Teach Engineering
Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
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Sediment Sleuths
Are you looking for a good, solid lesson on sedimentary rocks? This one, produced by the Illinois State Museum, is just such a lesson. Middle schoolers identify common rocks and minerals by analyzing sediments from local water sources....
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Let's Move It!
Students create a simple machine that includes a cart and lever system that could have been used to build the ancient pyramids. In this simple machine lesson, students learn about the wheel and the axle as simple machines that help...
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Transforming Energy
Super detailed, this lesson will educate physical science learners about the flow of electrons. Begin by reviewing potential and kinetic energy with a moving pendulum, and then get them online to observe interactive websites about...
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Bend That Bar
Bend it, but don't break it. Groups investigate the strength of different materials. Using a procedure in the seventh segment of a 22-part series on aviation, pupils determine how far a rod will bend. They determine the strength-to-mass...
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Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Students participate in a culminating activity for a unit on Energy and Simple Machines. They are challenged to incorporate simple machines in to a complex mechanical system. While designing and testing their machine they will also...
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Parachutes: What a Drag
Sixth graders make 2 different kinds of parachutes and record and graph the time for each one for the different drag forces. In this parachute lesson plan, 6th graders compare the results to the rest of the class of each parachute and...
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Ready, Set, Go!
Students predict if the height of a ramp affect how far an object travels. They design and conduct an experiment to test their predictions. The results are recorded and a graph is created to show the relationship between ramp height and...
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Newton's Laws
In this motion worksheet, high schoolers read about the 3 laws of motion and then complete a graphic organizer describing the laws and giving an example for each one.
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How Things Fly
Students will examine the physics of flight through using experimental inquiry. In this lesson, you'll introduce your students to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight...
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F = a, Inertia, and Friction
Fourth graders use a matchbox car to push across a hard surface and observe what happens. They then push the car across a soft or rough surface and discover what happens. The two ideas are discusses as Newton's First and Second Laws of...
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Flight Dreams - Flight Factors
Learners investigate the physics of flight by experimenting in class. In this history of flight lesson, students define terms such as gravity, lift, and drag in order to better understand how a plane is able to stay in the air....
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Weathering
In this weathering worksheet, students investigate the effects of water and acid on limestone. They form a hypothesis for both and experiment to find the results.
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"Water is Life" Global Water Awareness
Students examine and calculate the percentage of potable water remaining on the earth. In this ecology and geography lesson, students brainstorm the main factors affecting water distribution. Students use mathematical problem solving to...
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Heart Rate
Students move through a variety of locomotor skills at different paces to see how they affect their heart rate. For this health, human body, and physical activity lesson plan, students measure their heart rate and discuss health. A...
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Newton Gets Me Moving
Students discuss Newton's laws of motion. The conduct motion experiments by building "Newton Rocket Cars" from assorted materials. They propel the cars with rubber bands and wooden blocks and record the distance traveled on data sheets.
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Engineering: Simple Machines
Fourth graders participate in activities to examine how simple machines help build things. They identify the six types of simple machines. They discover how simple machines where use historically to build pyramids and how they are still...
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Communications
Students incorporate different disciplines into this lesson. In this science lesson, students investigate the use of communicating without words, and how it is different than communicating with words. They discuss the pros and cons of...
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Build Your Own Hovercraft
Learners construct a hovercraft following specific procedures. In this technology lesson, students explain the physics principles behind hovercraft. They compare and contrast this machine with the aircraft.
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Glass and Soil
For this forensic science lesson, students sketch bullet line fractures and complete 16 short answer questions on glass and soil evidence.
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Maglev Trains
Young scholars explore how Maglev trains work. In this technology lesson, students discuss the pros and cons of Maglev compared to conventional trains. They build a simple Maglev train model.
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Wind Effects on Model Building: Building Project Overview
Students design their own building according to certain criteria. In this semester long physics instructional activity, students calculate forces, compression and tension. They present their finished model in class.
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Attract or Repel?
Students explain why some objects attract and some do not. In this physics activity, students investigate the magnetic properties of objects using CEENBoT. They give some important applications of magnets.
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Water and Ice
Students examine the relationship between water and ice. In this physics lesson, students read the book Amazing Water and participate in an experiment where they freeze water into ice cubes. Students observe the changes in the water when...