Physics Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 29)

Volleyball Machine Challenge for Grades 3-5

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th

Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build two "volleyball machines" that launch a ping pong ball back and forth over a net. While the 2019 Engineering Challenge is over, your students can still try this project and compare their scores to top scores from around the world! Teachers, note that middle school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. Looking for this year's challenge? Check out our… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Volleyball Machine Challenge for High School

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build two "volleyball machines" that launch a ping pong ball back and forth over a net. While the 2019 Engineering Challenge is over, your students can still try this project and compare their scores to top scores from around the world! Teachers, note that elementary school and middle school versions of this lesson plan are also available. Looking for this year's challenge? Check out… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

High School - Science & Engineering Practices

Volleyball Machine Challenge for Middle School

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build two "volleyball machines" that launch a ping pong ball back and forth over a net. While the 2019 Engineering Challenge is over, your students can still try this project and compare their scores to top scores from around the world! Teachers, note that elementary school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. Looking for this year's challenge? Check out our… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

What Causes Lightning?

Video Lesson Grade: 6th-8th

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Lightning is a powerful display of static electricity in nature. But what is static electricity? In this lesson, students will learn about static electricity and electric fields by building a device that can detect electrical charges, called an electroscope. They will use their electroscope to investigate how well different materials can build up electric charges by rubbing them against wool. During their experiments, students will be able to demonstrate how electric fields exert forces on… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluated the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

What Do You See?

Lesson Plan Grade: 1st

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Human vision is dependent on light. We can only see if the light-sensitive cells on our retina at the back of our eyes get triggered by light entering the eye. As a result, we can only see objects that either are illuminated and reflect light back into our eyes, or objects that emit light. Any object that is in complete darkness is not visible to the human eye. In this lesson plan, students will place different objects inside a box and view them under different light conditions. By doing so,… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

1-PS4-2. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects in darkness can be seen only when illuminated.

What is the Cheapest Way to Launch Payloads into Space?

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

A mass driver is a proposed device that could launch payloads into space using a long tube lined with electromagnets (Figure 1). Some scientists argue that such a launch system would offer long-term cost savings over the use of chemical rockets. Scientists have proposed theoretical electromagnetic launcher designs as far back as the 1970s (O'Neill 1979). More recently, some have proposed the use of railguns originally developed for the U.S. Navy (McNab and McGlasson 2022). Other types of… Read more

What is the Maximum Intermediate Height for a Siphon?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

A siphon is a handy device for emptying out a liquid reservoir that has no drain. For example, they're great for cleaning fish tanks. An interesting aspect of a siphon in action is that the liquid flows "uphill" for a portion of its journey through the tube. This project asks the question, is there a maximum height for that uphill part of the siphon? Read more

When a Flashing Light Shows More

STEM Activity

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Do you have to see it to believe it? You might want to rethink your strategy, as scientists now know that what we perceive can be different from what is really there. Our brain is quite clever in helping us interact with the world, but it can get fooled. Of course, you need to see this to believe this. Try this activity, and you will find out! Read more

Why Are Skis So Long?

STEM Activity

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While watching the Olympic Winter Games, you might have wondered why skis, which are featured in several events, are so long. The skis used at the Olympics are of top-notch quality. Researchers tinker with every detail, from the materials they are made of to the shape they are cut in. The equipment is tested carefully, as details like these can give an athlete the leading edge on the slope. But why would you put planks under your shoes in the first place? Do this activity to find out! … Read more

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