In this lesson, students will experimentally measure the strength of a magnet and graph how the strength changes as the distance from the magnet increases, and as the barrier (masking tape) is built between the magnet and an iron object. This lesson is the second in a two-lesson series on magnets. The main concept to convey in Magnets 2: How Strong is Your Magnet? is that forces can act from a distance. ... Full description.

This lesson teaches students how the motion of the Foucault pendulum proves that the earth is rotating. It will help to expand their concepts of motion, pendulums, and the gravitational force. Students will explore online resources to understand how Foucault used pendulums to show that the earth spins on its axis. Full description.

This activity gives students a hands-on look at the effects of increased water pressure and shows them how submarines work. Using a balloon and plastic water bottle, students create a neutrally buoyant diver. Then they squeeze the bottle to see how increased pressure compresses the balloon, making it heavier and causing it to sink. The activity includes an extension that has students further explore ... Full description.

This classroom activity gives students a firsthand look at how the color of a surface influences its ability to reflect or absorb heat. The printable five-page handout includes a series of inquiry-based questions to get students thinking about what they already know about albedo. There are detailed experiment directions along with a worksheet that helps students use the experiment results to obtain ... Full description.

This tutorial introduces the electromagnetic spectrum through the concepts of wavelength and amplitude. Students learn to associate various wavelength ranges with different spectral bands, and can explore images from space astronomy missions in each band. In the Activity section, they use a Java program to compare sunspots and x-ray images of the sun. This research activity introduces the concept ... Full description.

In this activity students experiment with the relationship between pressure, force, and area by calculating the force and pressure exerted by a LC-130 aircraft on the ice runway in McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. The LC-130 is a four-engine turboprop transport aircraft used by the United States Antarctic Program for cargo and personnel transport between New Zealand and McMurdo Station and between ... Full description.

This activity will help younger students to determine the behavior of sunlight from observations made outside and inside the classroom. They will learn about how light travels by using mirrors, prisms, flashlights, and various objects to create shadows. Concepts include the fact that light travels in a straight line and that shadows are oriented directly away from a light source. Full description.

Students will participate in a modeling activity that simulates the cyclical role of experimental and theoretical science. Initially, the students will measure the mass of popcorn kernels. While the mass of the kernels are determined, students will also make predictions of the mass of the kernels after they are popped. After the popcorn is popped, the mass of the popcorn is measured. Data is shared ... Full description.

In this set of video lectures given in 1979 by Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, presents not only a lesson in basic physics but also a deep insight into the approach of the 17th century physicist, Isaac Newton. The first lecture, Photons - Corpuscles of Light, is an introduction to photons and their properties as well as to the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the calculation of ... Full description.

In this two-part activity, students learn about electromagnetism by constructing electromagnets and observing their behavior. They will discover that there is a close relationship between electricity and magnetism in that moving magnets can induce electric currents and that electric currents can cause magnetism. They also learn that electric current flowing in a wire creates a magnetic field around ... Full description.