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Activity
Exploratorium

Balancing Stick

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Have some physical science fun when studying the center of gravity or center of mass. Simply have balancing artists stand a dowel on one finger and keep it from falling over! A lump of clay is added and moved up along the dowel over a...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Review of Linear Momentum

For Students 10th - 12th
In this linear momentum worksheet, students calculate force, impulse and momentum to answer 50 multiple choice questions. They identify elastic and inelastic collision.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Wow! That Captures It!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine how motion capture technology allows computer based animators to design realistic effects in animation. They study how the center of gravity contributes to animation and how to use the center of gravity to write an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Center of Mass

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students determine the center of mass of two irregularly shaped objects, determine when the center of mass is inside or outside the boundaries of the object, determine when and/or why an object is stable, balanced, unstable or unbalanced.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Center of Mass

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students identify the geometric mean of their data. In this statistics lesson plan, students collect data and graph their findings. They identify the mean, range and mode.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Perpetual Motion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars are introduced to the concept of Energy Conservation with the example of: Tony Hawk seems to defy the conservation of energy as he keeps reaching new heights on each pass on the halk-pipe. Actually, Tony is supplying the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tightrope Trials

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students research the concepts of center of mass and how to make different things balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Build Your Own Mobile

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners inquire into how the center of mass is the key factor in designing cars. They construct an oddly shaped object and determine its center of mass. They find that engineers are able to predict how objects will behave while they are...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Perching Parrot

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Pupils explore the concepts of center of mass and static equilibrium by seeing how non-symmetrical objects balance. They also analyze why all forces on an object must cancel out exactly for an object to be stationary.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Robots from Junk

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create balloon and rubber band models of robotic rovers to investigate the concepts of mass, torque, and friction. Through research and planning, students construct a rover test-bed that simulates the Martian environment.