TeachersFirst's Energy, Force, and Motion - Science Resources
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This collection of resources will help you research information about energy, force, and motion. Read the descriptions to find out whether a site sounds right for what you want to know. Some sites may be more challenging reading, while others may offer solid basic information. Some of the sites also provide interactives or lesson plans/activities.
View our entire list of resources that are tagged energy, force, and motion
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Physics Central - American Physical Society
Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This site is proof that science and scientists can really be interesting. Physics Central offers an engaging combination of profiles, "how does it work?" articles, and online demonstrations...more
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This site is proof that science and scientists can really be interesting. Physics Central offers an engaging combination of profiles, "how does it work?" articles, and online demonstrations that make physics both interesting and approachable. "Explore the Science" to learn about cutting edge Physics. Use "Ask and Experiment" to find great experiments to do at home or in extracurricular groups and even "Ask-a-Physicist." While not written specifically for students, there is much here that science teachers will find useful. Don't miss the Activity Books in "Ask and Experiment" or the comic books entitled "Spectra" at the bottom of the main page!
tag(s): experiments (61), scientists (65)
In the Classroom
Be sure to place a link to this free resource on your teacher page. Use this resource when discussing Physics in the news. Add excitement to your lessons with various demonstrations or bits of information about real Physics studies and cutting edge science. Use the Spectra comic books as a pre-reading assignment for Middle School classes. Ask students to annotate the comic noting questions they have and highlighting important facts using Hypotheis, reviewed here. Compare student notes from the comics before beginning the lesson for the day. Encourage students to create comics about other Physics concepts as part of a team effort or an extra credit opportunity. Comics can be drawn conventionally or created using online tools. First have students create a rough draft of their comic using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here. Then students can create and share their comics online using a tool like Make Beliefs Comix, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Minute Physics - Minutephysics
Grades
7 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
View this superb YouTube channel that explains physics ideas in simple terms along with animations. Minute Physics includes many wonderful questions to interest students. Annoying ads...more
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View this superb YouTube channel that explains physics ideas in simple terms along with animations. Minute Physics includes many wonderful questions to interest students. Annoying ads come up first, so preload and pause before sharing with a group. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): matter (48)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an introduction to a physics lesson or new topic. In your blended learning or flipped classroom have students view the video at home using VideoAnt, reviewed here. With VideoAnt you and your students can write comments and add questions right to the video saving class time for discussion of the questions and comments. Consider encouraging students to create their own video explanations of concepts in Physics to teach others what they have learned. Use a tool such as Biteable, reviewed here, for the explainer video. Share them using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Gifted students will love these videos. Share this link on your class web page and have students choose a favorite video to explain in detail to the class as a "student teacher."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Physics Games - PhysicsGames.net
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Play physics inspired games from this website or embed them on your own. These activities are great for any age. Younger students will learn through exploration, trial, and error while...more
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Play physics inspired games from this website or embed them on your own. These activities are great for any age. Younger students will learn through exploration, trial, and error while older students will be able to understand the physics concepts behind the games. They encourage students to start exploring concepts such as energy, force, velocity, gravity, etc. There is a lot of advertising, but at least the sound can be turned off if it bothers you.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): energy (144), forces (38), gravity (45), motion (46)
In the Classroom
Advertising is quite pervasive on the site. You may want to introduce the site on your interactive whiteboard and discuss how to avoid the advertisements before allowing students to explore on their own. This is a great tool to use in the science classroom. Younger students can interact with the games successfully even without much background knowledge. Each of the activities encourages trial and error learning. Ask students to explain to a peer how it works, and they will discover the principles. Older students can try these interactives and write about the physics concepts introduced and explored. If you have a class website, blog, or wiki, embed in your site for easy access. Extend student learning by challenging them to create their own physics game using Stencyl, reviewed here. Stencyl is a download and works perfectly in 1:1 or BYOD classrooms as it works on any and all devices (DAT).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CK-12 - CK-12 Foundation
Grades
5 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
CK-12 offers a large variety of lessons and resources in STEM topics mostly geared for sixth grade and higher. Choose to access the site as a student or teacher to ...more
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CK-12 offers a large variety of lessons and resources in STEM topics mostly geared for sixth grade and higher. Choose to access the site as a student or teacher to begin. Search by specific content or to find standards-aligned flexbook textbooks. Download flexbooks in several formats such as PDF or mobi and epub format for use on Kindle and e-readers. Create an account and add flexbooks to your list. Add your own files and resources. Specific topic searches provide links to information from flexbooks as well as available study aids, activities, and assessments.
tag(s): atoms (43), cells (83), charts and graphs (166), decades (8), energy (144), equations (132), fractions (187), genetics (72), inequalities (23), landforms (37), measurement (142), oceans (141), organisms (18), periodic table (45), probability (105), pythagorean theorem (24), rocks (39), scientific method (55), seasons (31), solar energy (33), solar system (102), statistics (112), STEM (214), test prep (74), variables (15)
In the Classroom
Introduce CK-12 to your students (and parents) on your interactive whiteboard and demonstrate ways to use the site at home. Be sure to create a link to the site on your class website or blog for easy access at any time. Create an account and upload your own resources and activities to create your own flexbooks for use with students. CK-12 is available in many languages. Use this site with your ESL/ELL students as a supplement to classroom resources.
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Bridge Ocean Education - Virginia Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program
Grades
2 to 12
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Advertised as "An ocean of teacher-approved marine education resources", this site offers resources, lesson plans, and data that teachers can take and use in their classrooms. Resources...more
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Advertised as "An ocean of teacher-approved marine education resources", this site offers resources, lesson plans, and data that teachers can take and use in their classrooms. Resources can be accessed in several ways according to the your needs. Choose Ocean Science topics to sort by type such as biology, chemistry, physics, and more. There are even subtopics within these categories to refine searches further to specific needs such as vertebrates/invertebrates or plants. Another link goes directly to lesson plans with choices for data activities, secondary/middle, or elementary level plans sorted by grade level. Note: Some lessons are offered through other sites and will open in a new page. If you are open to any ideas, you may want to try the Teacher Top Pick or Featured site to find lessons for classroom use.
tag(s): animals (269), geology (64), habitats (86), marine biology (24), oceans (141), plants (141)
In the Classroom
Use lesson plans offered on the site during your science units. Allow older students to explore the site to gather specific information about marine explorations and share through multi-media projects. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Visme, Adobe Spark for Education, Kizoa, and My Simpleshow. Teachers of gifted students may want to use the site as a supplemental resource for students to do self-study projects geared toward individual interests.
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Science IQ - Science IQ. com
Grades
8 to 12
2 Favorites
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This website features answers to new science questions everyday. If the simple answer is not enough for you, there are helpful links, and suggested additional reading if you would like...more
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This website features answers to new science questions everyday. If the simple answer is not enough for you, there are helpful links, and suggested additional reading if you would like a greater understanding of the concept. Even more information is available through using the categorized science facts found on the left side of the screen. Questions are also searchable by keyword. Subjects include: physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, mathematics, geology, engineering, and medicine.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): area (56), carbon (15), carbon footprint (6), chemicals (45), coal (9), earthquakes (43), energy (144), engineering (108), fossil fuels (12), fossils (36), glaciers (15), machines (14), matter (48), moon (74), natural resources (40), ozone (6), ph (2), planets (117), prime numbers (26), pythagorean theorem (24), questioning (33), space (209), square roots (17), stars (67), sun (63), volume (39)
In the Classroom
Try using this site's questions on a weekly or daily basis in science or math class to start discussions and provoke student thinking. Allow students to view the question on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then brainstorm possible answers. Once enough thoughts have been seeded, share the real answers. Or, allow students to work at the answer as the lesson continues for a few days and reveal the correct answer as a finale to the lesson.This site could also be used as a learning station for the question of the day or the week.
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Physics To Go - APS, AAPT, and NSF-NSDL
Grades
7 to 12
2 Favorites
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Physics To Go is an online, biweekly magazine with great ideas for physics related teaching, experiments, and pictures. The site is easy to navigate and is formatted much like a ...more
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Physics To Go is an online, biweekly magazine with great ideas for physics related teaching, experiments, and pictures. The site is easy to navigate and is formatted much like a page out of a newspaper. Archives are accessible through issue and topic organization, subjects under browse, and are fully searchable within the site. Many additional links for more research are available. This could prove to be indispensable for the high school physical science and physics teachers.
tag(s): experiments (61), motion (46), photography (129)
In the Classroom
Use this site to encourage your students to read about science outside of the classroom. Share the link on your website or class wiki. Start by assigning an article to students and have them highlight and annotate important information and questions they have and discuss it in class or on a blog. Have students use a digital tool like Hypothesis, reviewed here, for highlighting and annotating. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Weebly, reviewed here. Or, if you are teaching a unit on something specific, such as Earthquakes, once students have learned essential vocabulary, have them read the issue and follow the links on the page. Have students discuss in class what they have learned. Then, have small groups create "Top Five Facts" to summarize what they have learned. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain the "Top Five Facts" the group wishes to share with the class. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Reading teachers can also use the articles on this site for reading comprehension practice with nonfiction selections.
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Newton's Laws of Motion - School For Champions
Grades
8 to 12
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This site designed by School for Champions is a great introduction to the basics of Physics. One of the neatest features of this site, beyond its straightforward scientific information,...more
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This site designed by School for Champions is a great introduction to the basics of Physics. One of the neatest features of this site, beyond its straightforward scientific information, is that the information can be read to the students. The function is embedded in the site! This would be very helpful for learning support students and other vision impaired students.
tag(s): newton (20)
In the Classroom
Use this as an alternative to the textbook. Post the site to the class wiki and have students read or listen as part of homework and answer questions about the information. Even better, have students take the mini quiz at the end of the lessons and post their answers to the wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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School for Champions - Physics - Ron Kurtus
Grades
7 to 12
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This is a great resource for anything from introductory information to more detailed information on different physics concepts. Though not a visually appealing site, one very neat feature...more
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This is a great resource for anything from introductory information to more detailed information on different physics concepts. Though not a visually appealing site, one very neat feature of this site is that some of the information has audio, where the content is read aloud to the viewer. While the sound is not perfect, it would be still be valuable for struggling readers and students with individualized education plan needs. There are a few ads by Google on the page, but they are not obnoxious, just be careful when navigating.
tag(s): friction (9), magnetism (34), matter (48), motion (46)
In the Classroom
Add this site to your class website or wiki. Have students view pages of this site rather than textbook readings and ask them discussion questions about the content. The audio feature is very useful! Have cooperative learning groups investigate one specific topic at this site and create a multimedia project to share what they learned. Have your students create an interactive online poster using Canva, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Physics Front - American Association of Physics Teachers
Grades
2 to 12
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0 Comments
Looking for a variety of physics resources? Wishing there were resources for younger students? Look no more! Find a vast array of physics resources at your fingertips. Browse units...more
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Looking for a variety of physics resources? Wishing there were resources for younger students? Look no more! Find a vast array of physics resources at your fingertips. Browse units arranged by course. Courses include "Physical Science K-8," "Physics First," "Conceptual Physics," "Algebra Based Physics," and "AP Calc Based Physics." Find all topics in your course by a simple drop down menu. Registration and login is not required to use the material though it is required to leave a rating for the material. Our editors noted that some activities, though labeled for younger students, may still be text-heavy.
In the Classroom
Find great lessons, demonstration ideas, and laboratory activities to use with students of all ages and abilities. Search instead for specific lesson plans, activities, labs, or assessments. Use these ideas to create your own inquiry activities. Allow students the opportunities to teach a concept to the other students in class using these great plans. To show what they have learned from this site, challenge students to create an online graphic to share using Genial.ly, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science of the Olympic Winter Games - Nantional Science Foundation
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
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This site hosts 16 Olympics-related videos from NSF and NBC. Learn about the science of the Olympics available without a membership. Any science teacher can find something related to...more
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This site hosts 16 Olympics-related videos from NSF and NBC. Learn about the science of the Olympics available without a membership. Any science teacher can find something related to your curriculum: from Newton's Laws of motion, to concepts of physics, chemistry, biomechanics, and physiology. Math teachers can also find applied math concepts from basic arithmetic to calculus.
tag(s): olympics (41)
In the Classroom
Share these videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector, being sure to have student use the whiteboard tools as you pause the video so students can draw lines to illustrate forces and other concepts. Have student groups watch different videos and report back on the theoretical science AND the actual results from that sport, connecting the science concepts to the actual results they see in competition. Use a video annotation tool such as Vizia, reviewed here, for easy sharing with the class. Even younger students can benefit from the videos as an overview of more advanced concepts, provided you preview vocabulary, then stop and discuss more challenging words during the video. Your students will want the link to this site, so share it on your class web page. You can also embed the videos right in your web page, blog, or wiki. Have students write about the embedded piece, adding their own commentary of the actual Olympics based on the video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science and Sports - The Exploratorium
Grades
4 to 12
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Here's another site from the Exploratorium. A high-tech look at the physics involved in hockey, baseball, skateboarding, surfing, and other sports. Younger kids can grasp the concepts;...more
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Here's another site from the Exploratorium. A high-tech look at the physics involved in hockey, baseball, skateboarding, surfing, and other sports. Younger kids can grasp the concepts; older students can learn the details. There are webcasts, interactives, and more. This site requires Media Player. Includes sound and video clips, but they aren't essential to using the site. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom
Share this interactive site with your students to excited them about learning physics! Although some of the pages are "text heavy," this is a great site for research.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fear of Physics
Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites
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Here's another site offering explanations of some of the more common physics questions - why satellites don't fall, how gravity affects various objects, and the like. Each phenomenon...more
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Here's another site offering explanations of some of the more common physics questions - why satellites don't fall, how gravity affects various objects, and the like. Each phenomenon has a visual example, and the complexity of these varies. Check this one out if you're looking for an idea or illustration for an experiment. The Visual Physics link offers over twenty science topics: Roller Coasters, Why Things Fall, Zero G, Einstein's Relativity, Sound, and many others. There is also a physics dictionary and a link Bad Science.
tag(s): gravity (45)
In the Classroom
Share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. If you teach physics, be sure to save this site in your favorites and reference the activities when applicable in your class. Challenge students to create their own physics explainer video using Rawshorts, reviewed here. Rawshorts is a drag and drop format site designed to allow you to create short animated or explainer videos to share on TeacherTube, TeacherTube reviewed here, YouTube and other social media sites.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Discover Primary Science - Forfas
Grades
K to 7
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Come to this site to view animation videos, practice online science activities, and learn about science at this interesting site. The videos bring many important science topics alive,...more
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Come to this site to view animation videos, practice online science activities, and learn about science at this interesting site. The videos bring many important science topics alive, including the physics of motion, structures, and more. Examples of movies include "Cleaning Dirty Water," "Exploring Lungs," or "Bouncy Custard Balls." Topics vary from pollution to the human body to levers to making homemade bouncy balls! Print Activity sheets that correspond to the movies as Adobe pdf documents.
tag(s): heart (28), human body (97), pollution (53), structures (20)
In the Classroom
View the movies to gain background information and learn basics. With older students flip your class and have them view the movies at home using Vizia, reviewed here. With Vizia you can add questions and quizzes to videos, saving class time for discussions and questions. Share the interactives and video clips on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use related lab activities or research to to reinforce the topics with hands-on experiences.
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PhET Interactive Simulations - University of Colorado at Boulder
Grades
5 to 12
3 Favorites
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PhET offers free, researched-based interactive activities for teaching science and math concepts. Topics include physics, biology, chemistry, and more. In addition to the interactive,...more
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PhET offers free, researched-based interactive activities for teaching science and math concepts. Topics include physics, biology, chemistry, and more. In addition to the interactive, most items include a video demonstration and teacher-submitted activities. Choose interactives by topic, or iPad or ChromeBook compatible games. Many interactives now support HTML 5 for easy access on any device.
tag(s): circuits (16), electricity (63), energy (144), mass (22), motion (46), waves (15)
In the Classroom
Use these simulations initially in a unit to identify and discuss as a class the basic concepts. After more introduction, the simulations can be used as a lab assignment that generates data to be analyzed. Students can view the simulations and write about the concept or the fundamental principles. This will allow the teacher the opportunity to determine where student misconceptions are present. These activities can also be used as a review or in lieu of standard homework assignments that are repetitious but do not provide concrete or visual representations of the concept. This would be an excellent project for gifted students. Provide them the link to the site and the materials and allow them to learn how to use the simulation and teach it to fellow students.
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Ultimate rollercoasters.com - ultimaterollercoaster.com
Grades
4 to 12
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Although this website doesn't have a lot of "bells and whistles." It is very useful to learn more about the physics behind thrill rides, the history of the roller coaster, ...more
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Although this website doesn't have a lot of "bells and whistles." It is very useful to learn more about the physics behind thrill rides, the history of the roller coaster, and more. The site provides statistical information, historical information, construction information, and more about various thrill rides (mainly roller coasters). Did you ever wonder what the tallest steel roller coaster was in the world? This website provides a "record book" with a wide variety of statistical information about what roller coasters can claim to be the tallest, longest, fastest, and more.
tag(s): motion (46)
In the Classroom
This website could also be used for various research projects (either researching actual roller coasters - their history, structure, speed, etc..), or even researching different time periods and the types of rides that were available during that time. If you study laws of motion, assign students to find "real world" examples of the laws in action using research on this site. Ignore the annoying pop-ups!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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