Take your class on the ride of their lives! Physical science scholars get an in-depth look at potential and kinetic energies in an amusement park-themed unit. Students research, design, and promote their own amusement parks,...

Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.

Students get up close and personal with principles of motion. In this physics lesson, students collect and analyze acceleration data on amusement park rides. Students use CBLs to collect data in this lesson.

High schoolers apply their knowledge of the physics principles of force, energy and motion to researching the physics behind amusement park rides.

Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....

Young scholars learn how a pendulum works in the concept of an amusement park ride. In this pendulum instructional activity, students are introduced to Newton's first law of motion and how it works in an amusement park ride. Continuous...

Students simulate the development of an underwater amusement park after reading background on Coral Reef State Park. They decide which factors they would need to consider such as the ocean floor, currents, wave patterns and water...

High schoolers distinguish between kinetic and potential energy. They recognize that energy can change from one form to other forms. They identify and describe several forms of energy.

Twelfth graders use a web site to investigate roller coaster physics. In this mathematical modeling lesson, 12th graders are grouped according to their performance on a test. Each group is given an activity to complete on a web site...

Navigate the ups and downs of learning about energy. Future engineers consider how potential and kinetic energy apply to roller coasters. They design a roller coaster of their own and then use computer design software to showcase their...

Young scholars name and recognize six types of simple machines. They use their research to design an amusement park ride that features different types of simple machines. Students create a brochure about their ride and how it works. ...

To go or to not to go — the question for a mission to Mars. This resource provides details for a possible manned mission to Mars. Details include a launch schedule, what life would be like on the surface, and how the astronauts would...

Students study kinetic and potential energy. In this energy lesson, students in grades K-2 understand the differences between kinetic and potential energy. Students in grades 3-5 demonstrate that kinetic and potential energy. Students in...

Emerging engineers work in teams to design pipe insulation roller coasters for marbles that meet specific parameters. They are required to label along the track the areas where kinetic and potential energy are highest and lowest, where...

Sixth graders explore the concept of inequalities and how to solve them in the realm of integers. The instructor would benefit from using a number line and reviewing integers before using this lesson.

Students examine living and non-living things in their environment. They identify trees, plants, and grasses in their neighborhood and those that originate in Illinois in this unit of lessons.

Students investigate gravity.  In this weightless lesson students complete a lab activity about how a free fall might effect how one perceives gravity.

First graders explore movement and motion. For this motion lesson, 1st graders how objects can move as well as how the Earth is in constant motion and the force of gravity. Students complete a coloring sheet.

Learners examine the concept of angular momentum and its correlation to mass, velocity, and radius. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, conduct an experiment with rotational inertia, angular momentum, and rotation speed by making...

Students practice their mapping skills by creating an accurate map of their schoolyard using an aerial photo from the National Map web site. Students include legends, a scale, and a north arrow on their maps.

Students use a coffee cup to demonstrate weightlessness. After a lecture/demo, students read an article on free-fall. They perform a simple experiment which helps them explain the concept of weightlessness.

You've got to pump it up! Using the equations for projectile motion and Bernoulli's Principle, class members calculate the water pressure in a water gun. The pupils collect data on the number of pumps and distance traveled in order...

The classic egg-drop experiment gets a new bounce with an activity that asks pairs to design a lander similar to one used to land a rover on Mars within a fixed budget. The activity provides a great introduction to the idea of...