Students will design and explain how a model roller coaster uses acceleration, momentum, gravity and principles of potential and kinetic energy.
This is the educator's guide for a set of activities that teach students about humans' endeavors to return to the moon. The emphasis is for students to understand that engineers must "imagine and plan" before they begin to build and experiment. Each activity features objectives, a list of materials, educator information, procedures, and student worksheets. Students should work in teams to complete the activities. Note: Activities do not align to all objectives that are listed; specific activities align to specific objectives.
Students will learn the basic principles of passive solar heating and how it is applied to home design. Students will then use Google SketchUp to design and create a passive solar addition to a home or they can design a small passive solar house.
This lesson demonstrates the relationship between potential energy and kinetic energy. Students will use toy cars and ramps to investigate the concepts.
This resource is a compilation of text, videos, and other elements to create a scaffolded 5E learning experience for students. With this resource, students explore potential and kinetic energy.
Complete lesson on potential and kinetic energy with text, comprehension questions and application activities.
This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade Science.
This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade Science.
This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade Science.
This resource is a lesson and project to guide students through using a roller coaster simulation to explain how energy can be transformed from one form to another (energy transformation). The lesson, resources, project, and energy quiz can be accessed and modified through a Google Slides presentation (http://bit.ly/RollerCoasterEnergyTransformations)
In this STEM challenge, students build a rubber-band powered rover that can scramble across the room. Students will follow the engineering design process to design and build a rover out of cardboard, figure out how to use rubber bands to spin the wheels, and improve their design based on testing results.
In this lesson students investigate how the distance of stretch in a rubber band at rest relates to the distance the rubber band travels after being released. Students will be pulling rubber bands back to five different stretch lengths. They will then measure how far the rubber bands fly when released from the different stretch lengths and then record the results down in a data table.
Students are divided into teams that will collaborate to decide a theme for a machine, determine a task for the machine to complete, create a machine, and are given three trials for the machine to run meeting the specifications outlined on the rubric.
Students learn about the physics behind a ski jump. In an associated activity, students demonstrate the conversion between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy by investigating how to launch a projectile as far as possible.
In this classroom activity, students will discuss and use knowledge of energy to solve a challenge of getting the longest roll time on a foam track.
In this STEM lesson, student pairs design, build and test model vehicles out of different kinds of pasta capable of rolling down a ramp and then coasting as freely as far as possible. Students become familiar with the concepts of gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and rolling resistance. Teams follow the steps of the engineering design process as they design, test, and redesign their vehicles, working within the project's materials constraints.
Students drop water from a height and relate the splash it makes to the potential energy it has before it falls.
Students will assemble a water wheel and explore how variables such as the amount, rate, and direction of water flow can influence the amount of work done. The model they build will convert the force of falling water from potential energy to mechanical energy.
Within the physical science strand of 7th grade science, students focus on the motion of objects. In this task, students will act as engineers as they research, design, and construct competition wacky hall walkers. The inquiry nature of this project allows students to build meaningful connections while promoting 21st Century Skills. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.
In this activity, students will design and construct a water bottle rocket. Students will demonstrate understanding of a good experimental design and analysis of results. Upon completion of flight of the rocket, students will find the height, speed, potential and kinetic energy of the rocket.