Have some physical science fun when studying the center of gravity or center of mass. Simply have balancing artists stand a dowel on one finger and keep it from falling over! A lump of clay is added and moved up along the dowel over a...

Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...

Is it possible to defy gravity? Not really. With force and inertia, we can act against it for a little while, but, eventually, gravitational force will pull us back to Earth. The relationships among mass, force, and inertia are all...

Find your center—or at least the center of a piece of cardboard! A hands-on activity has pupils use the plumb-line method to find the center of an irregular section of cardboard. They follow the activity with a quick assessment on the...

Young engineers consider how to apply accelerometers and sensors to help prevent falls in elderly people. They consider forces of motion and gravity as part of the engineering design process.

Why do many tightrope walkers use a balancing pole? The simulation explores the benefits of balancing poles and the features that are most important. Pupils control the pole length, pole mass, pole stiffness, and the initial angle of...

Varignon's Theorem, or the Principle of Moment, relates Euclidean geometry to physics. The seventh lesson in an 11-part series challenges scholars to figure out the center of gravity, then determine the weight of a meter rule using the...

When an object, such as a boat, has a low center of gravity, it is more stable. In the first lesson of an 11-part series, scholars use plumb lines to determine the center of gravity in irregularly shaped objects. After practicing, a...

Introduction your class to famous astronomers with a presentation that also covers Newton's Laws of Gravitation, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, both uniform and nonuniform gravitational fields, and how to calculate the gravitational...

Explore the center of gravity with your science class as they create a deadfall trap with common materials. They research the concepts of energy conservation and gravitational force before dividing into small groups to create a model of...

Turn your pupils into engineers who are able to use scientific principals to design a ship. This long-term project expects pupils to understand concepts of density, buoyancy, displacement, and metacenter, and apply them to constructing a...

Experiment with the center of gravity by stacking blocks in a way that appears to defy its force. This is a fascinating demonstration that you can use when teaching about gravity, forces, or balance. 

Between the pull of gravity and the push of air pressure, it's a wonder animals can balance or move at all. With a hands-on lesson plan about the center of gravity, learners discuss their own experiences with the topic, then work with...

Students investigate the effect that weight has on rocket flight. They construct a variety of straw-launched rockets that have different weights, observe what happens when the weight of a rocket is altered by reducing its physical size...

Second graders sped the day exploring about balance by playing with and making balancing toys. They discover how varying the amount and position of mass affects the toys' balance. Pupils explore gravity and balance while playing with the...

The class examines graphs in the form r = F(¿¿) in polar coordinates (r, ¿¿), in particular with the circle, ellipse and other conic sections. They determine the nature of an ellipse by studying the role of the semimajor axis and...

Students work with boxes and weights to find the center of gravity. In this simple center of gravity experiment, students find success in using weights to move the center of gravity. Students will be assessed at the end of the lesson as...

Students creat a ramp using cardboard and tape. They follow directions to perform an experiment to determine the degree of tilt needed to cause an empty milk carton to tip over. Students discuss their results in terms of center of gravity.

Students examine how motion capture technology allows computer based animators to design realistic effects in animation. They study how the center of gravity contributes to animation and how to use the center of gravity to write an...

Cut milk cartons in half to make boats and let investigators attempt to sink them. They add dividing walls and observe what happens if marbles are put into only one of the newly formed compartments. Vocabulary is provided: buoyant force,...

Students identify an object's center of gravity. In this physics lesson, students use two metal forks, modeling clay, toothpick, and a drinking glass to balance the forks on the glass. Students use the angle of the forks to spread the...

In this science investigation learning exercise, students learn about balancing points and center of gravity by making a cardboard acrobatic clown using the directions and pattern provided.

Seventh graders determine the center of gravity of an object. They get card stock objects to balance on pencil eraser and a meter stick to balance with same # of weighted string(s) on each side. They get meter stick to balance with...

Students investigate the effect that fins have on rocket flight. They construct two paper rockets that they can launch by blowing through a straw, one with fins and one with wings, and observe and record the results of the rocket flights.