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Forces and Acceleration Unit
Young scholars investigate that an unbalanced force, acting on an object, changes it speed or path of motion or both, and know that if the force always acts toward the same center as the object moves, the objects path may curve into an...
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Slam On the Brakes!
Fifth graders study the concept of momentum and its application by Newton in his studies. They view a demonstration and complete an experiment with toy cars on a racetrack that shows them the properties of momentum and how velocity and...
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Was Kepler Correct?
Young scholars investigate the elliptical orbit around the Sun. They use the information gathered to measure the distance to the Sun from the closest orbital point and the farthest orbital point.
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Electricity and Magnets
In this physics review activity, students compare average and instantaneous speed, review Newton's laws, electricity, and magnets. This activity has 12 fill in the blank, 8 short answer questions, and 6 problems to solve.
LABScI
Kinematics: The Gravity Lab
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...
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Rocket Me into Space
Fourth graders study the concept of thrust and how it propels rockets into space. They discover why airplanes cannot travel into space while considering the engineering techniques use in designing rockets. They look at how space...
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Vectors
Students describe motion by the use of adding vectors. They identify the difference between the x and y components of vector quantities. Students are given the Paper Bridge Building handout and the instructions as to where to perform...
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Bobsled Challange
Students investigate the effects of materials on the friction between a "bobsled" and the track. They explore the effects of weight on the motion of the bobsled. Students design a bobsled for either fast or slow movement. They discuss...
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Newtonian Mechanics
Young scholars familiarize themselves, through teacher demonstration, with Gavendish's apparatus first used for experimentally determining the value of the Universal Gravitational Constant G, and calculate theoretical value of Earth's...
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Antacid Tablet Race
Students complete experiments to determine how rocket fuel is affected by surface area and temperature. They compare the reaction rates of antacid tablets. They discuss their results to complete the instructional activity.
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FORCES, MOTION, AND ENERGY
Eighth graders engage in a variety of activities in order to investigate the basic concepts of physics. They read and answer questions in a written text. This is only one type of activity that is part of many others.
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Measuring the Speed of a Wave
Students create an experiment in which they measure the speed of a wave and record the data in a graph. They work in small groups to write the procedure for the experiment and share it with another group for cross checking of the...
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Motion in a Circle
Students study about deriving centripetal acceleration for motion at constant speed around a circle.
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Motion in a Circle
Students explore uniform circular motion, and the relation of its frequency of N revolutions/sec with the peripheral velocity v and with the rotation period T. They examine how uniform circular motion is a type of accelerated motion.
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Rocketry in Motion
Students investigate why a balloon flies in one direction as air escapes in the opposite direction, which helps them understand the nature of rockets and fireworks. Individually and in teams, students conduct research to create a...
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#22 Frames of Reference: The Basics
Students explore the concept of frames of reference in physics.
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Frames of Reference: The Basics
Students learn the concept of frames of reference in physics. They examine how two frames of reference, each moving with respect to the other with a constant velocity v (constant speed, constant direction).
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Building and Launching Rocket Kits
Students, in groups, build and decorate rocket kits and then launch them.
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Project X-35
Students demonstrate rocketry principles through a cooperative, problem solving simulation. They work in teams to simulate the development of a commercial proposal to design, build, and launch a rocket.
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"Girls Only" Science Workshop
Students design sleds. For this engineering lesson, students collaborate to engineer and build a real working sleds from the materials provided. This lesson was originally designed to be taught to a group of female students.
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Pangaea Puzzle: Exploring the Tectonic Forces That Shape the Earth
Sixth graders follow in the footsteps of early scientists as they put the pieces of Pangaea back together and discovered the forces that create the variety of landforms and sea-floor features of our Earth.
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Rover Landing Design Challenge
Students examine the concepts of forces and motion. They work together to design protective devices for their egg rovers as they are dropped from a specific height. They record their observations and discuss.
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Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...
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Activity Two Teacher Page: Explosions
Learners identify variables that affect the system, and specify which variables are independent and which are dependent.