DiscoverE
Build a Spinning Top
There's no spin needed to describe the usefulness of a dizzying resource! Using paper plates, DVDs, wooden skewers, and pencils, learners work in teams to create spinning tops. The longest-spinning top wins.
DiscoverE
Art and Engineering Activity Packet: Grades 6-8
Build an appreciation of engineering. Pupils in grades 6-8 learn about science and engineering in a set of three engaging activities. They build spinning tops, construct wind structures, and create recycled paper as part of an engaging...
National Association for Sport & Physical Fitness
Indoor Physical Activity Ideas for Kids!
Rainy day schedule doesn't mean you can't stay fit! Use a collection of indoor physical activities during periods of inclement weather, substitute teaching days, or for those afternoons when your class just wants to move around!
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tinkering with Tops
Get kids' heads spinning by challenging them to design a top that will rotate for a minimum of 10 seconds without leaving a 30-cm circle. Groups of learners collaborate through a planning stage, testing stage, and evaluation stage. Some...
TRAIN Educational & Community Services
Multicultural Activities
From catching stars developed by African pygmy tribes to chop stix pick-up or the Hanukkah dreidel, use this list of diverse multicultural activities to help your learners draw connections to unique cultures of the world.
Curated OER
Toothpick Tops
Students assembly tops and name them 1 - 12 so that they can compare their results. They guess which top they think will spin the best and then record data on "Toothpick Top" table. Using a stopwatch or clock to measure and record the...
PAW Scotland
Life Cycle Spinner
Your learners can make a spinner that shows each phase of the life cycle. They'll draw or glue images that illustrate each phase of the life cycle, and then they'll cut out the top circle to create a spinner.
Curated OER
Spin Art
The best part about spin art is that is demonstrates the concept of centrifugal force. Explore the magical spin of gravity as you make colorful art. This lesson idea is short, very simple, and requires a spin art machine.
NASA
Roving on the Moon
Build a rover for pennies in a fun-filled activity! Young engineers design, build, test, and evaluate a lunar rover model. Using rubber bands, plastic straws, and cardboard, teams collaborate to make a rover model with spinning wheels....
Curated OER
Top Quark Lab
Learners find the mass of the top quark. In this physics lesson, students create a vector diagram from a given set of data. They discuss their calculations and findings in class.
Scholastic
Dreidel Game and Song
The dreidel song, or "I Have a Little Dreidel," is a fun traditional song for the season of Hanukkah. Teach your class how to play the dreidel game with an activity that includes the lyrics to the classic song.
Illustrative Mathematics
Tilt of Earth's Axis and the Four Seasons
Geometry meets earth science as high schoolers investigate the cause and features of the four seasons. The effects of Earth's axis tilt features prominently, along with both the rotation of the earth about the axis and its orbit about...
Curated OER
Beyond the AB Pattern in Dance
Learners demonstrate various patterns using dance. In this expressive arts instructional activity, students are led in a warm-up to demonstrate the AAB pattern, which includes spinning and jumping. Learners are broken up into groups and...
Curated OER
Piece by Piece
Students study quilts. In this history/geometry quilt lesson, students discover the history behind quilt making and get a chance to make quilt blocks of their own. They work independently to make a quilt block out of construction paper...
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: Earth's Rotation
After completing the activity, "Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year," zoom in on Earth's rotation using the same simulation setup and this outline. Each class member dons a map of the Western Hemisphere and plays the part of...
Curated OER
May the Force be with You -- All about Force and Gravity
Here is a fabulous set of teacher's notes that will make your next hands-on gravity and force lab fun and interesting. These notes provide you with three activities that allow children to make and test hypothesis regarding force,...
It's About Time
Building an Electric Motor
Rev your motor with a hands-on activity about electricity. Learners build their own electric motor before reading a handout and answering some questions.
Actis
Handling Data: Probability, Tree Diagrams
Clean, but captivating, two online simulations demonstrate probability for middle schoolers. They can choose the number of coins and tosses and watch as the results pile up. They can choose from a variety of spinner types and the number...
Curated OER
Arts in a Spin Qualities of the Baroque Style
Students examine the qualities of Baroque style by viewing a video about Bach. They listen to music of the era and explore the characteristics of excessive ornamentation, contrast and tension. They complete the included worksheets.
Curated OER
Spiders
Young scholars experience the life a spider through several cross-curriculum activities that address multiple learning styles. In this cross-curriculum lesson, students listen to The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle and toss string in a...
Curated OER
Earth, Sun and Moon
Young scholars explore, experiment and study how the Earth orbits the Sun once a year and how the moon takes approximately 29 days to orbit the Earth. They access an online activity to examine the process of how the Sun is at the center...
Curated OER
The Magnetometer
Physical or earth science pupils prepare a magnetometer by inducing magnetism into a pair of straight pins. As the pins hang from a thread, they can be used to detect the magnetic field or poles of a magnet. They could also be used as a...
Curated OER
Using Algebra
Sixth graders explore mathematics by completing equations in a math notebook. They will collaborate in small groups to complete different algebra problems and write their work down in a notebook, which they show their teacher. Then they...
Curated OER
Scarf Juggling
Learners participate in an activity that promotes self-confidence, concentration and improves hand-eye coordination. They choose a scarf to throw up into the air and catch with one hand and then the other hand. Stimulation of the brain...