Tightrope Trials

Lead your class on an exploration as they locate the center of mass in several oddly shaped two-dimensional objects they create from their imaginations. Pupils also determine the location of the center of mass in three-dimensional...

How do you calculate your Body Mass Index, and why is this information a valuable indicator of health? Class members discover not only what BMI is and practice calculating it using the height and weight of six fictitious individuals, but...

Between the pull of gravity and the push of air pressure, it's a wonder animals can balance or move at all. With a hands-on lesson about the center of gravity, learners discuss their own experiences with the topic, then work with...

Have some physical science fun when studying the center of gravity or center of mass. Simply have balancing artists stand a dowel on one finger and keep it from falling over! A lump of clay is added and moved up along the dowel over a...

Have you heard of the Fosbury Flop? It was invented by a college high jumper in and has become the standard technique for high jumpers world wide. Learn the physics of this move and why it is more effective for clearing the bar than the...

Students determine the center of mass of two irregularly shaped objects, determine when the center of mass is inside or outside the boundaries of the object, determine when and/or why an object is stable, balanced, unstable or unbalanced.

How can a teeter-totter balance when the two people are different sizes? Show classes how this works through a simulation. Scholars play with a teeter-totter to show how different masses and their placement affect balance. Once they have...

What better way is there to introduce conservation of mass than a few simple experiments? Young chemists conduct two chemical reactions, take the masses of reactants and products, then compare their results to determine...

To learn about the concept of center of mass, students examine how objects balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string. Students see the concept of center...

Students creatively construct mobiles to balance oddly shaped objects while learning about the concept of the center of mass.