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This lesson's primary focus is to introduce high school students to the concept of Elasticity, which is one of the fundamental concepts in the understanding of the physics of deformation in solids. The main learning objectives are: (1) To understand the essential concept of Elasticity and be able to distinguish simple solids objects based on degree and extent of their elastic properties; (2) To appreciate the utility of the elastic force vs. deformation curve through experiments; (3) To be aware of potential sources of error present in such experiments and identify corrective measures; and (4) To appreciate the relevance of Elasticity in practical applications.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Engineering Design Challenge, student teams will design, calculate, build and then test a tower structure that can successfully hold a slide made from a pool tube. The slide will be placed at three different heights to determine which height is safe yet still fun. Students will be given supply restraints and guidelines as they work in teams to solve the problem.  

Type: Lesson Plan

Students use an in-class investigation to explore the gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of systems. They will also apply formulas in a real-world context involving bicycles.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lab exploration provides students with an opportunity to examine the relationship between the amount a linear spring is stretched and the restoring force that acts to return the spring to its rest length. This concept is central to an understanding of elastic potential energy in mechanical systems and has implications in the study of a large array of mechanical and electromagnetic simple harmonic oscillators.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed to be part of a sequence of lessons. It follows resource 52910 "BIOSCOPES Summer Institute 2013 - Mechanical Energy" and precedes resource 52705"BIOSCOPES Summer Institute 2013 - States of Matter." This lesson uses a predict, observe, and explain approach along with inquiry based activities to enhance student understanding of thermal energy and specific heat.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed to be part of a sequence of lessons. It follows resource 52648 "BIOSCOPES Summer Institute 2013 - Forces" and precedes resource 52957 "BIOSCOPES Summer Institute 2013 - Thermal Energy." This lesson uses a predict, observe, and explain approach along with inquiry based activities to enhance student understanding of the conservation of energy.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Alternative Fuel Systems MEA provides students with an engineering problem in which they must develop a procedure to decide the appropriate course for an automobile manufacturer to take given a set of constraints. The main focus of the MEA is to apply the concepts of work and energy to a business model.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This activity teaches students how to determine the age of an atom using an onion, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Aliens from another planet left these items on our planet and need our assistance determining their age. Based on the number of layers or half lives of the "elements," the students will be able to determine their age. The students will also be able to differentiate between the three types of radioactive decay and understand why radioactive elements are harmful.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using inquiry techniques, students, working in groups, are asked to design and conduct experiments to test the Law of Conservation of Energy and the Law of Conservation of Momentum. Upon being provided with textbooks, rulers, measuring tapes, stopwatches, mini-storage containers, golf balls, marbles, rubber balls, steel balls, and pennies, they work cooperatively to implement and revise their hypotheses. With limited guidance from the teacher, students are able to visualize the relationships between mass, velocity, height, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and total energy as well as the relationships between mass, velocity, and momentum.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students compete with one another to design and build a roller coaster from insulation tubing and tape that will allow a marble to travel from start to finish with the lowest average velocity. In so doing, students learn about differences between distance and displacement, speed and velocity, and potential and kinetic energy. They also examine the Law of Conservation of Energy and concepts related to force and motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will research various types of amusement park rides and use their findings to design a feasible ride of their own. They will summarize their findings and present their ride design to the class. Each student will then write a persuasive letter to a local amusement park describing the reasons their ride design is the best.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students use a "superball" to investigate energy transformations between gravitational potential, elastic potential and kinetic energies.

Type: Lesson Plan

Shape Memory Alloys are metals that can return to or 'remember' their original shape. They are a cutting edge application for Chemistry, Physics, and Integrated Science. The activities in this lesson work well for the study of forces, Newton's Laws, and electricity in physics. They also lend themselves well to crystalline structures, heat of reaction, and bonding in chemistry. In addition, students could study applications for the materials in the medical and space industries.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this video, wildland fire scientist Kevin Hiers explains how technology can be used to aid fire behavior research in fire-dependent ecosystems.

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Expert

This video about energy storage has a lot of potential to help you learn about solar power and batteries.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

Calorie-dense foods can power the human body across the ocean? Feel the burn.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

When your classroom is the open ocean, which is the longest period? The one from the tsunami.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

This resource centers around the pathways, reactants, and products of photosynthesis, as well as how the natural process can be manipulated to produce energy for human use. The webpage contains a variety of infographs explaining photosynthesis, artificial photosynthesis, splitting of water molecules into the component atoms, and the production and use of solar fuels. The resource also includes two text articles related to the topic.

Type: Teaching Idea

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden have developed an energy-efficient fuel cell superior to combustion engines and other traditional ways of heating homes. The stacked fuel cells convert natural gas directly into electrical energy without resulting in energy loss. The fuel cell prototypes are being tried in homes and signal promise for the future.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists have discovered a method of transferring wave energy into electrical energy by the use of manmade seafloor "carpets." After the article explains how the process works, it lists the potential benefits of utilizing this method on a large scale.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the development of floor tiles that provide a green, alternative energy source. These tiles work on the principle that pressure (footsteps) generates an electric current from certain crystals in an application of the piezoelectric effect.

Type: Text Resource

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Chemists create pyrotechnics to give viewers the most spectacular fireworks show that they can by using basic chemistry concepts and physics. Readers of this article might be surprised to learn that conserving energy, preventing explosions, and cooling-down reactions are part of this process.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text proposes the advantages and disadvantages of three methods of converting tidal energy into electricity. The text includes links to outside information and key vocabulary words are highlighted with blue print.

Type: Text Resource

This resource explains how a solar cell converts light energy into electrical energy. The user will also learn about the different components of the solar cell and observe the relationship between photon intensity and the amount of electrical energy produced.

Type: Tutorial

• Observe the photosynthesis mechanism in the plant
• Learn about the main chemical reactions that takes place during photosynthesis
• Learn how solar energy is converted into chemical energy

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

A collection of crossword puzzles that test the knowledge of students about some of the terms, processes, and classifications covered in science topics

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Vast collection of multimedia resources in mechanics, waves and relativity.

Type: Virtual Manipulative