Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the characteristics of gravity. They discuss gravity on Earth and then use cereal boxes to research and compare the weight of objects on Earth to the weight of those objects on other planets.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Much Do You Really Weigh?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders check to see how their weights differ if they weighed themselves on different planets. They record their findings on a data sheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Popcorn Neutrino Lab

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers parcticipate in a modeling activity that simulates the cyclical role of experimental and theoretical science. Initially, students measure the mass of popcorn. They also record predictions of the mass of the kernels after...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nature of Game Balls

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders see how, when balls are dropped from the same height, mass and size affects the motion of the balls.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Build Your Own Mobile

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students inquire into how the center of mass is the key factor in designing cars. They construct an oddly shaped object and determine its center of mass. They find that engineers are able to predict how objects will behave while they are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Perching Parrot

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore the concepts of center of mass and static equilibrium by seeing how non-symmetrical objects balance. They also analyze why all forces on an object must cancel out exactly for an object to be stationary.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Causal Patterns in Density Phenomena

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students define density as a relationship. Through experimentation, they explore the association between the mass and volume of pure substances. Students create a data plot and analyze the patterns between mass and volume. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

So You Want to Hit a Home Run?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars determine the center of percussion and the center of mass for a baseball bat.  In this projective motion lesson students demonstrate the relationship between the position of the baseball bat and when its in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hanging Around

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore weight by building a spring scale and observing how it responds to objects with different masses. Each team of students can make their own spring scale by following steps which are specifically outlined in the plan. As...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Isotopes of Pennies

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students demonstrate that isotopes of an element have different masses. They illustrate atomic mass and neutrons. The periodic table is examined in length. Display of a collection of atoms is surveyed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tools of the Trade

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore and identify the tools that can be used to measure length, mass/weight, and volume. They discuss how things are measured using different units, and observe the difference between the English and the Metric systems....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Momentum And Colliding Spheres

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explain that mass times velocity equals momentum. They investigate the impacts of collisions and their results and determine the vector of an incident.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Downhill Race

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students observe washers of different weights roll downhill and observe what happens and what rate each of them travels. In this rate of travel lesson plan, students see the cylinders and discuss what happened after the race.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

That Mu You Do

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Cigar Box Guitar

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students correlate string tension with sound pitch. They describe how string mass (thickness) effects sound pitch and demonstrate an understanding of the physics of the acoustic guitar. They see that sound is produced by vibrations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elementary Exploration: Liquids

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Pupils study the attributes of liquids. In this science exploration lesson, students participate in a hands-on activity that requires them to examine the volume and shape of liquid.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Friction and Gravity

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders identify the factors that determine the strength of the friction forces when two objects push against each other. Describing the difference between weight and mass, they participate in experiments. They state the law of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Look At Osteoporosis

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders study osteoporosis and understand the relationship between calcium and bone mass.  For this investigative lesson students participate in an activity in which they graph and construct basic bone biology.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Chemical Elements

For Students 10th - Higher Ed
For this elements worksheet, students determine the number of moles and the number of protons, electrons, and neutrons for given atoms or ions. Students calculate the atomic weight of an element. This worksheet has 3 fill in the blank...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Second Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how physical quantities and laws depend distance, mass and time. They examine the MKS system; meter, kilogram and second, for doing calculations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 5: Boyle's Law

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners participate in a lab to verify Boyle's Law using applied force (weight) to do work on a closed isolated system of air. "Elasticity of Gases Apparatus, BASIX" from Sargent-Welch is the syringe apparatus used to measure volume...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Demonstrating the Kinds of Energy

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students experiment with inner tubes, weights, flasks, and pistons to demonstrate the gas laws. In this molecular motion lesson, students demonstrate pressure as a force per area. They conduct an experiment to show the relationship...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rockets and Payloads

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers understand that the energy required to break a piece of wood can be computed by determining the force and distance (work) that snaps it. Kinetic energy is the system can be computed if its mass and velocity are known.