American Chemical Society
Exploring Energy
When asked to list everyday objects that require energy, most people list technology that use batteries or electricity. Through hands-on exploration, young scientists discover energy is much more than just circuitry. They play with...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
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.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Roller Coaster Mania!
Raise the energy level of your physical science class with this exciting hands-on activity. Applying their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy and Newton's laws of motion, young engineers use foam tubing and marbles to create...
Curated OER
The Physics of Sports: An 8th Grade Physical Science Project
Explore the relationship between sports and physics in a cross-curricular lesson. Middle and high schoolers prepare a multimedia presentation based on a chosen sport. They answer five physics vocabulary questions about how the laws of...
Teach Engineering
Ramp and Review (for High School)
Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform...
It's About Time
Defy Gravity
Test the limits of gravity while encouraging full class participation with this thrilling lesson. Pupils investigate the meaning of work and how it is equivalent to energy. They explore the joule and apply it as a unit of work. They...
Anchorage School District
Roller Coaster Project
Emerging engineers work in teams to design pipe insulation roller coasters for marbles that meet specific parameters. They are required to label along the track the areas where kinetic and potential energy are highest and lowest, where...
Museum of Science
Cup Drop
Create egg drop soup. Teachers first set up eggs that are held up above cups of water with a piece of cardboard and cardboard tubes. Learners try to determine a way to get the eggs to drop into the cups. Using a broom, the instructor...
Teach Engineering
Equal and Opposite Thrust in Aircraft: You're a Pushover!
It's the law—every action requires a reaction, no matter how small. Pupils experience two demonstrations of Newton's third law of motion as it relates to thrust in the 10th segment of a 22-part unit on flight. Using their mathematical...
Teach Engineering
Making Moon Craters
Create an egg-citing study of energy. Pupils investigate the effect of height and mass on the overall amount of energy of a falling object. The fourth segment in a six-part series on energy uses a weighted egg falling from different...
DiscoverE
An Egg-Citing Ride
Wheeeee! Young thrill seekers build a bungee jump—not for themselves, though, but for an egg. The egg must fall from a height of five feet and rebound within two inches of the ground or floor.
PBS
Pbs Kids: Activities and Videos: Force/energy
Videos that accompany activities that are hands-on challenges that focus on the engineering design process. They use simple materials, allow for multiple solutions, and are ideal for ages 9-12.
Other
Center for Education Partnerships: The Marble Roll
In this Science-athon, students try to make their marble roll the farthest across a flat surface, using their knowledge of forces, motion, and energy to guide them through their apparatus design. Teachers must enroll online.
Other
Puhinui School: The Atoms Family: The Mummy's Tomb: Raceways
Help the Mummy build a rollercoaster to entertain the Atoms Family monsters by investigating the concepts of kinetic and potential energy.
PBS
Pbs Kids: Zoom Printables & Activities
Fantastic variety of printable activities that cover motion-related principles. Topics include the following: experiments (engineering, structures, forces and energy, fluids, sound and light, patterns, human body); arts & crafts;...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Balloon Car
Make 4-wheeled, air-powered cars that jet across the floor. Experiment with the design process and thrust in this activity from Design Squad Nation.