Curated OER
Space Science: Adventure is Waiting
These full-color handouts feature two activities. The first is a reading on comets, meteors, and meteoroids. Your space science learners will examine ten phrases and determine which of the three each characterizes. The second activity...
Curated OER
Blow-and-Go Parachute
Students design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...
Curated OER
Gravity Versus the Mighty Egg
Students design, revise and construct a method for protecting an egg from cracking when it is dropped from a height. They work in small groups to develop their protection method and then collect and analyze data as a class when each...
Curated OER
Gravity Launch
Young scholars examine how gravity affects launching rockets into space. In this physical science lesson plan, students review the concept of gravity and use an interactive online site, "Gravity Launch," to simulate a rocket launch.
PBS
Invisible Force
Investigate invisible forces. Young engineers design a setup that changes the direction of a steel ball using a magnetic force. The purpose of the setup is to model the gravitational pull of spacecraft by planetary bodies.
Curated OER
Gravity and Layers of Air
Students actively look and listen as their teacher provides transparencies to show how the atmosphere is made up of layers. In this atmosphere lesson plan, students discuss the atmosphere in terms of layers and how gravity pulls...
LABScI
Kinematics: The Gravity Lab
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...
Curated OER
Gravity - The Glue of the Universe
Students explore physics by conducting a class experiment. In this gravitational force lesson, students define several scientific terms associated with force. Students utilize a styrofoam cup and marbles to simulate a satellite crashing...
Curated OER
Fractions, Decimals, and Gravity
Young scholars discuss how weight is directly related to gravitational force on a planet. Students then choose Space Traveler as companion and compute how much their guide weighs on various planets, based on each planet's relative...
Curated OER
Gravity, Forces, and Inertia
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,...
Curated OER
Friction and Gravity
Seventh graders identify the factors that determine the strength of the friction forces when two objects push against each other. Describing the difference between weight and mass, they participate in experiments. They state the law of...
Curated OER
Gravity
Learners explore gravitational force. Through experimentation, students observe the acceleration of objects when they fall. They examine air resistance, and how the human body is attracted to the earth. Learners discover the...
Curated OER
Forces in Action
Students investigate different forces and draw arrows to signify specific directions of force. Students are then shown a brick and they are asked to draw a diagram which will include labels for the forces that are acting on the brick....
Curated OER
Force And Motion
Eighth graders investigate the concept of force and motion while conducting short class activities. They compare the differences of potential and kinetic energy while rolling objects on a ramp. Students also measure the distance that...
Curated OER
The Solar System and the Forces Behind It
Sixth graders discover why planets stay in orbit. In groups, they use everyday materials to examine the effect of gravity of objects and calculate how mass changes based on gravitational pull. To end the lesson, they discuss how...
Curated OER
Forces and Motion-The Downhill Racer
Learners calculate a toy car's velocity and acceleration. In this force and motion lesson, students build ramps and attach a dropper to a toy car, which is released down the ramp. Learners calculate and graph velocity and acceleration...
Curated OER
How Many Drops of Water Can Fit on a Penny?
Using a simple method, learners explore gravity, cohesion, and adhesion. They perform an experiment in which they determine how many drops of water can fit on a penny. Afterwards, they discuss their results.
Curated OER
What Makes Airplanes Fly?
Students examine force and conduct activities that model parachutes and helicopters. In this airplanes lesson students identify the forces that make airplanes fly higher and land.
Curated OER
Acceleration, Drag, Gravity, Motion, Forces, and Friction
Eighth graders build and run mousetrap cars in order to measure distance, time, and mass for their cars. They use these measurements to calculate average speed and kinetic energy, then create a slide show to visually explain how the car...
Curated OER
Gravity
Students perform inquiry in response to the question "Do objects fall at the same rate?", teacher candidates discuss a model experiment for secondary students to discover the answer, including recording and analyzing data.
Curated OER
Hanging Around
Students explore weight by building a spring scale and observing how it responds to objects with different masses. Each team of students can make their own spring scale by following steps which are specifically outlined in the plan. As...
Curated OER
Aerodynamics
Students discover the basic principles of aerodynamics, including the roles and identity of natural forces involved. They examine how the force of gravity is overcome by the curved shape of an airplane wing and air pressure.
Florida International University
Simulating Microgravity with Buoyancy
How do astronauts know how to live and work in a weightless environment? It doesn't come naturally! Junior physicists conduct experiments to examine the link between buoyancy and microgravity. Each activity illustrates a different aspect...