PHET
Hooke's Law
Everything from pens to cars use springs — some are just on a larger scale! An interactive simulation encourages pupils to stretch and compress springs while observing the changes to force, displacement, and potential energy. Then they...
PHET
Masses and Springs
Have you ever stretched out a Slinkie so much it wouldn't go back to its original shape? Slinkies, like all springs, follow Hooke's Law. A simulation uses springs and masses to demonstrate kinetic, potential, and thermal energy. It...
Curated OER
Forces Acting on a Spring
Teaching elastic forces in your physics class is a snap with this resource! Scholars compare the stretch of rubber bands with differing width, then measure the stretch of a spring and calculate force. In a whole-class experiment, wire is...
College Board
2015 AP® Physics 1 Free-Response Questions
It's rare for even 40 percent of test takers to pass the AP Physics 1 exam. Improve those odds for young scientists with the help of actual free response questions covering topics from free body diagrams to velocity. The College Board...
Magic of Physics
Springs Lab
Stretch young minds in their understanding of springs! Add an interesting interactive to promote awareness of factors such as stiffness, ground friction, and air resistance. The resource contains custom controls, allowing individuals to...
Magic of Physics
Spring Motion
Get the class all wound up about spring motion! Science scholars manipulate interactive springs and observe the effects of change using an online activity. Customizable options include the number of springs as well as the spring and...
Community Resources for Science
Spring Mechanics
Scholars practice calculating spring constants before performing hands-on experiments. They compare data for parallel and series springs. Finally, they learn how spring mechanics find applications in biotechnology, such as prosthetic limbs.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Understanding Wave Motion - Slinky vs. Snaky: Which Spring is Dominant?
Ride the wave to an understanding of refraction! The first in a series of two inquiry-based lessons challenges learners to create transverse waves with two different types of springs. As their wave hits an object, they observe the change...
Concord Consortium
Energy of a Spring
Spring has sprung! Young physicists explore the properties of springs with a simple simulator. Users control the initial position of the spring, then observe the potential, kinetic, and thermal energies in the system.
Concord Consortium
Spring and Mass
Here's a resource with more bounce for the ounce! Engage your physical science class with an interesting interactive that allows individuals to perform tests with a mass attached to a spring. Participants can customize the scenario by...
Concord Consortium
Pendulum and Spring
Up, down, back, and forth. When you make a pendulum out of a spring, there's a lot to observe. Aspiring masters of motion examine the combined kinetic energies of spring and pendulum motion using a detailed interactive. Learners observe...
Teach Engineering
Energy and the Pogo Stick
Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational potential...
Teach Engineering
It's Tiggerific!
Spring into elastic potential energy with a activity that provides background information on determining the elastic potential energy of springs and other elastic materials. General energy equations emphasize the conservation of energy...
Urbana School District
Projectile and Circular Motion, Torque
Introduce your young scholars to the concepts of circular motion, projectile motion, angular speed, simple harmonic motion, torque, center of mass, centripetal force, and Hooke's Law with a 86-slide presentation. The circular motion...
Teach Engineering
Using Hooke's Law to Understand Materials
Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups predict the...
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Water's Journey Expedition
Step into a scientist's shoes to go online and discover the Florida Springs Expedition, and participate in two activities focusing on how humans impact the environment. The first activity asks scholars to summarize the six dispatches at...
Curated OER
Springs
Springs are amazing. Here, learners are presented with springs found in various everyday objects. They discuss which springs they think will have the most force, then test their hypothesis. This presentation has the start of a good idea...
Curated OER
Water Pressure Experiments
Students perform experiments measuring water pressure. They record their observations after poking holes in plastic bottles filled with water with the lids on and then off. They discover the role gravity plays in the water flow.
Curated OER
Exploring Our Watershed System
Students study watersheds and examine how they are composed. In this watershed system lesson students explain how water enters a watershed and the concept of stream order.
Curated OER
Strings and Springs
Ninth graders explore physics with springs and strings. In this force and motion lesson, 9th graders rotate through four stations exploring how various springs stretch and bounce, and how mass and length affect a pendulum's swing. They...
Curated OER
Springs: machines at home
In this springs instructional activity, students search for springs that they can find around their house. Students try to find 9 springs around their house.
Curated OER
Springs 1
For this springs worksheet, students use rubber bands, tape, clamps, and more to make springs and experiment with the weight it takes to stretch the spring. Students follow 7 directions and answer 1 question.
Curated OER
Springs 2
In this springs learning exercise, students use paper clips, rubber bands, weights, and more to make springs. Students follow 6 directions, put answers in a chart, and complete 1 question on their own.
Curated OER
Magnets and Springs
Students explore magnetic attraction. In this magnets lesson, students participate in an interactive whiteboard activity in which objects are dragged onto a virtual table and categorized as to whether they are "repelled" or "attracted"...