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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.

Watch It Fly
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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.

Don't Crack Humpty
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Groups of learners are provided with a generic car base and an egg. Their mission: design a device/enclosure to protect the egg on or in the car as it rolls down a ramp with increasing slopes.

Chew that Gum
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In this quick activity (page 1 of PDF under SciGirls Activity: Exercise and Memory), learners will investigate what happens to bubble gum when it is chewed for 5-10 minutes.

Newton's 2nd Law: Inquiry Approach
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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.

Geometry and Algebra: The Future Flight Equation
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In this activity, learners discover how NASA engineers develop experimental aircraft.

Strengthen a Paper Bridge
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In this quick activity (page 1 of the PDF under SciGirls Activity: Tug O' War), learners will test how many pennies a flat paper index card bridging the gap between two stacks of books is able to supp

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.

Hanging Around
Learners investigate weight by building a spring scale. They observe and record how it responds to objects with different masses.

Weighty Questions
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In this activity about humans and space travel (page 1 of PDF), learners compare and contrast the behavior of a water-filled plastic bag, both outside and inside of a container of water.

Doughy Physics
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Learners drop two different masses of play dough and observe how long it takes them to hit the ground.

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

Egg Bungee Jump
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In this activity, learners design a bungee jump for an egg using nylon stockings.

Balloon Flinker
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In this activity, learners make a helium balloon "flink"--neither float away nor sink to the ground. Use this activity to introduce physics concepts related to gravity, density, and weight.
Build a Borneo Glider
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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

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.

How Do Things Fall?
Learners engage in close observation of falling objects. They determine it is the amount of air resistance, not the weight of an object, which determines how quickly an object falls.

Skateboard Disaster
Learners examine collisions between two skateboards carrying different masses. They learn about conservation of momentum in collisions.