Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ROLLER COASTERS IN THE CLASSROOM

For Teachers All
Students define potential and kinetic energy and explain the relationship of height to potential energy.  In this roller coaster lesson students construct a model of a roller coaster which will allow them to see the basic physical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soaring With Air Power

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders view a Newton's Apple show that explores glider mechanics, explore the four forces, build and fly a glider to specific guidelines. They adjust the glider for greater accuracy and distance using four forces, and assess...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Transfer

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students investigate the properties of heated air. They make predictions about what they think makes the wind blow on a worksheet, and conduct two experiments to demonstrate the properties of heated air. Students heat a bottle until a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Help! I'm Under Too Much Pressure!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students play with a ping pong ball sized piece of modeling clay observing what happens to the clay as they play with it and write their observations in their notebooks. They share the results of their observations introducing the term...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocking the Boat

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students work together to discover the concepts of stability and equilibrium. They examine how equilibrium is related to an item's center of mass. They create their own action scene in a literacy activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Angles: Angles, Angles, Everywhere

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students estimate and accurately measure the size of angles communicate with the appropriate geometric terms and symbols to describe and name angles, lines, line segments, rays
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Relational Causality

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars explore the concept of Bernoullii's Principle and how it behaves. Have each student fold the piece of paper in half. Then have them place the paper like a tent on a smooth surface. Have them blow under it (they can use a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Structural Challenges Do Bridge Builders Face Today?

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate the process of constructing a bridge. They study the meaning of structural force and draw pictures of examples. Students identify the types of building materials have been used in history to construct bridges and how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hip Replacement

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students take a close examine animals' skeletons to see how their pelvis and femur work together for movement. By investigating their skeletons students discover the placement and functions of our own bodies. They use owl pellets in this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking into Eratosthenes' Radius of the Earth

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers, in small groups, research Eratosthenes and his calculations of the Earth's radius. They write a summary of the person, the experiments and his calculations to determine how accurate Eratosthenes was in his estimations of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Leaving on A Jet Plane

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars create an airplane by listening to directions. They also to measure the pieces for the airplane and compare and contrast their test flights.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swing in Time

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Young scholars examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aqua-Thrusters!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Machines Help Us Stay Healthy

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students visit different departments at a local hospital to see how machines help peoples such as the CAT scan machine. They build a model of such a machine that shows how patients are moved in and out of the machine.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Saving Sponge Bob Square Pants

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students apply the use of technology to real life scenarios. In this technology lesson, students discuss and identify a method to move sponge bob from one location to the next, without touching the floor. They share the same landmark and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnetorheological Fluids

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students conduct a series of experiments on magnetorheological fluids. In this physics lesson, students explain how these fluids behave in varying magnetic field strength. They give practical applications of magnetorheological fluids.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What a Drag

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn examples of friction and drag, and suggest ways to reduce the impact of these forces. The equation that governs common frictional forces is introduced, and during a hands-on activity, students experimentally measure a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lego Robotics: Measuring Speed

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students build and program a LEGO robotic car as well as measure and graph its speed. They acquire familiarity with principles of construction, motion, design and problem solving. They compare a robot's speed over two different surfaces...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Proportionality: Modeling the Future

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore and examine how patterns, measurement, ratios and proportions are utilized in the research development and production of airplanes. They meet a pilot from the Federal Aviation Association who describes the growth of air...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Angles: Angles, Angles, Everywhere

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students practice estiminating and measuring angles. After watching a short video, they identify angles in objects in the classroom and their homes. In groups, they participate in activities in which they are given a scenerio and are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Degree Equations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students establish a solid competence in solving all types of equations and a solid understanding of how variables and equations can be utilitzed to solve real life problems.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building a Better Sentence

For Teachers 1st
Sentence construction is both a science and an art. This bare bones lesson ties an analysis of earth's geology to sentence formation. Although referenced as a major part of the activity, there are no links to the technology or resources...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines - Energy

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explain how things moving relate to energy.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Balloonautics

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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.