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Weightlessness
Eighth graders study weight, force and mass as it pertains to the earths pull. In this weightlessness lesson students are divided into groups and complete an activity.
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Pine Wood Derby Prompt
Eighth graders use Newton's Laws of Motion to assist a troop in making a winning car in the Pine Wood Derby.
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Toying Around with Newton's Laws
Eighth graders identify balanced and unbalanced forces that affect the movement of objects and Newton's three Laws of Motion. Students also design a contraption utilizing Newton's Laws of Motion that will launch a marshmallow five meters.
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No Flaw With Newton’s 1st Law
Pupils explain what inertia is in their own words. In this physics lesson, students investigate how Newton's first law applies to their robot. They discuss real world examples of the 1st law.
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Making Objects Move
Students will make many discoveries about how and why objects move. They will explore and manipulate the motion of objects and the forces required to control that motion (pushing, pulling, throwing, dropping, rolling, and so on). This...
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Catapults!
Students work together to discover the relationship between the angle of catapults and the flight of different objects. They discover the heavier the object the more force is needed. They examine how engineers use this information to...
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The Spin Doctor Is In
Students are given the difintion of translational motion, which is the object in motion stays in motion. If you are in a car and the car stops, you keep moving. They then discuss rotational motion, which is a spinning object continues to...
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Sliding and Stuttering
Ninth graders use a spring scale to drag an object such as a ceramic coffee cup along a table top or the floor. The spring scale allows them to measure the frictional force that exists between the moving cup and the surface it slides on....
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Swinging
Pupils examine and modify a swinging apparatus. They describe the motion of an object by its position, direction of motion, and speed. Students measure motion using a graph.
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Hlf-Ball
Students investigate Newton's Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Energy. They examine how a ball and half-ball behave and relate these laws to what happens to the ball. Students produce a graph of the data collected and...
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Rockets and Payloads
Students investigate Newton's Second Law of Motion as they predict the effect of a payload on the amount of energy needed to lift a rocket vertically. The constraints of the weight of the equipment carried to Mars is compared to the...
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Fantastic Friction!!!
Learners work in small groups to list at least 10 items that have movement or motion choosing one item from the list to use as a topic for the following questions: How does this item move? How can we slow down the movement? How can we...
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Picket Fence Free Fall
Students measure acceleration using a Picket Fence and a Photogate. In this physics lesson, students drop an object and measure the acceleration of the object free falling. They log their data using the TI.
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Proportionality: The X-Plane Generation
Students meet NASA researchers who describe the relationship between force, energy and motion. They discuss how NASA's experimental X-plane is being tested to make space travel more reliable and show how proportionality and ratios are...
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Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation
Students explore how Newton tied together the gravity observed on Earth and the motion of the Moon. They apply an earlier lesson about centripetal forces.
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How Does a Satellite Stay in Orbit?
Students explore placing a satellite into orbit, then about forces needed to keep an object in orbit. They examine how satellites orbit in elliptical paths and about properties of ellipses. They learn Kepler's 3rd Law of Planetary Motion
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Discovering Friction
Students watch a demonstration that introduces them to the idea that friction is a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. They work in groups to experiment with frictional force using a coffee cup on which they alter...
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Marble Run
Students use marbles to conduct experiments on movement of objects and explore Newton's three laws of motion. In this motion lesson plan, students use marbles, tubing, foam, paper cups, and more.
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Pitch, Yaw & Roll
Young scholars practice the concepts of pitch, yaw and roll. They practice pitch, yaw, roll in a make-believe airplane simulator. Students explore about air, forces, and movement of flight. They read for themselves about air; lift,...
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A Focus on Mechanical Friction
Young scholars explore mechanical friction. They perform experiments to observe the direction of mechanical motion and the difference between rolling and sliding friction. Data results on the experiments are recorded and students...
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Simple Machines and Mechanical Advantage
In this simple machines science learning exercise, learners read about simple machines, mechanical advantages, calculating mechanical advantage, output force versus input force, and distance effort versus distance of resistance. Then...
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Winds Go Spinning Around
High schoolers simulate the Coriolis Effect to comprehend why winds in the Westerlies are prone to cyclonic and anti-cyclonic motion. They arrive at an explanation of processes that drive world wind patterns
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That Mu You Do
Students are told that the weight of a car is equal to its mass multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity. When a car is at react on a horizontal road, there must be a normal force with which the road pushes up on the car to keep it...
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Wheelies
Students design wheels for a coaster car to travel varying terrain. In this motion and friction lesson, students discuss friction and motion and test wooden wheels on a track. Students then brainstorm how to increase friction and bring...