Curated OER
Sucking Students into an Understanding of Air Pressure and Vacuums
Students develop and test their ideas about air pressure and vacuums by conducting several investigations into the movement of fluids in tubes.
Curated OER
Gravity Gets You Down
Middle schoolers design an experiment to investigate how objects with different masses fall. In this physics instructional activity, students predict how these objects will fall in a vacuum tube. They write a report explaining...
Exploratorium
Falling Feather
Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...
Curated OER
Technology at Work 2
Students discover the positive and negative effects of technology. In this technology activity, students give examples of technology advances from the past few years. Students get into groups and debate whether a particular item has hurt...
Colorado State University
Can You Drink Through a 30 Foot Straw?
Drinking straws are a pretty simple device ... or, are they? Explore the possibility of sipping a beverage 30 feet away with an engaging activity that's sure to keep pupils guessing. Just place a long piece of plastic tubing in a glass,...
Curated OER
Transistor Hunt
Students locate transistor devices in school. They explain the importance of transistors.
Nikola Tesla documentary student worksheet
PBS documentary: Tesla - Master of Lightning; this worksheet will keep the students engaged while watching this excellent documentary about Tesla. The documentary can be found on Netflix or YouTube. It will take two class periods to...
Curated OER
Basic Oscilloscope Operation
In this electrical worksheet, learners answer a series of 25 questions about the use and understanding of an oscilloscope used by electrical technicians. This worksheet is printable and the answers are revealed on-line.
Nuffield Foundation
Going up in Smoke
Don't let all your hard work go up in smoke. Pupils conduct an experiment to see the harmful effects of cigarette smoke. They observe how smoke changes the color of white wool and an indicator solution.
Curated OER
Metalloids
Students discuss metalloids, their use as semiconductors, and their impact on the computer industry. They work in groups to create a visual timeline showing the evolution of the computer.
Curated OER
Gravity
Students explore gravitational force. Through experimentation, students observe the acceleration of objects when they fall. They examine air resistance, and how the human body is attracted to the earth. Students discover the...
Curated OER
Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves
Students conduct an experiment in which they extract the greatest number of grams of caffeine from four bags of tea. They conduct Internet research, conduct the experiment, and record their observations and data.
Curated OER
The Story of the Transistor
Young scholars brainstorm on how certain items have become smaller as technology advances. They watch a video about the history of the transistor.
Curated OER
Sitting on Nails-Boyle's Law
Students experience pressure as a force per unit area in this experiment with a board of nails. In this physics lesson, students discover Boyle's law as they perform experiments with pressure.
Curated OER
The Little Transistor That Could
Students research the history of the transistor to explore the nature of technology. They complete a worksheet that coincides with given websites. Then they write a one-page essay about their findings.
Curated OER
From Vibration to Sound
Learners observe a series of demonstrations to illustrate wave movement. In this sound wave lesson, students witness how objects create waves when dropped in a dish of water, use a rope and slinky to produce transverse and longitudinal...
Curated OER
Energy Consumption
Students investigate the power consumption of household objects by using a classification sheet. In this energy conservation activity, students read through a list of household items and tools and organize them by predicting which...
Curated OER
Sunflower Stars
In this sunflower star instructional activity, students read about sunflower stars. They then use what they learned and answer the 18 questions on the page. They need to use a dictionary for one of the sections. The answers are on the...
Curated OER
Ionocraft Lifter
Students explore the different types of lifters through a series of activities. For this physics lesson, students explain the mechanics involved in the lifter designs. They compare aluminum versus zinc lifters.
Curated OER
Building an Electric Motor
Learners study different motors and how they convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. In this motor lesson students make a model of an electric motor and examine how it can be used to do work.
Curated OER
Learning Lesson: Measure the Pressure -- The "Wet" Barometer
Students use simple objects to create their own barometer. They have five days to build it and ten days to observe and collect data. They examine thunderstorm safety tips to end the lesson.
Curated OER
Bernoulli Effect
Students explore the relationship between velocity and pressure of a fluid. After a lecture/demo, students engage in an experiment which demonstrate the Bernoulli Effect and enhance their understanding.
Nobel Media AB
The Nobel Prize: Vacuum Tubes
The Nobel Foundation provides a brief story about the first vacuum tubes used in early electronic devices such as radios and phonographs and even the first computers.
Other
Ced Magic: 1906 Deforest Audion Vacuum Tube
This is a one page presentation of the historical development of the audion tube. An image of DeForest's invention is included.