Curated OER
The Physics of Sports: An 8th Grade Physical Science Project
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...
University of Saskatchewan
Using Conservation of Energy to Determine Average Impact Force
Explore the center of gravity with your science class as they create a deadfall trap with common materials. They research the concepts of energy conservation and gravitational force before dividing into small groups to create a model of...
PBS
Hands-On Engineering Challenges to Bolster Your Electricity, Sound, and Force Units
Need some activities to go along with your unit? A collection of hands-on activities from PBS offers opportunities to add to your electricity, sound, and force units. The electricity activities revolve around building a...
Anchorage School District
Roller Coaster Project
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...
Exploratorium
Balancing Ball
Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Roller Coaster Mania!
Raise the energy level of your physical science class with this exciting hands-on activity. Applying their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy and Newton's laws of motion, young engineers use foam tubing and marbles to create...
It's About Time
The Mu of the Shoe
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...
Exploratorium
Falling Feather
Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...
It's About Time
Circular Motion
Lead your class in this exciting activity to learn more about motion and its importance. Pupils learn about a centripetal and why it is required to maintain a constant speed in a circulating moving mass. They apply the equation for...
Exploratorium
Marshmallow Puff Tube
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...
Teach Engineering
Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
Colorado State University
What Causes Pressure?
Are you feeling the pressure? Let loose a little with a kinesthetic activity that models molecular motion in a closed space! The activity varies conditions such as volume and temperature and examines the effects on molecules.
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How is Flowing Water an Energy Source? Activity C
Can the force of falling water through a tube vary by altering the diameter of the tube or its height? That is what physical scientists aim to discover in this activity, the third in successively more revealing activities on the power of...
It's About Time
Run and Jump
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...
DiscoverE
Slinky® Science
Toys are great for learning about physics. Scholars use Slinky® toys to study Newton's laws of motion and types of energy. After a little play, they then model longitudinal and transverse waves with the Slinky® toys.
Teach Engineering
Human Power
How many humans does it take to power a light bulb? The 10th part of a 25-lesson Energy Systems and Solutions unit has learners conduct an experiment to calculate power. They then use the results to determine how many classmates they...
Perkins School for the Blind
Friction
Friction is a force that can be felt, which means that learners with visual impairments can experiment to feel and understand the concept of friction. They slide a rock along a smooth table, and then they slide a rock across sandpaper,...
Teach Engineering
Magical Motion
Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
An Easy (Bake) Approach to an Edible NanoLab
You can make it if you bake it! Young scientists model electronic chip fabrication with an easy bake oven. They create a design to embed in their brownie "chips" and compare their models to wafer production in basic nanotechnology.
Teach Engineering
Magnetic Fluids
Teams work as material engineers to create ferrofluids, whose shape is influenced by magnetic fields. The activity, which is the fourth in the six-part series, has the teams create magnetic ink and use it to write, testing it with a...
It's About Time
Defy Gravity
Test the limits of gravity while encouraging full class participation with this thrilling lesson. Pupils investigate the meaning of work and how it is equivalent to energy. They explore the joule and apply it as a unit of work. They...
Exploratorium
Whack-a-Stack
Go wild as you hit a stack of wooden blocks to demonstrate Newton's first and second laws of motion. The blocks at the top of the stack stay put as you knock one at a time out of the bottom. Note, however, that you will need to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench Showcase: Physics, Electromagnetism
Students can use these simulations to understand concepts in electromagnetism. Simulations are available on the following concepts: Lorentz Force, The Hall Effect, capacitor, conductor, transistor, cyclotron, static electricity....