This video segment adapted from Building Big illustrates the strength of the arch in bridge design and construction.
This informational text introduces students to similarities and differences in the North and South Poles. The text is written at a grade one through two reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.
This video segment adapted from NOVA features a variety of scientific perspectives on the age old question, "Are we alone in the universe?" Animations make vivid the improbability that we could intercept a radio wave signaling extra terrestrial intelligence.
In this interactive activity from ChemThink, take a closer look at atomic structure, properties, and behaviors.
This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey takes a look at the scale of the atom and the tremendous amount of space between the electrons and the nucleus. If all this empty space exists in matter, how can any substance be solid?
What starts out as a cascade of well-mixed granular materials sorts itself into alternating layers of salt and sand.
Play with objects on a teeter totter to learn about balance. Test what you've learned by trying the Balance Challenge game.
This webpage from Exploratorium provides an activity that demonstrates the Bernoulli principle with readily available materials. In this activity a table tennis ball is levitated in a stream of air from a vacuum cleaner. The site provides an explanation of what happens, asks questions about the activity, and also describes applications to flight. This activity is part of Exploratorium's Science Snacks series.
In this quick and simple activity, learners explore how the distribution of the mass of an object determines the position of its center of gravity, its angular momentum, and your ability to balance it. Learners discover it is easier to balance a wooden dowel on the tip of their fingers when a lump of clay is near the top of the stick. Use this activity to introduce learners to rotational inertia.
Experiment with a helium balloon, a hot air balloon, or a rigid sphere filled with different gases. Discover what makes some balloons float and others sink.
Experiment with a helium balloon, a hot air balloon, or a rigid sphere filled with different gases. Discover what makes some balloons float and others sink.
Students explore static electricity by rubbing a simulated balloon on a sweater. As they view the charges in the sweater, balloon, and adjacent wall, they gain an understanding of charge transfer. This item is part of a larger collection of simulations developed by the Physics Education Technology project (PhET). The simulations are animated, interactive, and game-like environments.
Grab a balloon to explore concepts of static electricity such as charge transfer, attraction, repulsion, and induced charge. (Phys 3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
Why does a balloon stick to your sweater? Rub a balloon on a sweater, then let go of the balloon and it flies over and sticks to the sweater. View the charges in the sweater, balloons, and the wall.
Explore the origin of energy bands in crystals of atoms. The structure of these bands determines how materials conduct electricity.
Explore the origin of energy bands in crystals of atoms. The structure of these bands determines how materials conduct electricity.
CK-12 Basic Physics - Second Edition updates CK-12 Basic Physics and is intended to be used as one small part of a multifaceted strategy to teach physics conceptually and mathematically.
In this video from DragonflyTV, Jai and Jonathan track, graph, and analyze the motion of basketball shots as they investigate what factors influence the accuracy of their game.
Look inside a resistor to see how it works. Increase the battery voltage to make more electrons flow though the resistor. Increase the resistance to block the flow of electrons. Watch the current and resistor temperature change.
Look inside a battery to see how it works. Select the battery voltage and little stick figures move charges from one end of the battery to the other. A voltmeter tells you the resulting battery voltage.