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Gravity in Action
Source Institutions
Explore the effects of gravity on a slowly falling object: a parachute you make out of plastic bags, string and stones.

Physics Tug of War
Learners set up books with rubber bands stretched between the books. When two identical books are stretched apart and released, they move back toward each other an equal distance.

Rocket Launchers
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners work with an adult to build a rocket and launcher out of a plastic 2-liter bottle, flexible plastic hose, plastic tubing, toilet paper tube, and duct tape.

Cupcake Delivery
Source Institutions
In this design challenge, learners will create wind-powered contraptions to transport a load, such as a cupcake or another small object, and test to see if they work.

Watch It Fly
Source Institutions
Learners observe projectile motion by launching wooden balls off of a table top. They set up a rubber-band launcher so that each ball experiences a consistent amount of force.

Newton's 2nd Law: Inquiry Approach
Source Institutions
In this lab activity, learners act as fellow scientists and colleagues of Isaac Newton. He has asked them to independently test his ideas on the nature of motion, in particular his 2nd Law.

Catapult
Source Institutions
Build a catapult that transforms the potential energy of a twisted rubber band into kinetic energy. Experiment with design variations so that you can hit a target with a projectile.

3-2-1 POP!
Source Institutions
In this physics activity, learners build their own rockets out of film canisters and construction paper.

Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners make a skydiver and parachute contraption and launch it. They see that the drag created by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth.

Rubber Band Racer
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners construct speedy vehicles made out of paper plates and powered by twisted rubber bands.

Swinging Yo-Yo
Source Institutions
Learners build a pendulum from a yo-yo, and then design their own experiment to determine what affects the pendulum's period of swing.

Chain Reaction II
Source Institutions
In this hands-on activity, learners use an assortment of (mainly household) items to complete Rube Goldberg-type challenges.

Give Me a Brake
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the concept of how brakes can stop or slow mechanical motion.

Up and Over
Source Institutions
This is an activity about Newton's First Law of Motion - a body in motion tends to stay in motion, or a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.
Build a Borneo Glider
Source Institutions
In this inquiry-based activity, learners investigate the basic forces of flight as they construct their own paper glider that represents a rainforest creature from Borneo (large, tropical island in So

How Do Probes Get To Space?
Source Institutions
Investigate how force and thrust work to propel rockets into outer space. Build a rocket: a blown-up balloon taped to a drinking straw threaded through some string.

Speed, Eggs and Slam!
Source Institutions
In this fun hands-on activity, learners create a safety device to protect an egg "passenger" in a toy car crash. Learners experiment with different solutions to this very problem.

Build A Dome
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the structural strength of triangles by creating their own free-standing geodesic dome out of plastic straws.

Gymnast
Source Institutions
In this physics activity, learners build a toy with a figure that spins around like a gymnast on the high bar.

Swing in Time
Learners build and investigate pendulums of different lengths. They discover that the longer the string of the pendulum, the longer the time it takes to swing.