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.
This lesson teaches the engineering method for testing wherein one variable is changed while the others are held constant. Students compare the performance of a single paper airplane design while changing the shape, size and position of flaps on the airplane. Students also learn about control surfaces on the tail and wings of an airplane.
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.
Students learn about stress and strain by designing and building beams using polymer clay. They compete to find the best beam strength to beam weight ratio, and learn about the trade-offs engineers make when designing a structure.
Understand gravity using this study guide.
A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.
Students learn about applied forces as they create pop-up-books the art of paper engineering. They also learn the basic steps of the engineering design process.
How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion. [4:00]
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]
New York Times technology columnist David Pogue visits the Institute of Robotics at ETH Zurich, where materials scientists are designing a microbot that can travel into a human eye to treat a type of blindness. [2:49]
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]
To engineer Mary Frecker of Pennsylvania State University, origami holds the future for designing tools that could be used in fields such as medicine and space exploration. [5:55]
An interactive simulation that teaches about gravitational force, circular motion, and astronomy by manipulating the sun, earth, moon, and a space station to observe the effects of gravity and orbital paths. This simulation can either be downloaded or played online and includes handouts, lesson plans, and additional materials.
Definition of gravity and how it relates to weight. Includes a video. [3:54]
A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.
Several diagrams provide explanations of planetary gravity as well as the gravity that exists between all objects.
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.
NOVA follows two teams as they push their engineering design skills to the limit to develop systems that allow cars to drive themselves. [5:52]