this physics lesson, students trace the origin of this equipment. They practice throwing and catching them.
BioEd Online
Gravity and Buoyancy
Would a baggie filled with water have the same shape sitting on a table as it would in a bucket of water? Why not? Allow learners to find out first-hand the effects of gravity acting alone on the baggie, as well as when gravity is...
Baylor College
Servings and Choices
An important part of balancing caloric intake to energy expenditure is knowing how many Calories you are consuming. In the fifth of a seven-lesson series on food and energy, learners estimate their daily caloric intake, then use a...
Curated OER
100 Years of Flight
Learners investigate Bernoulli's principle of air pressure and how it
relates to the lift of an airplane. Students identify various Aeronautical vocabulary terms. Learners construct a paper glider and experiment with the control surfaces...
Curated OER
The Science of Sleep and Daily Rhythms
Students observe their own daily rhythms by going to bed earlier and seeing what happens to their day afterwards. For this sleep lesson plan, students experiment with their own sleep cycles and answer questions about what happened...
Baylor College
Challenge: Microgravity
What a festive way to examine what happens to the heart in different gravitational situations! Small groups place a water-filled balloon in different locations (on a table top, in a tub of water, and held in a vertical position), drawing...
Curated OER
Fundamental Terms
Students explore Newton's Laws of Motion and how they apply to flight.
Curated OER
Graphing the Four Forces
Using the Cartesian coordinate system, future flight experts plot points to determine whether or not an airplane will fly. With the four forces of weight, lift, drag, and thrust represented in different quadrants, your physics learners...
Baylor College
Energy for Life (Energy from Food)
Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...
BioEd Online
The Skeleton
Don't be chicken to try a lesson plan that compares the anatomy of birds to humans. Read the background information so you don't have to wing it when it comes to the anatomy of a chicken. Prepare cooked chicken bones by soaking them in a...
Curated OER
Angle Measurement of Aircraft Wings and Tails
Students measure the angles of wings and tails of various aircraft using a protractor. They estimate and check their measurements. They investigate aircraft being developed and tested at NASA Dryden.
Curated OER
Charting The Planets
Students conduct different activities in order to unlock the secrets of the universe. They answer different questions that are written to assess knowledge of the planets. Information can be found on the internet to help.
Curated OER
The Science of Sleep and Daily Rhythms: Sleeping in Space
Students write about strange places that they have slept. In this sleep science lesson students read about astronauts sleeping experience in space. They reflect on unusual places that they have slept and write about it.
Curated OER
Life on the Moon
Students study the physical properties of the Moon. In this life on the moon lesson students describe the ways life on the Moon would be different than on Earth.
Curated OER
The X-33 and the X-38
Students explore the relationships among the lengths, areas, and volumes of similar solids. They also discover what effect doubling the dimensions of a figure has on the resulting area.
Curated OER
Using a Sundial
Students examine the use of a sundial to tell apparent time. In this sundial lesson plan, students watch a teacher demonstration using a flashlight to create shadows. They discuss what happens to shadows of different objects as the...
Curated OER
Reason for the Seasons
Students study the seasons of the Earth. In this seasons lesson plan, students study the science of the seasons on Earth by studying the tilt and axis of the Earth's orbit. Students read background information and four experimental...
Curated OER
Balloonautics
Young scholars are introduced to basic aerodynamics through a discussion of thrust and drag and a hands-on activity. They examine the forces of thrust, drag, air pressure, aerodynamic shapes and Newton's Third Law Of Motion.
Curated OER
Air and Water Pressure
Young scholars examine buoyancy and fluid pressure. They conduct a series of fun experiments to discover the effects of pressure and explore how pressure differences can be used to float, lift, transport, or hold a material in place.
Curated OER
Jet Engine Magazine
Students explore physics by creating a magazine cover in class. In this flight lesson, students identify the motion and force that must be generated in order for a jet engine to lift off the ground. Students create a cover for a...
Curated OER
Living Clocks
Students complete experiments to learn about their internal body clocks and physiological activities. For this internal body science lesson, students read "Body Clock Investigations" and complete a body temperature investigation.
Curated OER
Nasa's Return To Flight: Testing In
Pupils explain basic components of the space shuttle stack and the chemical fuel makeup and storage used on the external tank of space shuttle. They discuss findings of Columbia mission accident. and the safety improvements that have...