Students will investigate how collisions can change the direction and speed of an object in terms of a change in energy. This is important to understand for many sports as well as many safety issues on the road.

This episode of Astronomy Case focuses on the smallest of the small. We'll see what’s inside that basic building block of matter: the atom. You probably know the basics, but with ever more powerful particle accelerators, physicists are revealing particles within particles, announcing new discoveries all the time.

Downloadable transcript included.

Students will learn the difference between an insulator and a conductor and why conductors help to close electricalcircuits. This is important content to better understand how energy and particularly electrical energy works.

KiteModeler was developed in an effort to foster hands-on, inquiry-based learning in science and math. KiteModeler is a simulator that models the design, trimming, and flight of a kite. The program works in three modes: Design Mode, Trim Mode, or Flight Mode. In the Design Mode (shown below), you pick from five basic types of kite designs. You can then change design variables including the length and width of various sections of the kite. You can also select different materials for each component. When you have a design that you like, you switch to the Trim Mode where you set the length of the bridle string and tail and the location of the knot attaching the bridle to the control line. Based on your inputs, the program computes the center of gravity and pressure, the magnitude of the aerodynamic forces and the weight, and determines the stability of your kite. With a stable kite design, you are ready for Flight Mode. In Flight Mode you set the wind speed and the length of control line. The program then computes the sag of the line caused by the weight of the string and the height and distance that your kite would fly. Using all three modes, you can investigate how a kite flies, and the factors that affect its performance.

Introduction to landforms using landforms from around the world. Read a fictional book, then present images of landforms from different countries. The provided Google Slides presentation can be copied and edited to suit your class. 

This six-day unit provides an in-depth look at the dynamic forces at work on the sea floor. Throughout the unit, students collect their findings in a portfolio. The comprehensive curriculum materials include teacher tools such as individually downloadable readings and detailed daily breakdowns of tasks, a hands-on experiment, three activities about how scientists find deep sea vents and two activities about the thriving ecosystems found in deep sea vents.

Sample MISA High School Item Set for Energy Production and the Carbon Cycle covering standards HS-ESS2-6 and HS-PS1-4. These items focus on the bond energy involved in the combustion of hydrocarbons and the role of human coal combustion in the carbon cycle.Image source: "Carbon cycle" by Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage at www.sccs.org.uk

In this activity the temperature of a reaction is monitored for different concentrations of reactants.

Repeated motion is present everywhere in nature. Learn how to 'make waves' with your own movements using a motion detector to plot your position as a function of time, and try to duplicate wave patterns presented in the activity. Investigate the concept of distance versus time graphs and see how your own movement can be represented on a graph.

Monitor the temperature of a melting ice cube and use temperature probes to electronically plot the data on graphs. Investigate what temperature the ice is as it melts in addition to monitoring the temperature of liquid the ice is submerged in.

The Mima mounds are small, irregularly spaced hills, described by some as “soil pimples” because they are piles of silt, sand, and pebbles.Scientists still don't know what created the Mima mounds. These resources will invite students to develop their own hypotheses, evaluate the existing evidence, and construct an explanation.Start with the "Mima mounds educator guide" to learn about the available resources, alignment to learning standards, and opportunities for modification and extension. The educator guide also includes student worksheets to guide inquiry and exploration. The attached "Mima mounds booklet" was created by the Washington Geologic Survey, within the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It is an illustrated guide to the mounds and the hypotheses about what formed them. The educator guide will walk you through ways to use the booklet. You can contact DNR's Youth Education and Outreach Program at yeop@dnr.wa.gov with any questions. 

In this activity, students interact with 12 models to observe emergent phenomena as molecules assemble themselves. Investigate the factors that are important to self-assembly, including shape and polarity. Try to assemble a monolayer by "pushing" the molecules to the substrate (it's not easy!). Rotate complex molecules to view their structure. Finally, create your own nanostructures by selecting molecules, adding charges to them, and observing the results of self-assembly.

Lesson plan to explore how snow crystals form, atmospheric conditions that influence crystal morphology. Makes connections crystals, snow density and water content

Popcorn pops due to the moisture in the kernel that explodes when heated.  In this lesson students will compare kernels soaked in water before popping with dry kernels to see whether it makes a difference in the number of unpopped kernels. 

This is a resource page for Physical Science and Physics. This is a compiled list made over the years of teaching Physical Science and Physics.

How does energy flow in and out of our atmosphere? Explore how solar and infrared radiation enters and exits the atmosphere with an interactive model. Control the amounts of carbon dioxide and clouds present in the model and learn how these factors can influence global temperature. Record results using snapshots of the model in the virtual lab notebook where you can annotate your observations.

Measure relative humidity in the air using a simple device made of a temperature sensor, a plastic bottle, and some clay. Electronically plot the data you collect on graphs to analyze and learn from it. Experiment with different materials and different room temperatures in order to explore what affects humidity.

RocketModeler was developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center in an effort to foster hands-on, inquiry-based learning in science and math. RocketModeler is a simulator that models the design and flight of a model rocket. The program works in two modes: Design Mode or Flight Mode. In the Design Mode, you can change design variables including the size of the rocket body, the fins, and the nose cone. You can also select different materials for each component. You can select from a variety of standard solid rocket engines. The program computes the center of gravity and pressure for your rocket and determines the stability. When you have a design that you like, you can switch to the Flight Mode (shown below), where you can launch your rocket and observe its flight trajectory. You can pause at any time to record data and then continue the flight through parachute deploy and recovery. This program has recently (Oct 8, 2004) been upgraded to support stomp rockets, bottle rockets, and ballistic shells in addition to solid model rockets. It also supports both English and metric units.

These are skeleton notes to accompany lectures in Physical Science I.Topics covered:Solar SystemRocks and MineralsBuilding Earth's Surface: Folds and FaultsTsunamisThe AtmosphereThe HydrosphereWeatherClimate