DiscoverE
Keep-a-Cube
Waxed paper, newspaper, or aluminum foil? Keeping an ice cube from melting may require one or more of these materials. Learners design a box that will provide insulation so an ice cube stays intact for at least 90 minutes.
Curated OER
Physical Science Review 5th Grade
In this review of physical science learning exercise, students use recall to answer multiple choice questions about electricity and chemical changes. Students answer 25 questions.
Mr. E. Science
Magnetism and Electromagnetism
The biggest magnet in the world is at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and can reach 100 tesla. By comparison, magnets that lift cars are about two tesla. The 11th presentation in this series covers magnetism, focusing on...
Mr. E. Science
Electric Charges and Current
Resistance is not futile, it is voltage divided by current. The presentation goes in depth covering electric charges, conductors, insulators, electric fields, static charges, and circuits. The lesson is the 12th in a series of 26.
Curated OER
2005 Grade 8 Science Released Test Questions
Here is a collection of 22 multiple-choice questions on topics from the physical and life sciences. Apparently they came from an 8th grade comprehensive science exam and have been released for public use. They may serve as a sufficient...
Curated OER
Conductors, Insulators, and Semiconductors
Young scholars will investigate the differences in conductivity of materials, design a variety of complete circuits, and observe the differences between the manner in which light is produced in an incandescent light bulb and an LED.
American Physiological Society
Feeling the Heat
How do the changing seasons affect the homes where we live? This question is at the forefront of engineering and design projects. Challenge your physical science class to step into the role of an architect to build a model home capable...
Curated OER
Electricity
Twenty-one slides cover all aspects of electricity; from electric charge, to protons, lightning, currents, the calculations for wire resistance, circuits, household devices, and fluorescence. The amount of detail and the range of topics...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Utah Open Textbook: 6th Grade Science
There are many interactions among living things and their surroundings. By completing a reading, scholars learn about the Earth, the moon, and the sun and how they relate to the solar system. They also investigate the basics of physical...
Curated OER
Icecream in a Baggie
Students apply their comprehension of colligative properties to real-world situations. They review the concepts of physical and chemical changes. Students are reminded that science is used extensively in food-production. They are...
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...
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...
Curated OER
Keeping Warm?
Fifth graders explore conductors and heat loss in different materials. In this Physical Science lesson plan, 5th graders will be measuring the temperature drop of water in four containers. The class will then discuss what an insulator,...
Curated OER
Grade 3-Physical Science Multiple Choice
In this physical science instructional activity, 3rd graders answer a set of 20 multiple choice questions about a variety of grade 3 concepts. Answers are included.
Curated OER
Design Project: Dual-Output AC-DC Power Supply
In this physics worksheet, students design an electric power supply and answer 5 short answer questions about it. They explain the functions of the different circuit components.
Curated OER
Energy Activities
Students conduct a variety of experiments related to solar energy, heating, cooling, gravity, physical insulation and wind. They consider how the experiments relate to energy and the consumption of energy and then participate in a class...
Curated OER
Electricity: Will It Conduct?
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
Scholastic
Study Jams! Heat
Raise the temperature in your class with this hot film! Cartoon teens discuss thermal energy, the conservation and transfer of energy, three methods of heat transfer, conductors, and insulators. The publisher effectively packed every...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
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...
CK-12 Foundation
Power Lines
How does electricity travel through power lines? The simulation demonstrates the how changes in voltage and resistance are related to the distance between power polls and the thickness of the cable. Scholars control three variables in...
Curated OER
Considerations in Heating a Home
Emerging engineers discover how important it is to conserve energy as fossil fuel supplies are being diminished. This is accomplished by working through a handout that explains energy requirements for heating a home during the winter....
Colorado State University
Why Does it Get Colder on a Clear Night than a Cloudy Night?
Clouds are nature's insulator! A lab investigation asks learners to use an infrared thermometer to measure differences in infrared temperatures. They find that pointing the thermometer at a cloud has a much different result than pointing...
Curated OER
Maintaining Body Heat
Students observe and compare heat loss in different objects with surface-to-volume ratios. They transfer this comparison to the physical characteristics of animals in their environment. They focus on how whales maintain their body heat.
Curated OER
Roller Coaster Physics
Students design a roller coaster that allows a marble to run the course as fast as possible. Students create an experimental roller coaster taking into account the steepness of the hills and the sharpness of the turns. Students use a...