Teach Engineering
Accelerometer: Centripetal Acceleration
Scholars build robotic arms that swing back and forth and use them to collect velocity and acceleration data. To analyze the results, pupils compare data to the equations for angular velocity and centripetal acceleration.
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Teach Engineering
Equal and Opposite Thrust in Aircraft: You're a Pushover!
It's the law—every action requires a reaction, no matter how small. Pupils experience two demonstrations of Newton's third law of motion as it relates to thrust in the 10th segment of a 22-part unit on flight. Using their mathematical...
NASA
Egg Drop Lander
You have to crack a few eggs to make a good engineer! Working in small groups, young scholars design, build, and test devices that protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a ladder.
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...
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...
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...
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...
Sharp School
Newton’s Laws of Motion Project
After a review of all three of Newton's laws, physical scientists complete a choice project. They can create a book in which they collect pictures where the laws of motion are depicted, produce a PowerPoint presentation, or produce a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Accelerometer: Centripetal Acceleration
Students work as physicists to understand centripetal acceleration concepts. They also learn about a good robot design and the accelerometer sensor. They also learn about the relationship between centripetal acceleration and centripetal...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Magical Motion
Students watch video clips from the October Sky and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movies to see examples of projectile motion. Then they explore the relationships between displacement, velocity and acceleration, and calculate...
Other
Center for Education Partnerships: The Marble Roll
In this Science-athon, students try to make their marble roll the farthest across a flat surface, using their knowledge of forces, motion, and energy to guide them through their apparatus design. Teachers must enroll online.
Middle School Science
Middle School Science: Motion Notes
Personal site in which a teacher outlines a unit on motion. Probes through topics such as average speed, velocity, acceleration, speed, deceleration, force and more.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: My Solar System
An interactive simulation that teaches about motion, acceleration, and velocity by allowing students to build their own solar system and watch the effects of gravitational pull and how that changes with initial position, velocity, and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Mouse Trap Racing in the Computer Age!
Students design, build and evaluate a spring-powered mouse trap racer. For evaluation, teams equip their racers with an intelligent brick from a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Education Base Set and a HiTechnic acceleration sensor. They use...