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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Experimenting With Motion

For Teachers 8th - 10th
In this motion worksheet, young scholars design an experiment to investigate motion. They form a question, they develop a hypothesis, they design an experiment and then answer 4 questions about their experiment.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Call to Arms: Robotic Analogues for Human Structures

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Investigate deep sea discovery through the emerging technology being built.  In this physical science lesson, students analyze the different types of motion available in the human arm.  Students research educational websites discussing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy At Play

For Teachers 4th - 8th
If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Work and Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The first activity may not work for your class if you don't have access to an open area of 30 meters and two cars of different masses, but the remaining activities can be used in any physics course. They all involve the investigation of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Second Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Three memorable activities build on each other to give physics masters a firm grasp of Newton's Second Law. Pupils play with a lab cart on a flat surface and on an incline to confirm that force is equal to mass times acceleration. In the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Qualitative Examples of Conservation of Mechanical Energy

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Instructions for series of six activites, a reading of scientific literature, and a choice of six assessments await you in this physics resource. Well-written plans guide you in guiding your pupils to experiment with levers, pulleys,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Terminal Velocity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physics and Me

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders compare and contrast mass and weight. In this physics lesson, 6th graders calculate speed given distance and time information. They construct a rocket and relate this to Newton's 3rd Law of motion.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Linear Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers are able to build an understanding of linear motion. They are able to define and calculate the speed and acceleration of various objects. Students are able to differentiate betweeen instantaneous speed and average speed....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Graphing Your Motion"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the concepts of motion, velocity, and acceleration through graphing their own movement using LoggerPro. They explain the difference between speed and velocity using the weather vane example. They discover the difference...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transforming Energy

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Super detailed, this lesson will educate physical science learners about the flow of electrons. Begin by reviewing potential and kinetic energy with a moving pendulum, and then get them online to observe interactive websites about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Power Play

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Once your physical science stars have a grasp of the different forms of energy, use this resource to get them putting the energy to work. Small groups choose from seven different project options and work together to build an energy...
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Lesson Plan
The Science Spot

The Wave Exercise

For Teachers 6th - 9th
During a instructional activity on wave motion, physical science participants basically act out the waves as a group. Through their movements, the amplitude, speed, frequency, and wavelength are all identified. Ideas for modeling the...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Trebuchet Toss

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young engineers work in teams to design and build their own trebuchets according to certain criteria; they must be able to launch a mini marshmallow accurately into a pie tin. Background reading material, a planning sheet for trebuchet...
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Lesson Plan
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors

Marshmallow Catapaults

For Teachers 4th - 10th
After a brief lecture on levers, torque, projectiles, and the five-step engineering design cycle, young physical science learners or engineers build catapults out of craft sticks. This is an open-ended exploration of what works and what...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of Skateboarding

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are able to analyze gravity as an universal force. They are able to determine how the force of friction retards motion. Students are able to apply Newton's Laws of Motion ot the way the world works.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of Skateboarding

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students explore Newton's three laws, gravity, momentum, trajectory, projectiles, circular motion, and friction by observing and breaking down skateboard tricks. They view short video clips of Tony Hawk and explain the physics concepts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Projectile Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe projectile motion and calculate the speed of a baseball based on the time and distance traveled. They record the time, measure the distance, and draw the path of the ball's travel on a data table.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cartoon Laws of Physics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to Newton's Laws. They are shown excerpts from Road Runner, and students are asked to write new laws of their own, and then constrast them to the behavior of real world objects in motion, and to Newton's Laws. ...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Linear Motion

For Teachers 4th
For this fantastic physics and math lesson, student pairs create a ramp that will transport a rolling marble in order to learn about linear motion. Students use cardboard, straws, toothpicks, marshmallows, and paper clips in order to...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physics of Roller Coasters

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars design a roller coaster and demonstrate their knowledge of Potential and Kinetic Energy. They determine the average velocity a given marble travels on their roller coaster and apply their knowledge of various measurement...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motion in the Ocean

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How does the formation of currents and waves in the ocean happen? High schoolers will learn about the primary causes for ocean currents and waves by calculating a wave's amplitude and nautical mile speed. Then they will complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Circular Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research physical science by completing worksheets. For this gravity lesson, students read assigned text regarding the rotation of Earth and the gravitational force caused by the speed of which it rotates. Students complete a...