Curated OER
Amusement Park Physics
Students get up close and personal with principles of motion. For this physics lesson, students collect and analyze acceleration data on amusement park rides. Students use CBLs to collect data in this lesson.
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"Go-Car" Lab
Learners construct a car based on directions given. In this physics lesson, students calculate average speed using distance and time information. They collect data and create a graph of distance vs. time.
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Changes in Force, Motion, and Energy
Eighth graders construct various machines and compare the work done by them.
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Rectilinear Motion
Twelfth graders rewrite word problems using algebraic expressions. In this calculus lesson plan, 12th graders calculate the velocity, time and acceleration while analyzing real life scenarios. They solve problems related to when the...
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Scientific Inquiry: Periodic Motion
Students construct their own pendulum. In this physics lesson, students design an experiment to find the factors affecting its period. They formulate a conclusion based on experimental data.
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Stick-Slip Movement
Ninth graders operate a model to observe the type of motion that occurs at a fault during an earthquake. They explore the effects of several variables. Students measure movement, calculate averages and plot and graph information.
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Picket Fence Free Fall
Students measure acceleration using a Picket Fence and a Photogate. In this physics instructional activity, students drop an object and measure the acceleration of the object free falling. They log their data using the TI.
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Sand in Bottles
Eighth graders calculate the speed of bottles as they roll down a ramp with varying amounts of sand inside. Using their data, 8th graders estimate speed of three labeled bottles with different amounts of sand and compare those results...
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Tractor Construction
Students working in small groups will build tractors. They must design a tractor that is able to pull various weights.
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More Power to You
Students construct a simple galvanometer in order to detect the presence of an electric current as well as determine the amount of the current. Activity is divided into two parts, first part as group work and second as individual.
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Simple Machines: The Wede & Lever
Students describe how wedge and lever makes work easier. In this physics lesson, students analyze experimental data by creating a graph to see the trends. They calculate the work done and mechanical advantage of these simple machines.
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Full of Hot Air
Students investigate technology and its many designs to make our lives easy. In this science lesson, students build a hot air balloon and answer specific questions about weight and rides in the hot air balloon. They analyze their data...
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Volume of Gas
Eighth graders investigate the effect of temperature on the volume of a gas in a closed container. They measure the height of the water in their beaker/container, conduct their experiment, and create a graph to illustrate their data.
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Pendulum Lab in 9th Grade Physical Science
Ninth graders conduct experiments to determine what affects the rate of a pendulum's swing. Working in small groups, they identify an independent variable to study and create an experiment to test their hypothesis. When tests are...
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Propellers, Forces and Energy
Students construct a model airplane, measure distance, and calculate velocity. In this creative lesson students work in groups to build a model and use it to calculate distances and velocity.
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Big Wheels Keep on Turning
Eleventh graders work in groups and investigate how force determines the speed and distance then they view the video, "Math Vantage #7: What's Your Angle?." They are given a real life problem to solve using speed, ramps, angle, incline...
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Friction Flyers
Students explore the principles of magnetism and friction. They complete an interactive puzzle on the Gizmos and Gadgets computer software, construct a vehicle, build and modify ramps and vehicles to produce various outcomes, and...
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Acceleration 1
In this acceleration worksheet, students use weights to increase the mass affecting the force on moving objects. Students plot a graph of their data and answer 3 questions about how the acceleration of the toy skateboard used in the...
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Surface Friction and Wear Characteristics of Common Materials
Students identify the factors affecting friction. In this physics lesson, students construct their own rocket car and race them. They graph the average speeds and discuss how lubricants affect friction between rubbing surfaces.
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Rocket Angles
Eighth graders create rockets that be launched at varying angles to determine which angle is best to launch at for the longest distance.
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Earthquake Patterns
Learners identify and interpret the cyclical nature of the Parkfield, California earthquakes. They then investigate and graph earthquake occurrences on the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault and then on the Hayward fault in order to...
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Go Car, Go!
Students design and build their own car. In this physics lesson, students collect data to determine the speed of the car. They plot the data on the graph analyze the relationship between variables.
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Numerical Determination of Drag Coefficients
Students create a video of an object falling with a drag. In this physics lesson, students calculate drag coefficient using data from Logger Pro. They calculate velocity and acceleration of the object.
University of Colorado
Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...