Curated OER
The Physics of Flight
Three activities allow young flight engineers to understand the 4 principles of flight (weight, lift, thrust, and drag), to construct a glider, and to create a propeller. Multicultural history and literature are integrated by reading...
Curated OER
Unit V: Worksheet 2 - Constant Force
Physics learners studying force and acceleration practice solving eight problems with this assignment. They calculate acceleration and deceleration, net force, and distances required for stopping a moving object. Kinematics equations and...
Exploratorium
Tired Weight
You don't need a scale to determine weight. This activity provides a way to use the concepts of air pressure and surface area to determine the weight of a vehicle by calculating the amount of weight each tire supports.
Teach Engineering
May the Force Be With You: Lift
Get the class up and going with a activity that discusses how airplane wings provide lift. Pupils use their knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle to develop an explanation of how it creates lift on airplane wings.
Curated OER
Lifting Weights
Eleventh graders identify components of physical fitness. They identify 4 advantages of lifting weights. They respect each other while training in the weight room and create their own weight lifting routine.
Curated OER
Boat Safety and Water Sports - Lesson 9 - Conditioning for Water Skiing
It takes muscle strength and muscle endurance to get up on a water ski or wake board, and to stay up. Lesson 9 out of this 22 lesson unit is about conditioning. A resource link at the bottom of the page allows you to view all the lesson...
Curated OER
The Physics of Flight
Students discuss how the invention of flight changed the way people live today. In groups, they compare and contrast the differences between weight, lift, thrust and drag. Using these principles, they create a glider and propeller with...
Curated OER
Weight Training: Lifetime Fitness
Learners research the relationship between physical activity and the prevention of illness, disease and premature death. Students understand that working out regularly will increase muscular strength, endurance and improve many areas of...
PBS
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind energy is making a comeback recently, and classes will want to take part! A hands-on lesson asks groups to build their own windmill that will lift a cup with varying weight. They use their windmill designs to experiment with angles,...
Teach Engineering
Balsa Glider Competition
Change one variable and try again. Teams build basic balsa gliders and collect data on their flight distances and times. Through collaboration, the team decides on two modifications to make to the basic design and collect data for the...
WindWise Education
How Does a Windmill Work?
Can my windmill pick up a weight? Given the same set of materials, groups design and build the most efficient windmill. On the first day, groups concentrate on getting a windmill to spin, while on the second day, they modify their...
Curated OER
Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners 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
Work and Power
In this work and power learning exercise, learners complete a crossword about units of power and energy. Students complete 12 blanks in the crossword.
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
Weight Lifter - An Air Pressure Experiment
First graders participate in a study of air pressure in which the investigate if air has the strength to lift heavy objects. They work in teams to develop a hypothesis about whether air in bags would be able to lift a stack of books....
Purdue University
Healthy Body Image: A Lesson Plan for Middle School Students
This is a very valuable lesson for middle schoolers on the importance of maintaining a healthy body image through diet, exercise, and positive mentality. The resource includes four lesson plans. The first two plans outline the physical...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Pulley'ing Your Own Weight
Students experiment with common objects such as spools, string and soap to determine how pulleys make it easier to move large objects. They look at the difference between fixed and movable pulleys. They examine the many uses engineers...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity A
Environmentally friendly engineering teams construct a water wheel and experiment with its speed and the resulting amount of weight it can lift. Consider following this activity with two more of the same title by the same publisher when...
Exploratorium
Antigravity Mirror
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's super student! Physical science stars can fly during a unit on light as they see the reflection of one leg in a mirror, behind which the other holds them up.
Curated OER
The Way Levers Work
Fifth graders discover the rules by which the lever slants and balances. They determine that there are a great many tools that employ the lever principle even in their ordinary environments. They consider how to use objects easily...
Curated OER
Volume and Mass: Identify the Attribute
Students rotate through five studying stations related to the attributes of volume and mass. They manipulate objects to explore mass, compare two masses by pushing and lifting, pack materials and fill containers, and pour liquids from...
Curated OER
Wheeling It In!
Students use everyday materials (milk cartons, water bottles, pencils, straws, candy) to build a small-scale transportation device that incorporates the wheel and axle and the lever. They race their carts/trucks, measure distance, time...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
Curated OER
Strength
Students participate in static and dynamic activities to develop muscle strength and balance. Free weights are used to work on shoulder, bicep, and tricep muscles. Locomotor skills of hopping, jumping, leaping, skipping, and galloping...