Forces and Motion
Potential energy builds in rollercoaster cars as they move up, and is transferred to kinetic energy as they race down.
© Tom Stazer
Mass, acceleration, change, momentum, Newton's laws, push, pull, friction, kinetic, potential
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3...2...1...Puff! (rocket stability)
Lesson
Students learn about rocket stability by constructing and flying small paper rockets.
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Arm Model
Lesson
Students construct a model arm and learn how muscles and bones work together to achieve efficient movement.
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Balloon Blast
Lesson
Students devise a plan to measure the distance of a balloon’s flight, predict the direction a balloon will travel as it deflates, and learn about Newton's Laws of Motion.
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Center of Gravity
Lesson
Students learn about center of gravity and how the body adjusts to the force of gravity to remain balanced.
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Heavy Lifting (launching with payloads)
Lesson
Students design and build balloon-powered rockets with which to launch a payload to the classroom ceiling.
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Hero Engine (third law of motion)
Lesson
Students use the thrust produced by falling water to investigate Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
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Launch Altitude Tracker
Lesson
Students construct a launch altitude tracker and use it, along with basic mathematics, to indirectly measure the altitude achieved by their rockets.
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Newton Car (second law of motion)
Lesson
Students investigate the relationship among mass, acceleration and force, as described in Newton's Second Law of Motion.
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Paper Rockets - Advanced
Lesson
Students design and construct advanced, high-powered paper rockets for specific flight missions.
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Paper Rockets - Basic
Lesson
Students design and construct simple, three-sided rockets.
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Paper Rockets - Intermediate
Lesson
Students construct paper rockets, fly them using the launchers built earlier, evaluate their rockets' flight, and modify their designs to improve flight performance.
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Rocket Cars: Rocket Races
Lesson
Students learn about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion as they construct and test a lightweight “rocket” car propelled by the action/reaction force of air escaping from an inflated balloon.
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Rocket Launcher (for all paper rockets)
Lesson
Students create an air pressure launcher for use with their paper rockets.
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Water Rocket Launcher (teacher only)
Article
Instructions for building and operating a platform from which to launch water rockets used in student experiments.
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Water Rockets
Lesson
Student teams construct water rockets from empty two-liter soft drink bottles, and qualify their rockets for flight by conducting string tests.
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Wind Tunnel (performance tester)
Lesson
Students construct a wind tunnel to test the performance of their paper rockets, and use data generated from the test to help them design better rockets.
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X-51 Project
Lesson
Students apply rocket science principles to design, construct, test, and launch rockets using a real-world problem-solving simulation.
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