Take a look at an organized physics course. The 34-section electronic textbook covers material in AP® Physics 1 and 2. Teachers use the text to supplement lectures and have the class work through the labs. Each section contains multiple...

The Environmental Protection Agency monitors sensors to track air pollution and set clean air standards. Enthusiastic young scientists use similar sensors to gather data in their area and then apply the gas laws and conservation of...

Energy has many forms ... but very few sources! How do we present this to young scientists? Explore the Definitions of Energy, PS3A, in a video about the Next Generation Science Standards. The narrator keeps it simple by relating each...

Warm up to the idea of solar energy. A instructional activity includes three activities that challenge scholars to apply knowledge in new ways. First, they learn to run an alarm clock without a battery by using solar energy. Next, they...

A fuel cell is where the jailer keeps gas guzzlers. Scholars review chemical reactions, chemical bonds, and chemical structure in order to apply these concepts. Participants construct fuel cell kits, using electrolysis to run the car and...

There has been a huge solar energy spill! Let's go outside to play in it. This lesson includes multiple experiments showcasing solar and wind energies. Scholars build a solar heater and an anemometer before testing the results. The...

This is what all of the excitement has been building up to! Young engineers create engineering drawings, use machines to manufacture their products, test, and evaluate their designs in the last step in the engineering design process.

Enough with the talking, let's build something! In the fifth step in the engineering design process, young engineers build a prototype to test their ideas. The lesson walks them through the process of evaluating it step-by-step....

Have you ever wondered what type of AP Physics investigations The College Board wants? This is the guide for you! Sixteen labs covering both Physics I and II will get you started and inspire you to meet the requirement of 25 percent of...

Ideal for your electricity unit, especially with middle schoolers, this lesson plan gets engineers using multimeters in electrical circuits to explore the relationships among voltage, current, and resistance. Older learners may even plot...

In collaborative groups, emerging engineers or environmental scientists plan and construct a water wheel or watermill that rotates for a total of three minutes. Everything you need to carry out this lesson is included: objectives,...

Waste not, want not! Science scholars explore manure as an alternative energy source through reading and experimentation. Groups construct their own biofuel digesters and observe the process of methane production. The teacher's guide...

Make those microbes warm up water. Pupils first investigate water pumps, then design a water circulation system that uses solar energy. A bioreactor in the system takes energy from compost and helps heat water.

Organic waste is a hot topic. The second of three installments in the Bioreactor Water Heating unit challenges pupils to create bioreactors that collect energy released from compost. After watching videos on the properties of water and...

Put empty milk jugs to good use. Scholars consider the characteristics they might change about a milk jug to improve light absorption. They design a passive solar water heater using the milk jug and then measure the temperature change in...

Let the wind take pupils to a new understanding of renewable energy. The fifth of seven parts in the A Community Powered by Renewable Energy unit has learners investigate wind energy. They find out why wind occurs, learn about windmills...

Things are heating up and expanding! A quick video lesson presents the concept of thermal expansion. It shows learners several examples of where they may experience thermal expansion and provides multiple applications of the principle as...

Let the solar cells fight each other for supremacy! Given a functional solar tracker that moves toward light, groups copy the design to build their own devices. They use two sets of solar cells that have reverse polarization, so that the...

What a bright idea! Working in groups, scholars design a solar phone charger by applying concepts from the unit. They use solar modules and buck and boost converters in their creations, which must be able to charge a phone after...

Is it possible to blow up a balloon without touching it? By placing a cold bottle and balloon system into hot water, groups demonstrate how thermal energy causes gas expansion. Scholars place the bottle in cold water and reverse the...