DiscoverE
Build a Spinning Top
There's no spin needed to describe the usefulness of a dizzying resource! Using paper plates, DVDs, wooden skewers, and pencils, learners work in teams to create spinning tops. The longest-spinning top wins.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tinkering with Tops
Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...
Curated OER
Toothpick Tops
Students assembly tops and name them 1 - 12 so that they can compare their results. They guess which top they think will spin the best and then record data on "Toothpick Top" table. Using a stopwatch or clock to measure and record the...
Curated OER
Top Quark Lab
Pupils find the mass of the top quark. In this physics lesson, students create a vector diagram from a given set of data. They discuss their calculations and findings in class.
NASA
Roving on the Moon
Build a rover for pennies in a fun-filled activity! Young engineers design, build, test, and evaluate a lunar rover model. Using rubber bands, plastic straws, and cardboard, teams collaborate to make a rover model with spinning wheels....
Curated OER
Tops: Angular Motion
Students observe different ways that objects spin. In this physics lesson, students observe several objects spinning and use the new vocabulary words "rotate" and "revolve" to describe how the objects spin. The lesson culminates in a...
PAW Scotland
Life Cycle Spinner
Your learners can make a spinner that shows each phase of the life cycle. They'll draw or glue images that illustrate each phase of the life cycle, and then they'll cut out the top circle to create a spinner.
Curated OER
Science: Lenz's Law and the Spinning Can
Learners observe a demonstration of Lenz's Law using an aluminum can and a bar magnet. They hypothesize what will occur as the can is placed in water and the magnet is lowered above it on a string. Students discover the phase shift...
Curated OER
Benham's Disk
Seeing is believing! Or is it? With this simple experiment, young scientists can explore the concept of visual perception. Attach Benham's disk to a rotating appliance such as a hand drill; As it spins, the black lines appear to be...
Curated OER
Planet Structure & Interior
Students compare Jupiter and Earth. In this Earth and space studies lesson plan, students compare the composition of Earth and Jupiter and analyze how the composition affects the rate at which the planets spin.
Curated OER
Rotational Inertia
Students spin themselves to understand rotational inertia. In this Inertia lesson, students will also use ramps, balance beam and pendelum to conduct rotational inertia experiments. Students draw conclusions to explain rotational...
Curated OER
Spin, Spin, Spin That Body!: Figure Skating, Physics, Science, Winter Sports, Olympics
Students learn the scientific principles of centripetal force through research and experimentation.
Curated OER
Discover!
Students design a double spiral mobile to illustrate the different stages in the life of a small-mass star like our Sun, and in the life of a large-mass star. They complete both spirals and create a small hole at the top. Next they use a...
Curated OER
Energy Transfer
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...
Curated OER
Flying Tube
Students investigate how a spinning paper tube generates lift as it travels forward.
Curated OER
Playing With Science
Young scientists investigate the scientific concepts and principles that help make common toys such as hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkies, and silly putty work. As a class, they read "Backyard Rocket Science, Served Wet" to get a look behind...
Curated OER
May the Force be with You -- All about Force and Gravity
Here is a fabulous set of teacher's notes that will make your next hands-on gravity and force lab fun and interesting. These notes provide you with three activities that allow children to make and test hypothesis regarding force,...
Curated OER
Angular Momentum (Automaticity)
Second graders experience practicing with a wide variety of vocabulary terms that relate to the Vista/Module "Angular Momentum:" momentum, inertia, force; motion, direction, centripetal force; angular momentum, gyroscope, resist. They...
Curated OER
Physical Science: Gravity
Students investigate the properties of force and gravity and their effects on everyday life. In groups, they test various balls by bouncing them on different surfaces and observe the properties. In another activity, they test marbles and...
Bonneville
How to Build a Motor
Electrical engineers entertain and explain how to construct an electromagnet-driven motor. Kellie and Mike, the hosts of the show, are enthusiastic teachers that will help introduce a project that you likely include in your middle school...
Curated OER
The Elements: A Visual Exploration
Have the building blocks of the universe at your fingertips! Visually intriguing and animated, this interactive periodic table may also be the most informative chemistry tool available!
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: Earth's Rotation
After completing the activity, "Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year," zoom in on Earth's rotation using the same simulation setup and this outline. Each class member dons a map of the Western Hemisphere and plays the part of...
American Museum of Natural History
The Milky Way Galaxy
Just how big is the galaxy? Learners read information about the size of the Milky Way galaxy to better comprehend its size. Pupils develop an understanding of the number of stars in the galaxy by finding just how big a billion is and...
It's About Time
Building an Electric Motor
Rev your motor with a hands-on activity about electricity. Learners build their own electric motor before reading a handout and answering some questions.