Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion, and...
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Motion, Forces, Energy and Electricity
What a wonderful way to explore motion and forces! Learners design a catapult, after watching a video and discussing types of catapults. This is a comprehensive and complete lesson with links to supplementary resources.
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Introduction to Physical Science
Students discuss Newton's laws of motion. In this motion instructional activity, students watch a video that explains Newton's laws. They play a marble game and watch for laws of motion and force.
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Fast and Slow Motion
Explore the world of motion and force with an activity for kindergarten and first grade. After determining how people can make balls or bikes move slower, kids use a cardboard tube and a marble to experiment with motion and speed. A...
K12 Reader
Converting Energy to Motion
Combine science and reading skills with a reading comprehension exercise. Kids read four paragraphs about energy conversion and answer some reading comprehension questions about the information they have read.
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Sports and Science
Using footballs, basketballs, tennis balls, and more, learners conduct experiments to illustrate Newton's Laws of Motion. The experiments are conducted outside, and require them to throw, kick, and hit a variety of balls. Your class...
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Force and Motion
Students experiment with force and motion. In this force and motion instructional activity, students test gravity using a variety of objects. Students rotate through a series of stations which use force, motion, friction, and inclines....
NASA
Pop Can Hero Engine
Hang a soda can from a string and watch it spin by the force created by water streaming out of slanted holes. This plan provides background information, detailed materials and procedures, discussion questions, a lab worksheet, and...
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Rules of Force and Motion
Young scholars view a video and complete experiments with force and motion. For this force and motion lesson, students examine small pieces and how they affect the motion of a toy car. Young scholars also experiment with sand paper,...
K12 Reader
How Things Move
As part of a comprehension exercise, kids read a physical science article about motion and then answer a series of comprehension questions based on the passage.
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Race the Track! Design Challenge
Students use the design process to investigate physical science. In this force and motion lesson, design a track to achieve a specified outcome. Students complete additional experiments with speed and distance. Students recognize the...
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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...
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Force and Motion - Part 2
Students test different objects such as dominoes, marshmallows, slides, and more to test their force, motion, gravity, friction, and the concept of matter. In this force and motion lesson plan, students understand that the force an...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Balloon Astronaut
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
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Be forceful!
Didn't some scientist develop rules about force and motion? Youngsters can experience physical science as they determine which picture shows the force of pushing or pulling. Tip: Ask learners if they can think of any unseen forces that...
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2nd Grade Physical Sciences
Second graders complete activities to measure motion and learn about the Earth's history. In this motion and Earth history instructional activity, 2nd graders discuss sound and complete a matching sound activity. Students then study the...
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What Does Motion Have to do with Sound?
Second graders investigate and explore sound energy. They investigate how the vibrational motion moves through matter in waves. Students describe sounds and vibrations. They observe that vibrational motion creates sounds. Students record...
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Falling Motion
Students design and conduct an experiment on Galileo's Rule of Falling Bodies. In this physics lesson, students collect and analyze data. They create a presentation and share it with the class.
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What Makes Thing Fly?
Second graders study lift, drag and thrust from a real flight instructor. In this physical science lesson students build and fly paper airplanes and experiment with variations and design.
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Motion and Force
This physics PowerPoint defines the concepts of motion and force. The slideshow consists of an explanation on how motion and force work and give students the chance to demonstrate motion and force through an experiment. The directions...
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Light Reflections
Students explore light. For this physical science light lesson, students display objects on a projection screen and investigate how light absorbs, refracts, transmits and reflects. Students discuss common features of light based on...
Star Date
Shadow Play
Three activities make up a solar system lesson that features the sun, its light, and the shadows it produces. Scholars step outside to discover the changes shadows make at different times of day, take part in a demonstration of how Earth...
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Action and Reaction
Students experiment with Newton's Third Law of Motion. In this physics and motion lesson plan, students complete two experiments to illustrate force and its equal and opposite reaction. Students first work in pairs to exert an equal...
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Spin the Saltine!
Students investigate chemical energy. In this physical science instructional activity, students blow on saltine crackers to demonstrate how chemical energy in food can be converted to motion. Students compare the saltine cracker...