Lesson Plan
University of Wyoming

Free Fall…From SPACE!/Nanotechnology in the Classroom

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Provide the details about Felix Baumgartner's sky jump from the far reaches of our atmosphere, 39,045 meters up! Then get your physics free fallers to evaluate the factors that played a role in his acceleration, the time to reach maximum...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 3: Acceleration and Force

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A nine-page physics resource supports your activity on acceleration. A step-by-step lesson plan walks you through the materials you need, the background information, steps for leading experimentation, and the explanation of the results....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free Fall

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Pupils investigate the law of gravity and how an object can accelerate while going through a free fall. They examine the influence of air resistance and how it can influence the momentum of an object. The activity contains background...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picket Fence Free Fall

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students measure acceleration using a Picket Fence and a Photogate. In this physics lesson, students drop an object and measure the acceleration of the object free falling. They log their data using the TI.  
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Way Things Fall

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore concept of acceleration and motion under the influence of gravity, starting with free fall and ending with motions that start out with both horizontal and vertical initial velocities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free Fall Graphing Exercise

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders practice their graphing skills in an exercise about acceleration due to gravity. Lesson opens with a demonstration of acceleration due to gravity and a brief discussion. Students complete a worksheet and go over answers...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity Gets You Down

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners investigate the force of gravity and how it effects different objects that are put into acceleration when applied the experiment of free falling. They drop different objects that have a variety of masses and some that cause air...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravitational Acceleration

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the interdependence of mass and gravitational acceleration using computer simulation. In this physics lesson, students derive the formula for acceleration due to gravity. They calculate air resistance on falling...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity Gets You Down

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design an experiment to investigate how objects with different masses fall. For this physics lesson, students predict how these objects will fall in a vacuum tube. They write a report explaining experimental results and conclusion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weightlessness

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students predict the behavior of coffee in a cup while it is dropped during a demonstration. They relate their observations to the weightless conditions that astronauts experience in space and discuss the concept of free-fall.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity: It's GREEEAAATTT!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students calculate effects of gravitational force on planets, discuss the effects of weightlessness on the human body and describe and demonstrate how objects in a state of free fall are accelerated by gravity at an equal rate.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Way Things Fall

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students see that light and heavy objects fall at the same rate, as established experimentally by Galileo. They see that falling objects, and balls rolling down an incline, tend to accelerate at a constant rate a. Their velocity...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weightlessness

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forces and Motion

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars build parachutes for chicken eggs. In this physics lesson, students describe the forces acting on a falling object. They predict which of the three parachute models they made has the best chance of keeping the egg intact...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Velocity and Acceleration

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders look at local speed limits and traffic controls and see if they are reasonable. They plot the displacement and time to represent velocity, develop a plan for improving the current system, and organize experimental...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physics: Bounce - Projectile Motion and Collisions

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students conduct and observe experiments in Newtonian mechanics, kinematics, and projectile motion. They analyze the motion of a ball rolling off a table, falling, and then bouncing. Students answer a series of questions analyzing the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Force Counterforce

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers hypothesize what forces affect the motion of a falling body. In this physical science lesson, students create diagrams and illustrations to support their hypothesis. They perform the experiment and record observations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson-Mass and Weight

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Student identify the three stationary positions, on the Earth, on the Moon, and in a house floating atop the cloud layers of Jupiter. They also identify the three orbiting positions, orbiting the Earth, orbiting the Moon, and orbiting...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bloodstain Pattern Simulations: A Physical Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students receive bloodstain pattern evidence from a crime scene. They answer a series of questions through inquiry, observation, measurement, and analysis. Pupils complete this challenge, by reconstructing the evidence through four...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Modeling with Quadratic Functions (part 1)

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Relevance is key! The resource applies quadratic modeling by incorporating application of physics and business. Pupils work through scenarios of projectile motion and revenue/profit relationships. By using the key features of the graph,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Projectile Motion Demonstration

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students dicusss Newton's First Law of Motion. They calculate a projectile moving horizontally and vertically at different intervals. They particpate in an experiment in which the projectile is at an angle. They record and discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weight A Minute

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students watch a video and engage in hands-on activities which introduce scientific information made real through re-cognition and understanding the phenomena of gravitational force and how it impacts life on our planet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Galileo: His Times & Beliefs

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study Galileo and his scientific discoveries. They complete a series of experiments/model constructions, using 17th century equipment and procedures, to "recreate," demonstrate and explore the various discoveries of Galileo.
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Catapults

For Students 4th - 8th
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.