University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Forces in One Dimension
Use this simulation to see the results of applying a force to move an object. Analyze forces and friction using graphs.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Energy Skate Park
Explore kinetic, potential, and thermal energy as you send a skateboarder along several pre-built tracks, then design your own. Charts and graphs show the distribution of the different forms of energy, illustrating how the total energy...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Energy Skate Park
Learn about conservation of energy with a skater dude. Build tracks, ramps, and jumps for the skater and view the kinetic energy, potential energy and friction as he moves.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Forces and Motion: Basics
Explore the forces at work when pulling against a cart, and pushing a refrigerator, crate, or person. Create an applied force and see how it makes objects move. Change friction and see how it affects the motion of objects.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Friction
Learn how friction causes a material to heat up and melt. What happens on an atomic level when you rub two objects together?
Cornell University
Cornell University: Cornell Center for Materials Research: Friction
A collection of experiments where young scholars can learn about how friction works and affects the physical world. At the end, students design a tortoise to win by slowing it down using friction. Lesson includes explanation of the...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Friction
In the following interactive students will begin to discuss the general characteristics of friction and describe the various types of it. They will also calculate the magnitude of static and kinetic friction.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Mint Mobiles
Students design, build and test model race cars made from simple materials (lifesaver-shaped candies, plastic drinking straws, Popsicle sticks, index cards, tape) as a way to explore independent, dependent and control variables. They...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Hovercraft Racers!
Students gain first-hand experience on how friction affects motion. They build a hovercraft using air from a balloon to levitate a craft made from a compact disk (CD), learning that a bed of air under an object significantly reduces the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: It Takes Two to Tangle
Students explore the theme of conflict in literature. They learn the difference between internal and external conflict and various types of conflicts, including self against self, self against other, and self against nature or machine....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Watch It Slide!
Students use inclined planes as they recreate the difficult task of raising a monolith of rock to build a pyramid. They compare the push and pull of different-sized blocks up an inclined plane, determine the angle of inclination, and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Sliding and Stuttering
Students use a spring scale to drag an object such as a ceramic coffee cup along a table top or the floor. The spring scale allows them to measure the frictional force that exists between the moving cup and the surface it slides on. By...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Does Weight Matter?
Using the same method for measuring friction that was used in the previous lesson (Discovering Friction), students design and conduct an experiment to determine if weight added incrementally to an object affects the amount of friction...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Puck Stops Here
After learning about transfer of energy, specifically the loss of kinetic energy to friction, students get a chance to test friction. In groups they are given a wooden block, different fabrics, and weights and asked to design the "best"...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Tug of War Battle Bots
Students are introduced to the concepts of torque, power, friction and gear ratios. Teams modify two robotic LEGO vehicles by changing their gear ratios, wheel sizes, weight and engine power, while staying within a limit of points to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Friction Force
Students use LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics to help conceptualize and understand the force of friction. Specifically, they observe how different surfaces in contact result in different frictional forces. A LEGO robot is constructed to pull a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: How to Pull Something Heavy
Students measure and analyze forces that act on vehicles pulling heavy objects while moving at a constant speed on a frictional surface. They study how the cars interact with their environments through forces, and discover which...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Measuring Pressure
Students learn first-hand the relationship between force, area and pressure. They use a force sensor built from a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit to measure the force required to break through a paper napkin. An interchangeable top at the end of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Putting Robots to Work With Force & Friction
Students learn about the concept of pushing, as well as the relationship between force and mass. Students practice measurement skills using pan scales and rulers to make predictions about mass and distance. A LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot is...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Sliding Textbooks
In this culminating activity of the unit which highlights how forces play a role in engineering design and material choices, students explore and apply their knowledge of forces, friction, acceleration, and gravity in a two-part experiment.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy on a Roller Coaster
This activity utilizes hands-on learning with the conservation of energy and the interaction of friction. Students use a roller coaster track and collect position data. The students then calculate velocity, and energy data. After the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Force of Friction
In the first of two lessons of this curricular unit, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. Student teams use spring scales to drag objects, such as a ceramic...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Discovering Friction
With a simple demonstration activity, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. Then, in the Associated Activity (Sliding and Stuttering), they work in teams to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Factors Affecting Friction
In this lesson, learners use previous knowledge about friction to formulate hypotheses concerning the effects of weight and contact area on the amount of friction between two surfaces. In the Associated Activities (Does Weight Matter?...