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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Astronauts Build Space Station Addition

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students read a story called Astronauts Finish Building Space Station Addition and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this space station lesson plan, students respond to literature by answering questions,...
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Catapults

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
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. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magnet Circus

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the properties of magnets by designing a device that can move as far as possible using only magnets to move it, and design a machine that will stay in motion for the greatest period of time.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freestanding Structures: A Tech Museum Floor Activity

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students attempt to design the tallest structure that they can with the given materials which are wooden dowels and rubber bands. They discuss the physics of their structure and how they would improve it the next time they built a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mini-Landslide

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore how different materials (sand, gravel, lava rock) with different water contents on different slopes result in landslides of different severity. They measure the severity by how far the landslide debris extends into model...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build A Borneo Glider!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students construct a paper glider. In this physics of gliding instructional activity, students first learn about Borneo and it's rainforest habitat. After students discover the way animals in Borneo glide from tree to tree, they use...
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

The Physics of Bridges

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Stability is key when building a bridge. Scholars explore the forces acting upon bridges through an analysis of Newton's Laws and Hooke's Law. The activity asks individuals to apply their learning by building a bridge of their own.
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Light, Matter and Energy

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Let Einstein's work shine the way. Pupils read about Einstein's iconic equation, E=mc^2, using a remote learning resource and see how ideas from other scientists such as Kepner, Curie, Galilei, and Newton led to its discovery. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Water?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine water's properties. They participate in hands-on activities to show the properties of water.
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PPT
Curated OER

Waves

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Although this was written to accompany a specific textbook, the information can illustrate wave motion for any advanced level physics course. The slides are simple, use plain but colorful fonts, and include diagrams and pictures to...
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Lesson Plan
Foundation for Water & Energy Education

Perpetual Flow Activity

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Set up a demonstration of how gravity can drive the perpetual flow of water during your hydro power unit. Science learners work in teams to make observations and formulate questions about how it works. They compare the model to what they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frisbee Physics

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explain how a Frisbee flies, why it's shaped he way it is and how fast and how far the Frisbee can go.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in Space: International Space Station

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the potential challenges of living in space.  In this investigative lesson students search the Internet to locate 16 nations that are working together to build the Independent Space Station, then they divide into groups...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Parachutes

For Teachers K - 8th
Pupils control the parachutes using arm movements. They follow directions while participating in games. Students explore the effects of wind on several objects. They study the effects of shape, size and weight on a parachute.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Torque Play

For Students 12th - Higher Ed
For this physics worksheet, students use torque to explain several very odd phenomena. They write the definition of torque and the relation between torque and change in angular momentum.
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Lesson Plan
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Teach Engineering

May the Force Be With You: Lift

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Get the class up and going with a lesson that discusses how airplane wings provide lift. Pupils use their knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle to develop an explanation of how it creates lift on airplane wings.
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PPT
Mr. E. Science

Forces

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
May the mass times acceleration be with you. The presentation covers forces, Newton's three Laws of Motion, momentum, and vectors.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the River Run

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the environment by reading a story in class. In this water formation instructional activity, students define environmental terms such as rivers, streams, gulf, oceans and lakes. Students read the story A River Ran Wild...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take a Leap!

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discuss the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They study artwork of various sculptors showing the concept of flight. They write a paragraph and design a papier-mache' sculpture that shows movement.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Harmonic Motion

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explain the theory of simple harmonic motion (SHM) by performing hands-on, practical application experiments.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Harmonic Motion

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study harmonic motion and its oscillation.  In this simple harmonic motion lesson students demonstrate a series of regular oscillations and explain the theory behind the experiment. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Care to Canoe?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers experience to balance with another student and maneuver in a two person canoe on still water. They analyze important aspects of canoeing including putting in, portaging and weight distribution. Students discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Erosion in Different Soils [Erosion Races]

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders review how erosion can happen by wind, water, and gravity which they studied in previous lesson plan. They attempt to discover if all soils erode at the same rate. In small groups, 4th graders experiment with three...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Makes a Kite Fly?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders compare the nature of forces of gravity, lift, thrust, and drag. They select proper materials for making a kite and attach a proper tail. Students interpret and summarize the observations made during the flight of the kites.