What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and...

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...

The color of the sky depends on the time of day. Young scholars experiment with scattering different wavelengths of light to recreate the color of the sky. They observe both the longer blue wavelengths and the shorter red and orange...

Middle schoolers identify and define that invisible UV rays can be harmful. Then they explore the effects of UV radiation on objects that react UV rays and what products are most effective in blocking UV rays. Students also make...

Students design an experiment to investigate how light reflects. For this physics lesson, students apply the scientific method in conducting the experiment. They collect data and formulate a conclusion.

Students explore physics by experimenting with classic toys. In this physical science lesson, students utilize gliders, energy balls, bouncing balls, marbles and other toys to explore how they work. Students explore each toy at a work...

Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...

Students work with a real optical spectrum of a gamma ray burst afterglow taken at the Keck Observatory. They measure the shifts of spectral lines, deduce the velocity of the astronomical object, and then use Hubble's Law to get its...

Students address common misconceptions concerning reflection, light and mirrors. They investigate light reflection in mirrors and determine how light is transferred to the eye. In addition, they make predictions and then test them...

Students investigate aircraft design to learn many concepts of physics. In this aircraft design lesson, students use balsa wood and styrofoam to build an aircraft based on their study of wing designs, aviation, and through the use of an...

Build a spectrometer to analyze properties of light. Scholars examine the spectrum from CDs and DVDs from two different light sources. Using the spectrum, they work to identify different elements.

Students explore the concepts of light waves and sound waves. In this physics lesson, students complete activities that require them to investigate how light and sound waves travel.

Seventh graders experiment with white light, plane mirrors, and curved mirrors in order to demonstrate the physical principles of living systems. In this physical principles lesson plan, 7th graders take 3 days to discover what happens...

Students collaborate in heterogeneous groups with each student having a different role. They comprehend the relationship between the frequency and wavelength of light. They record their observations in a table that is included on this...

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...

Pupils explain the mole concept and use this concept to prepare chemical solutions of particular molarities.

Seventh graders discuss how energy is transformed from one form to another. In this physics lesson, 7th graders design and build their own hydro generator. They identify the factors that affect its energy production.

Students study hummingbirds and how they use Newton's law.  In this motion lesson students complete several activities and view videos of hummingbirds. 

Jell-O® can help model the transmission of light through fiber optic cables. Young scientists use the jiggly dessert to make a waveguide to transmit a laser beam from one point to another. Their models help them learn the function...

Students gain a conceptual comprehension of the functioning of the Human Eye in relation to optics and optical vision correction. They explore optics with light sources and various lenses, relating these to visual acuity, accommodation,...

Students use a variety of objects to test for ability to "stick" to a magnet. They perform an experiment to see that electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects. They discover magnets attract and repel...

Students examine the physical properties of matter. They identify and classify a variety of objects based on their physical properties.

Eighth graders draw the paths of the planets in the solar system. In this astronomy lesson, 8th graders calculate speed of objects using distance and time information. They research about the work of scientists in the 16th and 17th century.

Fifth graders explore electricity. For this electricity lesson, 5th graders experiment with open and closed circuits. Students determine how to properly connect a battery and bulb to illuminate the bulb.