physics classroom assignments

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National Science Foundation (NSF)

• Classroom Resources

Physics Classroom Resources

This collection of lessons and web resources is aimed at classroom teachers, their students, and students' families.

LIGO: Einstein Was Right https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/ligoevent/index.jsp A century ago, Albert Einstein predicted gravitational waves -- ripples in the fabric of space-time that result from the universe's most violent phenomena. A hundred years later, NSF-funded researchers using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) have detected gravitational waves.

K-12 Curriculum: Physics Resource: Educators (grades K-12) https://www.teachengineering.org/curriculum/browse?subjectArea=Physics Part of the Teach Engineering website, this section provides educators with numerous lesson plans and engaging activities to teach concepts in physics to elementary through high school students. Popular lessons include "Kinetic and Potential Energy of Motion" and "Physics of Roller Coasters."

Science of NHL Hockey Resource: Educators, Students, Families https://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/?series_name=Science%20of%20NHL%20Hockey NSF, in partnership with NBC Learn, NBC Sports and the National Hockey League, explore the science, math and phyciscs behind professional hockey, the fastest game on ice. This 10-part series is made especially for students and teachers to use in the classroom; the videos are aligned to lesson plans and national state educational standards. The lesson plans are available to the public cost free on NBCLearn.com and NBCSports.com. NSF and NBC Learn also collaborated on other fun, educational series including Science of the Winter Olympics ; Science of the Summer Olympics: Engineering in Sports ; Science of NFL Football ; The Science of Speed .

Physics Research Overview Resource: All Audiences http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/physics/index.jsp Physics begins with the everyday physical world around us and goes on to give us many answers--along with a rich and detailed account of things like force, motion, gravity, heat,light, electricity and magnetism--that actually give rise to the everyday world. This overview page on the National Science Foundation's Web site provides insight through funded research that everyone can benefit from.

The 2017 multi-messenger neutrino discovery

Ball in a funnel: Little Shop of Physics

The Physics of Animation: Science Nation

Electromagnetic Spectrum: Chalk Talk

Piezo power: Under pressure, crystals live up to their electric potential

See more videos related to Physics in the NSF Multimedia Gallery.

10 Fun Physics Games & Activities For High School Students

Physics is the study of the physical matter of the universe. But usually, it shows up in our textbooks as boring formulas and abstract principles that seem to make no sense in real life.

Think about the last time you used F= MxA. Not since you last gave the physics exam that required you to use it right?

But you must have pushed something heavy recently. While doing so, you might have discovered that it was easier to apply more force if you stood with your legs wide open. Here you don’t change the action you were doing to push the object before, just the way you are standing. This in turn made your action much more effective. This is because this change in stance increased your mass and an increase in mass increased the force you were applying to the object. Simple right?

Physics can be much more fun and exciting if related to real-life instances with various games and activities. This blog enlists a variety of them that can be used in the classroom to bring physics to life.

Interactive games & activities to make learning physics fun

Physics is an important subject that has real-life applications for almost all of our daily actions. So, to make the classes more interesting and these applications more apparent, here is a list of activities that can be used in the classroom:

1. Boat race

For this activity, the class will need to break out into discussion groups of 5-8 students. They will be presented with a fictitious situation of a team on a boating expedition, trying to find its way back to the shore.

The task of the students will be to discuss amongst themselves and find out the physical properties that will be working for and against the boating team like the wave speed, wind direction, speed, direction of the boat, the direction of the water, etc. They will then have to give an estimate of all the factors they think would affect the boating team to create optimum conditions so that the boat can make it to the shore in the least amount of time.

In this activity, the students will learn about various physics principles and their real-life applications through and with each other.

2. Light it up

For this activity, the educator will have to arrange student-safe electrical materials. The task of the students would be to build circuits using every single thing that is given to them in the circuit. The material provided should include regular things required to build an electrical circuit like led bulbs, batteries, wires, switches, etc. with the twist being the inclusion of a potato, an orange, a lime, etc.

By inserting electrodes in the potato, orange, and lime, students will learn the citric acid in the orange and lime and the juiciness inside the potatoes work as conductors.

3. Roller Coaster 

For this activity, the educator will have to provide the students with regular classroom crafts materials papers, ice cream sticks, cardboard, glue, tape, etc.

The class will be divided into teams of five to six students each. Their task will be to use these craft materials and design a roller coaster from scratch. The team with the biggest roller coaster structure that marbles can make it out of will win.

This activity will teach the students about various physics concepts like friction, gravity, motion, force, etc.

4. Floaters

For this activity as well, the students should be provided with whatever and as much craft material as they require including things like newspapers, ice cream sticks, plastic sheets, straws, etc. 

The goal of the students would be to design an object that can stay in the air or float as long as possible. Their floaters can range from paper planes to small parachute-like floaters made out of straw and newspaper. This activity can be done in groups or individually. Whichever design is the last one floating from a drop from the second floor will be declared the winner.

Through this activity, the students will learn various principles of air, wind, aerodynamics, flying, and landing.

5. Set the sails  

This is yet another activity that just requires everyday craft supplies like paper, cardboard, pencils, glue, tape, plastic sheet, paper, etc. 

The students would be required to use these materials or whatever else they can find to design their own ship. From the sails to the anchor, the more realistic and majestic looking, the better. But, just looks won’t suffice. To win, the ship will have to brave testing waters. The ship to float the longest in the water will be declared the winner. To make the competition tougher, the educator can even see how much weight the ships can hold by adding pennies to each ship. The last ship sailing will be crowned the winner.

This activity will teach students various properties about water, the reason ships and other objects float, the Archimedes Principle, and so on. They will also learn how this applies to real life, more specifically life on and underwater.

6. Increase the friction

This activity will require a remote control car and a clear path or ramp to drive the car on. 

The task of the students here will be to come up with various materials and fluids that can be laid on the path of the car. This could include water, sand, juice, fruit pulp, etc. The students will also have to guess which material will make it harder for the car to cross the path and which material will facilitate the car’s movement. 

This activity will be instrumental in teaching students about friction and its importance in relation to motion and how it applies to real life like driving a vehicle.

7. Build an arch

For this activity, the educator will have to find 4-5 big and heavy rocks, some thin and bendable steel plates, and a thick board.

The class will be divided into 4 to 5 teams and each team will be given its individual rock to work with. The task of the students here will be to fashion a device using these materials and nothing else that takes their rock at least 5 to 6 inches off the ground. 

This activity will teach the students the importance of arches in lifting weights, how they facilitate the same in cars by making arches over the tires, and how even a person can literally walk on eggs when they are in a tray without breaking a single one of them because of this very principle.

8. Make it stick

For this activity, the educator will have to get balloons and newspapers. 

The newspaper will be torn into tiny little pieces and spread across the room. The task of the students will be to find a quick and efficient way to pick up all the pieces of paper and clean the room. They can fill the balloon with air, rub it on their heads and use the magic of static electricity to make all the pieces stick to the balloon instead of individually picking them up one by one. 

This same principle can be illustrated if they rub their feet on the carpet with socks on and then touch each other’s hand, they will feel a jolt of current. All of this is because of static electricity.

9. Reach for it

For this activity, the educator will have to arrange a wire, a screwdriver, a battery, and an iron or steel ring, earring, bangle, or any other small accessory. 

Here the students will be put in a fictitious situation where they have dropped this very important accessory needed to open the door in a place so small that they can’t reach it with their hands. They will be given a 5 minutes timer in which they have to find a way using the material provided to them to pick the ring up and open the door before they are locked inside, forever. 

To successfully complete this challenge, the students will make an electromagnet out of the screwdriver by wrapping its metallic part with a wire and then connecting the wire to the battery. This activity will teach them about the properties of regular magnets and electromagnets as well as how to make one.

10. Drinking rainbows

For this activity, the educator will have to arrange 7 to 8 different drinks with different colors and densities.

The task of the students will be to make a drink in such a way that all the 7 to 8 colors of the various drinks put together to make one drink are visible. They will have to figure out in which order they need to pour the drinks so that no two colors get mixed with each other.

The way to complete this activity would be to start with the densest drink which is extremely pulpy and even partly solid. Then move to the second densest and so on until the drink with the least density is poured on top. This will teach the students about various properties of liquids, how density plays out in real life, why sand settles at the bottom of the ocean, and so on. 

Physics is the study of what makes up the entire universe. From the smallest of atoms to the biggest of planets and galaxies, all come under the purview of physics. Physics also has applications in our regular lives in almost everything we do which isn’t always apparent from the textbook method of theoretical teaching. This is where including activities and games in the curriculum to teach various concepts and principles can save the day. These activities can include board race, light it up, roller coaster, floaters, setting the sails, increasing the friction, building an arch, making it stick, reaching for it, drinking rainbows, and so on. Furthermore, these activities can also be used for people who have dyscalculia , as they can make the learning process smoother for the students. 

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of  Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

Boost Student Engagement in Physics with These 20+ Ready-to-use digital Lesson activities

Physics answers the “how” of the universe by exploring motion, energy, and forces. Unlike biology, which tries to answer the “why,” and chemistry, which studies “results,” physics focuses on the fundamental principles that shape our world. Yet, engaging students in physics can be challenging due to its abstract concepts.

This blog post will show how to boost student engagement with 20+ ready-to-use digital lesson activities for physics. These interactive exercises make physics accessible and exciting, transforming your classroom into a dynamic learning environment. Discover how these innovative tools can spark a passion for physics and STEM in your students.

All these digital science activities are free to use and created with BookWidgets . You can find these ready-to-use physics & STEM lesson plans in this group . You can create a free BookWidgets account (if you don’t have one already) and copy the widgets to your account, allowing you to make some changes where necessary and receive your students’ answers in your account.

The online physics exercises are divided into several categories that at the same time form the sections of this blog post:

Understand physics concepts and formulas

Solve physics problems, conduct physics experiments, study and practice physics’ fundamentals, perform formative and summative physics assessments, optimize your physics lessons - bonus tips.

⚠️ Metric vs. Imperial system

Writing a blog post for an international audience with ready-made examples of science activities is challenging because of the regional differences. Depending on your location, you will be used to the metric or imperial system and express temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit or Celcius. Therefore, two versions of some of the examples in this blog post have been worked out; be sure to check out the links below the screenshots. You can also duplicate and modify other examples yourself if the system used is not yours.

Physics covers a very broad range of topics. In trying to understand and describe the world around us, observations of the movement of planets, objects, light, fluids, electricity, etc., resulted in models and mathematical formulas describing what they observed.

This section presents several ready-made interactive exercises that let students explore and understand various physics concepts and formulas.

1. The conversion of gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy ( Video quiz )

Engage your students with a video quiz on the conversion of gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy. Featuring Walter Lewin, a renowned Dutch astrophysicist and MIT professor with a great YouTube channel , this video showcases an inspiring experiment where Lewin risks his life to demonstrate his trust in science. Beyond explaining the physical concepts in detail, Lewin’s passionate delivery is a powerful example of how enthusiasm for physics can inspire and captivate students.

2. Bernouilli’s principle ( Split Worksheet with TikTok video )

Introduce your students to Bernoulli’s Principle through a dynamic Split Worksheet featuring a TikTok video. In this activity, a physics teacher demonstrates the principle by inflating a large plastic bag with just one breath. This digital learning experience showcases how you can easily create innovative physics lessons and engage students in science.

💡 Learn more about using TikTok in the classroom in this previous blog post .

3. Gravity ( Video quiz )

Enhance your students’ understanding of gravity with an interactive video quiz from the popular YouTube channel Peekaboo Kidz . Designed for younger learners, this engaging video explains the concept of gravity in a fun and accessible way. The accompanying questions reinforce key points and ensure comprehension.

4. Newton’s three laws of motion ( Split Worksheet with YouTube video )

Engage your students with an insightful Split Worksheet on Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion, featuring a bicycle demonstration from TedEd . This well-crafted video breaks down the principles of inertia, acceleration, and action-reaction in an easy-to-understand format. The accompanying questions help reinforce these fundamental concepts.

5. Waves in a Spring ( Active plot )

Help your students grasp the concept of waves in a spring with an interactive plot widget. This dynamic activity lets learners visualize wave propagation, amplitude, and frequency in real time. By manipulating the variables, students can see the effects on wave behavior, enhancing their understanding of wave mechanics.

The Active Plot is more than an interactive graph; it allows students to:

• Annotate the plot
• Add their own (dynamic) formula
• Mark points on the plot
• Make annotations on the integrated scratchpad
• Submit their work to the teacher

Developing problem-solving skills is crucial for mastering physics. Engaging students in interactive activities that challenge them to apply theoretical concepts can significantly enhance their understanding and retention. In this section, we’ll explore digital science activities designed to help students solve physics problems effectively.

6. Vector diagram ( Whiteboard )

Enhance your students’ vector diagram skills with this engaging whiteboard activity. Tasked with determining the real speed of a plane flying, students will draw a vector diagram and perform the necessary calculations. This hands-on exercise is perfect for reinforcing concepts of vector addition and relative velocity in a clear and interactive way. With tools as an integrated calculator, notepad and annotation features, students can solve these online physics assignments efficiently.

7. Kinematics (motion under gravity) ( Worksheet with scratchpad and calculator )

Engage middle school students with this interactive physics worksheet on calculating motion under gravity. In this Worksheet, students will solve a classic physics problem: determining the time it takes for a ball to drop from a building and its speed upon impact. With a scratchpad and calculator enabled, students can apply equations of motion, enhance problem-solving skills, and deepen their understanding of fundamental physics concepts.

Hands-on experimentation is an essential skill for students to develop a deep understanding of the laws and principles. Enhance student engagement with these digital lesson activities designed to simulate and demonstrate physics experiments. From interactive virtual labs that simulate real-world scenarios to hands-on experiments that can be conducted at school or at home, these resources offer diverse and engaging ways to practice problem-solving skills, an essential goal of STEM education .

From interactive virtual labs that simulate real-world scenarios to hands-on experiments that can be conducted at school or at home, these resources offer diverse and engaging ways to practice problem-solving skills.

8. Measure gravity experiment ( Worksheet )

Engage middle school students in a hands-on physics experiment where they determine gravitational acceleration using simple materials—a marble and a stopwatch. In this interactive activity, inspired by the classic ball drop problem, students measure the time it takes for a marble to fall a specified height and calculate gravitational acceleration using kinematic equations. This experiment fosters the practical application of physics concepts and reinforces the understanding of motion under gravity.

9. Measure density experiment ( Split Worksheet with embedded online simulation )

Engage students in an online science experiment focused on measuring density to identify different materials. In this online simulation, students use a virtual laboratory to measure the mass and volume of various objects. Students determine the unique density values characteristic of different materials by calculating density.

10. Refraction of light ( Before & after widget )

Explore the fascinating phenomenon of light refraction with this interactive Before & After widget activity. This STEM experiment demonstrates how light changes direction when passing through different mediums, such as air and water. Students can easily perform this physics experiment on their own, witnessing the optical illusion where the arrow appears to change direction due to refraction.

11. Speed, acceleration, force, and energy in harmonic vibration ( Worksheet with embedded online simulation )

This interactive online simulation activity engages students in a dynamic exploration of harmonic vibration. This simulation allows students to experiment with a spring pendulum to investigate how mass and spring constant influence vibration time and characteristics. By manipulating parameters and observing the motion of a vibrating mass, students discover relationships between position, velocity, acceleration, and time during harmonic oscillations. This hands-on science activity promotes an understanding of fundamental physics concepts, such as energy transformations and the forces involved in oscillatory motion.

12. Currents in a series ( Split Worksheet with embedded online simulation )

Immerse students in the principles of electricity with this interactive online simulation activity. This simulation allows students to create their own electrical circuits and measure electric current in various configurations. This virtual STEM experiment enhances comprehension of fundamental electrical concepts, promotes problem-solving skills, and encourages inquiry-based learning.

13. Cotton ball launcher ( Video quiz )

Spark curiosity and learning with a fun and educational STEM project where students build a cotton ball launcher step by step. In this hands-on science activity, middle school students construct their own launcher using simple materials and then analyze the physical principles behind its operation, such as force, trajectory, and energy transfer. Perfect for both classroom and remote learning, this project combines creativity and science for an interactive STEM education experience.

Mastering the fundamentals of physics is crucial for students to succeed in the subject. Using engaging and interactive activities can make learning these core concepts more effective and enjoyable. In this section, we’ll present a variety of ready-to-use digital tools and activities designed to help students study and practice physics fundamentals. From flashcards for reinforcing key physics concepts to crossword puzzles that test their knowledge, these resources offer a fun and interactive approach to learning.

14. Convert the formulas ( Flash Cards )

Enhance students’ fluency in converting formulas with this engaging digital flash cards activity. This interactive tool helps students practice and master the skill of formula conversion, essential for solving various mathematical and scientific problems.

15. Units, Quantities, and Symbols Table: Foundational Physics Practice ( Worksheet with table question )

Build a strong foundation in physics with this interactive activity where students fill in units, quantities, and symbols in a comprehensive table. This exercise reinforces the essential components for solving physics problems and accurately recording experimental results. By matching physical quantities with their corresponding units and symbols, students enhance their understanding of physical key concepts.

16. Forces and energy ( Crossword )

This interactive physics crossword puzzle makes learning about forces and energy fun and engaging. This activity challenges students to fill in physics key concepts such as gravity, magnetism, cohesion, and electrostatics. Students reinforce their understanding of fundamental physics principles related to forces and energy by solving clues and completing the puzzle.

17. Electric circuits ( Worksheet )

Enhance your understanding of electrical principles with this comprehensive worksheet where students need to complete tables by calculating tension (voltage), current intensity, and resistance using Ohm’s Law and related formulas. This hands-on worksheet reinforces key concepts in electricity, promoting problem-solving skills and fluency in applying fundamental equations.

18. Convert units x, t and v ( Flashcards )

Develop proficiency in unit conversion with this interactive digital flash card activity. This tool helps students practice converting units such as millimeters to kilometers, centimeters per second to meters per second, and seconds to hours. By working through various examples, students reinforce their understanding of metric and time conversions, which are essential for solving scientific and mathematical problems.

19. Physics laws ( Flash Cards )

Strengthen students’ understanding of fundamental physics principles with this digital flash cards activity. These interactive flash cards cover essential physics laws such as Newton’s laws of motion, the law of reflection, the law of conservation of mass, and Hooke’s law. This engaging tool helps students memorize and comprehend physical key concepts.

Effective assessment is key to understanding students’ grasp of physics concepts and guiding their learning journey. Combining formative and summative assessments provides a comprehensive view of student progress. In this section, we’ll present a variety of tools for performing formative and summative physics assessments. From exit tickets that provide quick insights into student understanding to detailed worksheets and quizzes covering a wide range of physics topics, these resources offer diverse methods to evaluate and enhance student learning.

20. Centrifugal force Exit ticket ( Split Worksheet with embedded TikTok video )

This exit ticket is a Split Worksheet designed to quickly assess students’ comprehension of centrifugal force. At the end of a lesson, students will watch a brief, engaging TikTok video that visually explains the concept of centrifugal force. Following the video, students will answer two simple questions. This quick and interactive exit ticket helps ensure that students are keeping up with the material and provides valuable feedback for the teacher.

💡 Discover 60+ ready-to-use Exit tickets in this previous blog post .

21. The doorbell ( Worksheet )

Explore the mechanics of a doorbell with this interactive exercise. Students annotate a schema showing the electric circuit, identifying components such as the push button, electromagnet, chime, and power source. Additionally, students delve into the mechanical principles behind how the doorbell operates, including concepts of electromagnetism and sound production.

22. Wave properties ( Worksheet )

Assess students’ knowledge of wave properties with this comprehensive test where students demonstrate their understanding and application of fundamental wave concepts such as wavelength, frequency, amplitude, and wave speed.

23. Measuring range and accuracy ( Quiz )

Engage your students in a hands-on physics lesson by analyzing the range and accuracy of everyday measuring tools like scales and thermometers. This activity teaches students to critically evaluate the precision and reliability of these instruments, fostering a deeper understanding of measurement concepts in real-world contexts.

24. 1D Kinematics ( Quiz )

In this interactive physics quiz, students calculate various kinematic quantities, such as the distance traveled by a plane before takeoff, using important physical formulas. By solving problems involving distance, speed, and acceleration, students reinforce their grasp of fundamental concepts in motion and mechanics.

Transform your physics classroom with these pro tips on utilizing BookWidgets to its fullest potential. In this section, you’ll learn how to set up a digital scratchpad and a calculator for student use, seamlessly embed external tools, and overcome any difficulties with writing math and science characters. These tips will help you create a more interactive and supportive environment, making physics both accessible and engaging for your students.

Tip 1: Enable the scractchpad

Enhance student problem-solving skills by enabling a scratchpad in your Quiz, Worksheet, Split Worksheet, and Video Quiz widgets. This feature allows students to jot down notes, work through calculations, and brainstorm directly within their assignments. Teachers can review these scratchpad entries during grading, providing valuable insights into each student’s thought process and approach to solving problems.

⚙️ The Scratchpad Option is available on the “General” tab and you can choose to enable it for all the questions or just for specific questions within your worksheet. You can even enable the photo tool in the scratchpad, allowing students to upload pictures from their paper notes.

Tip 2: Enable the calculator

Facilitate accurate computations by enabling a calculator in your Quiz, Worksheet, Split Worksheet, and Video Quiz widgets. Teachers can choose between a simple and a scientific calculator, tailoring the tool to the specific needs of their students and the complexity of the assignments. By providing this feature, students can perform necessary calculations directly within their assignments.

⚙️ The Calculator Option is available on the “General” tab and you can choose between a simple and a scientific calculator.

Tip 3: Embed external tools

There are great tools online that allow your students to conduct virtual physics experiments or interactive exercises, for example, Phet interactive Simulations , Walter Fendt’s HTML apps , and Geogebra . Want to have students work in these tools while noting observations, answering questions, or submitting screenshots of their experiment or assignment? Then the perfect solution is to embed the chosen tool in a split worksheet. The tool appears on the left, the questions appear on the right and the student can interact with the two on one screen!

💡 While the Split Worksheet is often the most practical widget type for embedding external tools, they can also be embedded in Quizzes, Worksheets, Webquests, Hotspot images, and more. Read this blog post to learn more about embedding external tools in BookWidgets .

⚙️ Embed external tools in the “Text” tab of a Split Worksheet. Select “Web Embed” as the Text pane type and add the URL or iframe at the bottom.

Tip 4: Use the Whiteboard (widget or question)

Incorporate interactive learning with the Whiteboard widget or by using Whiteboard questions in a Quiz, Worksheet, Split Worksheet or Video Quiz. Whiteboards allow students to draw, annotate, and visually solve physics problems. Teachers can upload custom background images to guide student responses. When grading, teachers can view all student annotations, gaining insights into their understanding and thought processes. This feature enhances engagement and helps students visualize and communicate their solutions effectively.

Tip 5: Use the Photo question

Capture real-world learning with the Photo Question feature in BookWidgets. Ideal for physics experiments, this option allows students to take and upload photos as their responses. Teachers can then review these images during grading, gaining a visual understanding of students’ experimental setups, procedures, and results.

Tip 6: Activate the On-screen keyboard

Simplify complex input with the On-Screen Keyboard feature in BookWidgets. This tool provides students with easy access to Greek math symbols, as well as subscript and superscript letters, numbers, and symbols. Perfect for physics assignments, it ensures that students can accurately and efficiently enter the specialized notation required for their work.

⚙️ The On-screen keyboard is available on the “General” tab and you can choose you can choose which characters the students will have at their disposal.

Tip 7: Master LaTeX

LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system often used for technical and scientific documents. It is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents in many fields, including physics. LaTeX enables precise control over document formatting and allows for the inclusion of complex mathematical equations and scientific notations. Mastering LaTeX gives you the ability to use this powerful language across a variety of educational and professional tools, ensuring your materials are consistently formatted and easily shared.

In the context of BookWidgets, mastering LaTeX offers a significant advantage. It empowers you to create a wide array of interactive exercises with proper scientific annotations. You can design flashcards, multiple-choice questions, drag-and-drop questions, detailed physics problems, and more, all featuring accurate mathematical and scientific notation. This level of precision is invaluable in a physics classroom, where clear and correct representation of equations and concepts is crucial.

If mastering LaTeX seems daunting, don’t worry. There are many online conversion tools available that can help you translate standard text or equations into LaTeX code. Here’s a selection of interesting conversion tools that generate a LaTeX output:

💡 Pro tip: Do you have existing Word or PDF files that contain exercises with scientific notations? Use BookWidgets’ import tool to digitize these paper handouts. The scientific characters will be recognized and automatically converted to LaTeX!

Tip 8: Use the Equations question

This equations question is designed for math and physics responses, allowing students to construct equations, including elements like scientific symbols, square roots, and fractions. You may be wondering what the difference is between using the On-Screen Keyboard (see tip 6) and the Equations question. The On-Screen Keyboard offers quick access to basic symbols and subscripts/superscripts, but has its limitations. When students need to create more advanced expressions (including fractions, square roots, and more), you’ll have to use the Equations question type.

💡 Pro tip: On the General Tab, using the Equations Editor option, you can control which scientific symbols are made available to students: symbols in blue become available if they are needed to answer the question (the correct answer should then be set), symbols in green are always shown and symbols in red never.

Thank you for reading all the way up until here, that was a lot! We’re convinced that incorporating some of these 20+ ready-to-use digital Physics and STEM activities can significantly boost student engagement in physics lessons. Of course, with BookWidgets , you can also create your own online science activities. These digital tools for teaching physics not only make lessons more engaging but also help students grasp complex concepts through fun and interactive experiences.

Whether you’re using virtual physics experiments or engaging physics lesson plans, the key is to create a student-centered approach that makes learning physics exciting and accessible. Embrace the power of technology in physics education to enhance student learning and foster a deeper understanding of the subject. With these resources, you’ll be well-equipped to captivate your students and inspire a love for physics.

Have you tried any of these activities and want to share your experiences? Or do you have any other inspiring physics lessons? Be sure to share them in our Facebook group .

Want to learn more about creating engaging lesson activities with BookWidgets ?

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✔️ And, be sure to connect with me, Dimitri, on LinkedIn ! 👋

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• theexpertta.com

Partnering with STEM educators to foster innovative teaching.

10 ideas for physics demonstrations to use in your classroom.

If done appropriately, in-class physics demonstrations can be a great way to engage students and exhibit key concepts. Dr. Adam Beehler , Lecture Demonstration Specialist at the University of Utah shares a few of his favorites in the list below. Many of these examples are simple to implement in any classroom, though if resources are a concern, utilizing a video of the demonstration may be an effective alternative.

• Rotational Inertia Race (North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics)

In this example, two concurrent demonstrations are utilized to illustrate that rotational inertia depends on the mass of an object and the ways in which it is distributed from the axis of rotation. An important aspect of this demonstration is making clear that angular acceleration is directly related to the ratio of torque to rotational inertia. While the first experiment does require the use of a motor to get an aluminum disk in motion, the second only requires setting up a ramp for two disks (one wood, one aluminum) to roll down.

• Bicycle Wheel Gyroscope (Veritasium)

By manually spinning a bicycle wheel that is hanging from a rope from one of its axles, this short demonstration, which could easily be shown as an in-class video, illustrates the interaction of the torque of the spinning wheel with that of gravity.

• Ice Skater Spin (Steve Spangler Science)

This experiment adapts the idea of a spinning ice skater to illustrate angular momentum by having a participant in the experiment stand on a flat rotating disk. Whether using the disk or a spinning chair, having students participate in this demonstrate may also be useful, keeping safety in mind. When students hold weights or books at the end of their arms they increase their rotational inertia, meaning they have a larger change in angular velocity when their arms are brought in as compared to when their hands are pulled in without any weights.

• Falling Monkey (Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations)

Some demonstrations are better shown as videos, such as the Monkey and a Gun experiment. This version of the demonstration suspends a stuffed monkey from a rod with an electromagnet on one side of a lecture hall with a golf ball gun aimed at the monkey from the other side. When the gun is fired, it cuts power to the electromagnet, causing the monkey to fall. The earth’s gravitational field accelerates all objects at the same rate, be they monkeys or golf balls.

• Magdeburg Hemispheres (Physics Demonstrations by Julien C. Sprott, Ch. 2)

Using a vacuum, the air from two hemispheres placed together is pumped out and participants attempt to pull them apart. While we don’t endorse any particular vendor, you can find an inexpensive version of this demonstration at Harbor Freight , which  doesn’t require the use of a vacuum pump. If you choose this route, it works a little differently in that the quick release handles change the curvature of the suction cups, thereby increasing the volume (and decreasing the pressure) inside creating a partial vacuum.

• Bending a Laser (Fizik.si)

In order to demonstrate total internal reflection, a small laser is pointed through a hole in a 1L plastic bottle filled with water. The total reflection is evident if the light enters an optically less dense material and the incidence angle is big enough. The incidence angle at which the ray refracts exactly along the boundary line is called the boundary angle of the total reflection.

• Jumping Ring (MIT Physics Lecture)

Two metal rings, one solid and one with a small hole cut in it, are placed on an iron core wrapped in wire. AC and DC power are run through the wire with each ring. The experiment is rerun after submerging the solid metal ring in liquid nitrogen, which lowers the resistance of the ring, causing a greater effect.

• Pith Balls (Saint Mary’s University, Physics)

Two pith balls are suspended from a string. After being rubbed with silk, a glass rod is used to touch the pith balls, which repel each other. An ebonite rod rubbed with fur attracts the pith balls, which demonstrates electrostatic attraction and repulsion.

• Egg in a Bottle (Fizik.si)

A small piece of paper is partially burned in a narrow-mouthed glass flask and a peeled, hard-boiled egg is placed in the mouth of the flask. The differential atmospheric pressure inside and outside of the flask cause the egg to be drawn into the flask.

• Metal Ball and Ring (NormandinEdu)

A metal ball attached to a metal rod, which fits through a metal ring, is heated, which causes the metal to expand and no longer fit through the ring due to thermal expansion.

In previous blogs, we discussed the  pros and cons of in-class physics demonstrations , as well as some  guidelines for using them in class successfully. Some key takeaways from these discussions include that in-class demonstrations are most effective when experiments exhibit simplicity, are counterintuitive, and are integrated into an active-learning context.

Keeping students engaged is vital across all aspects of a course, from in-class activities to homework. Expert TA has determined optimal grade settings for student success in online homework. Read more about these results from a massive case study involving more than 120 classes.

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24 Elementary Force and Motion Experiments & Activities

Get teaching with these  force and motion  experiments, activities and videos to use in the elementary classroom. This collection of  force and motion activities and resources should help you cover the topics like  texture, gravity, incline and simple machines .

If you’re looking for helpful ideas and lesson plans – then this is the place to start!

Do you need a refresher as the teacher before planning your simple machines unit? This simple machines facts page is an excellent (and easy) way to jog your memory.

Force and Motion Experiments

Let’s plan some force and motion experiments for all elementary grades. Some of these can be adapted for different grade levels.

Set up ramps with different textures and send toy cars down. Use lots of questions to guide young students to extend their exploration.

Create catapults to explore how to make simple machines. With plastic utensils and marshmallows you’re set to build.

Take what you learned about building catapults in the above experiment to build a STEM engineering challenge. Students have to build a basketball hoop with classroom objects and recycled materials.

Skip the cars on an incline and go for liquids! Create a viscosity race with stuff from your fridge. Talk about how resistance to flowing is called viscosity and have fun.

Create a simple machines challenge . Students must create 3 ways to move a lion (or another small toy) using simple machines. Perfect to accompany the (affiliate) book How Do You Lift a Lion ?

Explore Newton’s first law together – the law of inertia – by seeing it in action. Create towers with note cards, string and a tower to feel the law as you take out each card separately, quickly or try to pull them all out at once!

Explore how to move the fulcrum on a lever to experiment how it impacts ease of use. All you need are some simple tools like rulers, a semi-heavy object and something to be the fulcrum.

A video explaining how a lever works is included.

Conduct trials with toy cars to see how you can make them go faster. Record the distance, time and speed with a free recording sheet.

Save a few water bottles and fill them with dry rice. Your students will love exploring friction in this floating rice experiment .

Aren’t those fun and clever force and motion experiments? Let’s move onto activities to help reinforce what you’ve taught.

Force and Motion Activities

After learning about how friction and force moves a roller coaster , set up your classroom to bring the concept to life.

Don’t be afraid to get messy! Combine art with science in this  force and motion marble painting activity .

Work on note taking. Use free simple machine notebooking pages and have students describe the lever, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw and wheel and axle. This would be a good resource for upper elementary.

Build a winch with paper towel tubes, spool and a straw. Students could make this recycled materials winch in pairs or small groups.

Attempt to lift heavier objects (by adding pennies to the object being lifted) feeling the change in force it takes to pull it up.

Make a foldable to summarize Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion . Write each law and illustrate on the flap.

Force and Motion Free Games Online

Experiment online (for kindergarten and first grade ) with this push and pull online activity. [no longer available]

Try this forces and movement interactive game for first and second grade . [no longer available]

Experiment with forces in action with this online activity for 10-11 year olds. [no longer available]

While it’s tricky to build flying contraptions in the classroom – use this how do things fly online simulator to design your own airplanes can make it happen – virtually.

Learn about drag, lift, thrust and weight in this interactive activity.

Your students will totally get into this online simple machines game . This game can be challenging – but your students will learn! Reading skills are needed.

Explore forces, loads, materials and shapes with this interactive  force and motion building big activity . This is neat for upper elementary students to see simulated (but interactive) examples of what they are learning about – with more options than you can explore in the classroom.

Force and Motion Videos for Elementary

Here is a list of more force and motion videos for 4th and 5th grade.

Ready for more force and motion activities for the classroom? Check out these 19 Fun Ideas & Resources for Force and Motion .

More Science

• 28 Awesome STEM Challenges for the Elementary Classroom
• Clouds Science for Kids: 23 Smart Ideas for the Classroom
• 21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases
• Rocks for Kids – 15 Fun Activities and Ideas

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The Solutions Guide is a perfect  solution  for those teachers who wish to use The Physics Classroom's Physics curriculum with their classes. The Solutions Guide allows teachers to use The Curriculum Corner with both comfort and confidence. It is also the perfect  solution  for home-schoolers who use The Physics Classroom Tutorial and accompanying resources at our site as their textbook. All questions to the Physics Think Sheets are answered in great detail, transforming The Curriculum Corner into an exceptional independent learning tool. The ~200 page collection of PDF files is available as a Digital Download . Once the purchase is made, the files must be downloaded within 48 hours. The cost of the Solutions Guide is $25.00 (US). Payments can be made online using most major credit cards or a PayPal account. The payments are being collected using PayPal's secure payment system. The purchase is easy. Simply click on a  Buy Now  button, fill out the short form, and provide the Credit Card, Debit Card, or PayPal information required for processing.  

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(The following licensing rights apply to those who have purchased the Solutions Guide. A separate listing of Acceptable and Unacceptable Uses for users of the Curriculum Corner is provided  elsewhere .) The inclusion of Microsoft Word files on this product provides teachers with the ability to easily customize and re-purpose the contents. The Physics Classroom licenses teachers the rights to do so in order to create revised handouts, quizzes, tests, PowerPoint slides and other deriviatives. The license permits teachers to use the material  with their own classrooms  in print or digital form. This includes the uploading of files to Course Management Systems to which students have  password-protected access . However, the license prohibits the placement of the product contents and files (PDFs, images, Word files) or its derivatives upon websites that are publicly accessible to others who are not from that school. If placing any of the content upon the internet, we require that access to such content be password-protected and accessible only to students from the teacher's school. Many teachers across the country use pages from the Curriculum Corner as homework assignments. They do not wish their students to be able to access the solutions to such homework via a Google search or other web search. When solutions are placed upon the web, the value of the Curriculum Corner is being destroyed for such teachers. It is not only an illegal infringement upon the copyrights of The Physics Classroom, it is an infringement upon the desire of teachers to use The Physics Classroom resources. Please do not place answers and solutions on the web where others have access to them. Thanks for complying.  

Version 2 Update

Our Solutions Guide received an update in the Fall of 2020. All Microsoft Word files were updated and issues with graphics were fixed. Furthermore, graphics were saved in a .PNG format and included with the product. Finally, the License was updated. At the time of the update, the files were looking really good. And we would love any previous buyer of the product to have the update free of charge. If you have previously purchased the download version of the product, you would have already received a notification with a new download code via email. If you cannot find that email, then providing us with the accurate name and email that it was ordered under allows us to look it up and validate your purchase in our database. You can use the Contact form to send us this information with an explanation.  

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We have compiled a collection of lesson plans and pacing guides for multiple units for three course types. The lesson plans provide teachers with a concrete demonstration of how resources at The Physics Classroom can be incorporated into a course. This section also includes a compilation of subtopics, learning outcomes, and associated interactive resources for each topic of the three courses. We also have corresponding pre-built courses available for Task Tracker users that mirror the lesson plans viewed in this section. While these lesson plans and pre-built courses are fully customizable, they provide a turn-key solution that allows teachers to easily hit the ground running  with their Task Tracker classes. 

TEACHER PRESENTATION PACK

Our Teacher Presentation Pack is a downloadable product that includes nearly 190 Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks, about 170 animations and videos in .mp4 and .gif formats, too-many-to-count stand-alone images, and a Lesson Notes page for every slide deck. The slide decks are compatible with Google Slides. We did our best to make the product ready-to-use and at the same time fully customizable. It's a great tool in the toolbox for any early-career teacher, cross-over teacher, or even veteran teacher.

QUESTION BANK

Writing good tests and quizzes for your physics class just got a whole lot easier! With The Physics Classroom's Question Bank, physics teachers can quickly put together multiple choice and free-response quizzes and tests that target concepts discussed at The Physics Classroom website. The Question Bank is available for purchase as a both a CD resource and as a Digital Download. Use of the Question Bank requires the Microsoft Word application. (Answers are NOT included on the Question Bank.)

NGSS CORNER

Our newest section, the NGSS Corner assists teachers of Physics and Physical Science in aligning their curricula with the Next Generation Science Standards. Numerous resources are identified and their alignment with the NGSS is described.

TEACHER TOOLKITS

The Teacher Toolkits provide teachers with packages of online resources (simulations, movies, animations, demonstration ideas, etc.) that are organized around a topic and a set of learning objectives. These resources, when combined with the numerous resources on our own site, allow teachers to plan high-quality, engaging instruction and to map out a curriculum that is NGSS-based.

THE LABORATORY

While you explore the approximately 150 labs here at The Laboratory, you will likely generate some questions about how they are used and how you can use them. This page, and the pages it links to, are hoped to provide some answers to those questions.

THE PHOTO GALLERY

The Photo Gallery provides teachers a toolbox of physics-relevant photos from the wealth of photos on Flickr. The Photo Gallery offers teachers three things: access to photos, organized by topic; a collection of nearly 30 galleries; and an invitation to join this exciting project of capturing and sharing physics phenomenon with a camera. Of course, students are welcome to participate as well.