Students will design their own spacecraft to investigate how different atmospheric densities will affect the speed of descent through the atmosphere (modeled using glycerol). Students will drop their spacecraft models down through the "atmosphere" and time how long it takes to land on the surface.

By conducting experiments to gather data about the stretch in a rubber band, students will model scientific investigations and explore scientific laws.

This lesson is the first of a two-part series on the science of hurricanes and the kinds of technology being used to identify and track them. In this activity students examine different scientific aspects of hurricanes, all in an effort to begin to understand the nature of motion?particularly how changes in speed or direction of motion are caused by forces.

In this activity, students will experiment with different styles of paper airplanes, create questions to test and design experiments that will allow them to gather data related to their question. They will record their data, using graphs where appropriate, and present their findings to the class using their evidence to support their thinking.

In this lesson, students will work in small groups to experience friction in action as they investigate the movement of toy cars. Students use the scientific process to hypothesize and then test how toy cars travel down ramps using differing variables such as mass and types of materials. They also review and share their results with the class.

In this lesson, students investigate how the surface and angle of a slope affects the distance a toy car will travel down a ramp.

In this activity, students will make and test their own sailboats for speed, direction of sailboats, and carrying weight.

This resource provides background information about the four forces that impact a plane's flight.

In this activity, students will make go-carts and measure the speed, then change different factors of the experiment and see how the speed changes. In day 1, students will design and build a cart based on a specified set of materials, and then complete several trials to test the cart by rolling it down a ramp. Through discussion and journaling students will share their designs and compare the speeds of carts. In day 2, students will experiment with ways to increase or decrease the speed of their cart.

The focus of this unit is to introduce the concepts of force and motion. Specifically this unit will address the forces of push, pull, gravity, and work. It also introduces students to the concepts of friction and slope. The unit begins with an introduction to the scientific method and addresses the differences between scientists and engineers. Students will be both scientists and engineers while completing this unit.

In this activity, students will observe marbles rolling down a ramp and identify variables that could cause the marble to roll faster or farther. They will then design a procedure to test how the height of the ramp affects the motion of the marble and collect, record, and analyze data.

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.

In this short video and accompanying experiment activity and readings, students learn about all kinds of forces in motion at Falls Lake State Recreation Area. Chopping wood, riding a bike, pitching a tent, canoeing — students can see each of these examples to discover out how objects (and people) move in their surroundings.

In this lesson, students will design and test paper airplanes to investigate how shape and weight affect the plane's flight pattern and weight-carrying ability.

In this activity, students explore how some things fall and how varying the size of the rotor blades, the shape of the rotor blades and the weight of a paper helicopter affect the way a helicopter spins.

In this lesson, students will observe and record the amount of work done by marbles rolling down a plane and more fully understand the relationship between potential and kinetic energy.

Students alter gliders in controlled experiments to simulate how certain characteristics affect pterosaur's flight. Students will test the flight of two gliders with the objective to observe how adding a change like a head crest affects their motion.

In this lesson, students will predict which will land first, a marble or a pea, when dropped from the same height. Students will then participate in a class discussion. Next, students work in small groups to design an experiment to test their ideas about the effect the height of a ramp will have on how far an object will travel. Students will record the data from their investigations and present their results to the class, also participating in a culminating class discussion. A student recording sheet is included.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 5th Grade Science.