Inertia Teacher Resources

There's a lot going on here: air pressure changes, inertia, and chemical reactions. All of this occurs in 60 seconds time! As an end of the year physical science assessment, consider showing this video clip and then having learners write...

Young scholars explore inertia using magic tricks. They participate in demonstrations using tablecloths and dishes, Ken and Barbie, and Wine Bottles.

Why are some football players harder to tackle than others? Turns out physics is the answer. The fifth lesson of the 10-part video series continues connecting the NFL to physics concepts. Young scientists learn about inertia through an...

Is it really love that makes the world go 'round? Find out in an amusing interview-based video. The narrator asks visitors at a city park why Earth continues to turn on its axis. After several misguided attempts at invoking different...

Students conduct an experiment to apply Newton's first law of motion. They observe the inertia of an object in regard to its mass. The students record and graph the outcomes of their investigation and present the relationship between...

Students become actively involved with Newton's First Law of Motion, which involves inertia.

Students conduct 8 experiments to gain an understanding of inertia. Students use a variety of materials to conduct these experiments. Students learn the difference between objects at rest and objects moving in a straight line.

Students practice the 4 question strategy to form more questions and develop further experiments. The four questions are engage, explore, explain, and elaborate. They use the 4 question strategy on an investigation involving the mass...

Students participate in assessments involving gravity, forces, and inertia. They select from a menu of options assessments they would like to complete including worksheets, drawing posters, watching videos, creating crossword puzzles,...

Although gravity is something everyone experiences, many have misconceptions tied to the concept. A PD lesson from the Good Thinking series explores misconceptions and how to correct them. The lesson also offers ideas for demonstrations...

Five basic law of physics and energy are listed here, with a simple explanation of what each actually means in the real world! Your young physicists will appreciate the concepts being made more relevant and the language being made more...

You might not be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but you could certainly pull a tablecloth out from under a place setting! Display inertia and Newton's first law of motion for your future physicists or magicians by performing this...

Fourth graders use a matchbox car to push across a hard surface and observe what happens. They then push the car across a soft or rough surface and discover what happens. The two ideas are discusses as Newton's First and Second Laws of...

Many mechanical phenomena are explained by a physics professor using Nick Goepper, a Winter Olympics 2014 slope-style skier, as the model. Beginning with kinetic and potential energy, the professor goes on to explain angular momentum and...

Students design a wheel that can go down the ramp with the smallest moment of inertia. In this technology activity, students construct their model using a computer program. They calculate the moment of inertia of their finished product.

Students are introduced to the concept of circular motion. In groups, they participate in experiments to discover the law of inertia. They describe how forces act on objects during a circular motion. To end the lesson, they use these...

High schoolers examine Newton's first law of motion and demonstrate how it applies to cars.  In this motion lesson students complete an experiment and worksheet on speed and inertia.

Ttake learning to the next level! Individuals research inertial mass, a physical property of matter, and apply what they learn through a series of activities designed to stimulate the senses. They demonstrate Galileo's Principle of...

Did you know only 80-90% of passengers wear a seat belt in a moving car? Young scholars use clay and a cart to complete an experiment about what happens without a seat belt in a collision. The lesson includes Newton's Second Law of...

Don't fall for these common misconceptions about falling objects! Using two sports balls with different masses, the interviewer demonstrates in a brief video the forces at work. Participants marvel as a much-heavier medicine ball lands...

It's all about how you pull—not how hard! The 12th installment in a physics series explains the importance of the direction and angle of force when calculating torque. The narrator includes a discussion of the moment of inertia as...

In this universal gravitation worksheet, students fill in the blanks to complete sentences with 11 given terms about gravity, inertia, acceleration, mass and force. Students also answer 7 questions about mass, weight and force.

The stage is set for you to guide future physicists through three forceful activities about motion. In the first, learners experiment with rolling carts to discover how objects interact. In the second, they inspect images of an object in...

Twelve pages of mostly multiple-choice questions comprise this comprehensive New York Regents physics exam. It covers an entire year's worth of physics curriculum and requires about three hours for completion. Review the questions to...