Students construct rockets from balloons propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket.
In this audio resource from NOVA: "To the Moon," astronaut Gene Cernan recounts his harrowing experience during America's first attempt to do work in outer space.
We first created the Be Internet Awesome curriculum for educators. Teaching digital safety and citizenship is a crucial component of today’s classroom, but home will always be the foundation of any child’s learning, and healthy online habits are no different.
Technology moves fast, and staying ahead of the curve can be a challenge in itself. We’ve created this guide for families to make it easier to incorporate and practice good digital habits in your everyday lives. Packed with good stuff, this guide will help you and your kids discuss, learn, and think together about the five areas of Internet awesomeness:
-Smart, Share with Care
-Alert, Don’t Fall for Fake
-Strong, Secure Your Secrets
-Kind, It?s Cool to Be Kind
-Brave, When in Doubt, Talk It Out
Each of these areas is a key component of the Be Internet Awesome program used in more and more schools across the country and world. If your kids are learning with Be Internet Awesome at school, this guide will help you follow along and reinforce what they’re learning in the classroom.
How can you keep a ball from falling out of a jar if the jar is upside down? Watch the ZOOM cast use centripetal force to meet this challenge. [2:54]
Students are asked how acceleration, mass, momentum and velocity are involved in mountain boarding. [0:32]
How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion. [4:00]
In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about the effects of gravity as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson falls through a virtual hole through Earth's center. [1:45]
Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.
In this fast-paced NASA Brain Bites video, an astronaut demonstrates the impact of microgravity on the use of tools in space. [0:47]
Sophia shows how to repeat code in your program, using while loops. [4:45]
Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.
Basic experiment allowing students to discover what gives a rocket stability.
What is known about gravity? Find out Einstein's thoughts on gravity in a brief overview of this mysterious force.
This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.
In this video adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, find out about the discovery of a new building material, the carbon nanotube, whose physical properties could theoretically enable the creation of a 22,000-mile elevator to space. [4:29]
Meet Nate Ball, a mechanical engineer who designs and builds devices that solve problems and even save lives, for example, vaccination devices for remote or disaster areas. He discusses what it's like to be an engineer, a robot project he is working on, and what he does for relaxation. [8:00]
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, NASA learns hard lessons from the first American attempt to do work while "walking" in space. The video also explores Newton's third law of motion. [4:50]
Several diagrams provide explanations of planetary gravity as well as the gravity that exists between all objects.
Learn about orbits and how an object can stay in orbit under the influence of gravity. By adjusting launch velocities users will understand how to successfully put a virtual satellite into orbit without crashing. Examine centripetal acceleration with this simulation and examples. A PDF worksheet and a video tutorial are also available. [4:09]
A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.
Understand angular momentum conservation in the absence of an applied torque in the context of planetary orbits using this interactive simulation. A PDF worksheet and a video tutorial are also available. [6:07]
A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.
Students write a biographical sketch of an artist or athlete who lives on the edge, riding the gravity wave, to better understand how these artists and athletes work with gravity and manage risk. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.