Exploring Motion

Get the ball rolling with this upper-elementary science unit on forces and motion. Offering over three weeks of physical science lessons, this resource is a great way to engage the class in learning about simple machines, friction,...

Young scientists design a rocket to launch using Newton's Laws of Motion in order to discover for themselves the forces of motion. 

Hang a soda can from a string and watch it spin by the force created by water streaming out of slanted holes. This plan provides background information, detailed materials and procedures, discussion questions, a lab worksheet, and...

Up, up, and away! Take your classes on a physics adventure. Learners explore the concepts important for flight. They experiment with the Bernoulli Principle while learning the forces that act on airplanes in flight.

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...

Take a trip into outer space from the safety of your classroom. A great addition to the digital library of any science teacher, this reference offers a behind-the-scenes look at the research going at the International...

Do the laws of physics apply in space? Astronaut Randy Bresnik explores Newton's second law of motion in one part of the "STEM on Station" series. Then, learners explore the same concepts in the classroom by propelling a car weighted...

It turns out that some laws were definitely not meant to be broken! A short illustrative video explains why the first and second laws of thermodynamics prevent perpetual motion machines from actually moving perpetually — and why...

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...

Students observe fluid motion. In this Physics lesson plan, students explore the principles of Pascal, Archimedes, and Bernoulli. Students list their experiences with fluid movement.