Physics Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 21)

How Empty Is an Empty Bottle?

STEM Activity

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Did you know that airplanes and sound have something in common? Can you guess what it might be? Air pressure! It is fascinating how air—something that is so fluid and invisible—can power an amazing number of fascinating phenomena. In this activity you will use your own breath to blow a small paper ball into an empty bottle. It sounds simple, but is it? Try it out and see for yourself! Read more

How Heavy Is Your Air?

STEM Activity

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If you’ve ever accidentally let go of a Helium balloon while outside, then you know that some gases are less dense than others. In the case of your Helium balloon, it most likely floated away before you could catch it, because Helium is much lighter (or less dense) than the air in our environment. We don’t often think about gases having density, but they do! In this activity you’re going to explore the different densities of some common household gases, including the air that… Read more

How Long Will My Sleepy Yo-yo Sleep?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Sometimes, simple toys can be quite complicated. Take the yo-yo. It's a fun toy and there is nothing simpler than a string wrapped between two connected disks. But there's a lot of physics that makes a yo-yo work. In this science fair project, learn more about how and why a yo-yo works. You will investigate the effect of string length on the yo-yo's "sleep" trick time. If people ask why you've got a yo-yo with you all the time, tell them that while it looks like you're just having fun, you're… Read more

Hula Hooping with a Rubber Band

STEM Activity

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Are you any good at hula hooping? If not, there is good news: you can do this fun project without any hula hooping experience! You will examine some of the fascinating physics behind hula hooping using just a pencil and a rubber band. Read more

Investigate the 'Death' of an Orange: How is Rate of Heat Loss Based on the Surrounding Temperature?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Imagine that you are a detective investigating a murder. You have a body that was found in a swimming pool, and someone reported hearing an argument near the pool at 10:00 PM the night before. Your first question might be "Was this person killed around 10:00 PM last night, or at some other time?" One way to answer this question is to measure the internal temperature of the body. The longer ago the killing occurred, the colder the body. But can you assign a specific time of death to a specific… Read more

Investigate the Properties of Liquids

Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd

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When discussing material properties, most of us usually think of solid materials and material properties such as hardness, flexibility, or strength. However, liquids are characterized by distinct properties, too. Some of these properties overlap with those of solids, like density or transparency, but others are more specific to liquids. Viscosity—the resistance of a fluid to flow—and surface tension, are two examples of properties that are specifically used to characterize liquids.… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.

Lights, Camera, (Capillary) Action!

STEM Activity

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How do trees suck water all the way up to their leaves? How do paper towels soak up a spill? Are these things related? Try this project to learn about capillary action, and repeat a classic demonstration from over 100 years ago! Read more

Make Your Own Spring Scale

STEM Activity

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Have you ever played with a Slinky, used a pinball machine, written with a click pen, or ridden in a car? If so, then you have used a spring. Springs are in machines all around us and have many useful purposes. In this activity you will learn how a spring can be used to make a scale to weigh objects. Read more

Motion Mania: Applying Physics to Hula-Hooping

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Practice makes you better at most things, and knowledge makes practice so much easier! Can you swirl a circular toy called a hula hoop around your waist or arm? Is it hard? What knowledge can you apply to find ways that make hula-hooping easier? Physics! Yes, physics will help you determine what makes one hula hoop a winner and another a flop. In this project, you will create your own hula hoops, spin them, and draw conclusions. The road will then be open to your becoming a hula hoop expert. If… Read more

Paper Squawker

STEM Activity

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Did you know that not all animals use their ears to ‘hear’ sounds? Snakes, for example, perceive sound waves through their jaw bones! And many insects perceive sound waves through their antennae. While these methods of detecting sound might be different, they all respond to the same thing that our ears do, which is sound waves in the environment. In this activity you will generate some impressive sound waves from very simple materials, and observe how these sound waves are… Read more

Physics Projects, Lessons, Activities (289 results)

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