Discovery Education
Discovery Education: The Ultimate Roller Coaster Contest
Students design and build a three hill "tennis ball" roller coaster made of cardboard. During the design and building process, students explore the concepts of potential and kinetic energy and how they change as the roller coaster...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy
Through nine lessons, students are introduced to a range of energy types--electrical, light, sound and thermal-as well as the renewable energy sources of wind, hydro (water) and solar power. Subjects range from understanding that the...
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Pirates: What Is Energy Conversion?
This lesson covers the different types of energy, the definitions of kinetic and potential energy, how energy can be converted into different forms, and the law of conservation of energy.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Collisions and Momentum: Bouncing Balls
As a continuation of the theme of potential and kinetic energy, this lesson introduces the concepts of momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions. Many sports and games, such as baseball and ping-pong, illustrate the ideas of momentum...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Energy: Lesson 4
This lesson will present the different states of energy and how they affect living things. It is 4 of 7 in the series titled "Energy."
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Balloon Car
Students will design, build, and race balloon-powered cars in this fun instructional activity that teaches about engineering design and kinetic and potential energy.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Clean Energy: Hydropower
Hydropower generation is introduced to students as a common purpose and benefit of constructing dams. Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how a dam creates electricity. They also learn the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Amusement Park Ride: Ups and Downs in Design
This unit has students design and build foam tubing roller coasters. The design process integrates energy concepts as they test and evaluate their designs that address the task as an engineer would. The goal is for students to understand...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Energy: Machines, Motion and Light
An introductory lesson describing the definition of energy, and highlighting different sources of usable energy.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Energy Conversion
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Decribes how energy changes from one form to another and energy changes between kinetic and potential energy.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A River Ran Through It
Students learn how water is used to generate electricity. They investigate water's potential-to-kinetic energy transformation in hands-on activities about falling water and waterwheels. During the activities, they take measurements,...
The Tech Interactive
The Tech Museum of Innovation: Save the Hiker [Pdf]
Can you build a device that will deliver life-saving treatment to someone in a hazardous situation? During this instructional activity, young scholars will learn how energy is converted and transferred between objects. Working in groups...
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Motion of a Mass on a Spring
This tutorial investigates the motion of a mass on a spring and how a variety of quantities change over the course of time. Such quantities will include forces, position, velocity and energy - both kinetic and potential energy. Take the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Work and Power: Waterwheel
Investigating a waterwheel illustrates to students the physical properties of energy. They learn that the concept of work, force acting over a distance, differs from power, which is defined as force acting over a distance over some...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Masses & Springs
An interactive simulation that teaches about springs, Hooke's Law, and conservation of energy observing changes in kinetic, potential, and thermal energy by adjusting the stiffness and damping of springs holding various masses. This...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Kinetic & Potential Energy
This lesson explains how kinetic and potential energy are related.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Energy: Machines, Motion and Light: Lesson 3
This lesson will present how light and motion energy can be used to power machines. It is 3 of 4 in the series titled "Energy: Machines, Motion and Light."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Energy: Machines, Motion and Light: Lesson 4
This lesson will present how light and motion energy can be used to power machines. It is 4 of 4 in the series titled "Energy: Machines, Motion and Light."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Energy: Machines, Motion and Light: Lesson 2
This lesson will present how light and motion energy can be used to power machines. It is 2 of 4 in the series titled "Energy: Machines, Motion and Light."
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Design a Roller Coaster
An interactive lesson where students design and build their own virtual roller coaster. Choose the height of the hills. the shape of the hills. and loop to find out if you successfully used physics concepts to pass the safety and fun...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Balancing Mobiles
In this lesson plan, students will apply mathematical, science, and engineering concepts to experiment with balancing levers. They will learn to classify types of levers to design and build a simplified mobile. Students will explore...
SMART Technologies
Smart: Tracing the Transformation of Energy in a System
Trace the transformations of energy (kinetic to potential, etc.) in a system, e.g., a person rowing a boat or child swinging.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Potential Energy: How Is It Related to Kinetic Energy
After creating three different ramps with various heights, students will release toy cars from the tops of each ramp. Based on the elementary age level, students will collect data and analyze it.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Heat
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In this online lesson students will describe how the macroscopic properties of a thermodynamic system such as temperature, specific heat, and pressure are related to...