Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Friction in Action

For Teachers 6th - 8th
There's no need to have friction among instructors regarding the resource. Pupils investigate how marbles and coins slide along different surfaces which gives them information to estimate coefficients of friction.
Activity
Anchorage School District

Roller Coaster Project

For Teachers 8th - 12th
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...
Activity
Exploratorium

Marshmallow Puff Tube

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Let physical science stars experience Newton's first law of motion by blowing marshmallows out of cardboard tubes! Using different lengths of tubing, they find that more force is needed to overcome increasing friction, and they have a...
Activity
It's About Time

The Mu of the Shoe

For Teachers 7th - 12th
What is mu? Emerging scientists explore the coefficient of sliding friction, or mu, and apply its concepts as they complete activities in the interesting lesson. They measure the sliding friction between soles of their own athletic shoes...
Activity
DiscoverE

Build a Bobsled Racer

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Host a design challenge of Olympic proportion! Junior engineers build their own bobsleds using simple materials. The activity focuses on kinetic and potential energy and how the center of mass affects motion on a downhill track....
Activity
Teach Engineering

Ramp and Review (for High School)

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform...
Activity
Curated OER

The Physics of Sports: An 8th Grade Physical Science Project

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Explore the relationship between sports and physics in a cross-curricular lesson. Middle and high schoolers prepare a multimedia presentation based on a chosen sport. They answer five physics vocabulary questions about how the laws of...
Activity
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Conservation of Energy

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
Activity
It's About Time

Run and Jump

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Has your class wondered how fast a human could run or how high they are capable of jumping? Help them understand these concepts as they explore acceleration and use an accelerometer to make semiquantitative measurements of acceleration...
Activity
Oregon State

World Map of Plate Boundaries

For Teachers 4th - 10th Standards
Young geologists piece together the puzzle of plate tectonics in an earth science lesson. Given a physical map of the world, they search for land formations that indicate the location of different types of plate boundaries.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Effect of Friction on Objects in Motion

For Students 6th - 8th
The funny thing about friction is that you couldn't get anywhere without it, yet it still acts to slow you down as you're getting there. Here is an easy project to measure the effects of friction.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Hovercraft Racers!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students gain first-hand experience on how friction affects motion. They build a hovercraft using air from a balloon to levitate a craft made from a compact disk (CD), learning that a bed of air under an object significantly reduces the...
Activity
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: Frictional Force Experiment

For Students 9th - 10th
A lesson about friction can be found on this website. Students will experiment to see how motion and frictional force affect the game of football.
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Frictional Forces

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students' will use a Dual range force sensor to measure the force required to pull a block across different surfaces. They will examine the results to see when more force is needed to move the block and understand the...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Sliding Textbooks

For Teachers 5th - 7th
In this culminating activity of the unit which highlights how forces play a role in engineering design and material choices, students explore and apply their knowledge of forces, friction, acceleration, and gravity in a two-part experiment.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: How Far?

For Teachers 7th - 9th
To learn how friction affects motion, students explore how different textures provide varying amounts of friction to objects moving across them. They build a tool to measure the amount of friction between a note card and various surfaces...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Ramp and Review (For High School)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this hands-on activity - rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide into a cup - the concepts of mechanical energy, work and power, momentum, and friction are all demonstrated. During the activity, students take measurements...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Ramp and Review

For Teachers 6th - 9th
In this hands-on activity - rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide into a cup - the concepts of mechanical energy, work and power, momentum, and friction are all demonstrated. During the activity, students take measurements...
Activity
Other

Center for Education Partnerships: The Marble Roll

For Students 3rd - 9th
In this Science-athon, students try to make their marble roll the farthest across a flat surface, using their knowledge of forces, motion, and energy to guide them through their apparatus design. Teachers must enroll online.
Activity
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Pendulum Lab

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive simulation that teaches about periodic motion, simple harmonic motion, and conservation of energy. Observe one or two pendulums to determine how the swing is influenced by the length of the string, the mass of the pendulum...
Activity
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Pendulum Lab

For Students 9th - 10th
Manipulate the mass of a weight and the length of string in this interactive pendulum simulation. Change the speed, friction, and gravity to make the pendulum swing change as measurements are displayed on the screen. Younger students can...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Do Submarines Need Fins?

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this science project, you can investigate how submarines use stabilizing fins to move forward. Exploring friction and buoyant force you will get closer to understanding how these large ships function. Research resources are included...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Car Collision Testing & Tradeoffs: Don't Crack Humpty

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Student groups are provided with a generic car base on which to design a device/enclosure to protect an egg as it rolls down a ramp at increasing slopes. During this activity, student teams design, build and test their prototype...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Wow! That Captures It!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students learn how motion capture (mo-cap) technology enables computer animators to create realistic effects. They learn the importance of center of gravity in animation and how to use the concept of center of gravity in writing an...

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