This resource was created by Kim Francis in collaboration with Lynn Bowder as part of ESU2's Mastering the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education and experiential learning.
Students learn about water poverty and how water engineers can develop appropriate solutions to a problem that is plaguing nearly a sixth of the world's population. Students follow the engineering design process to design a gravity-fed water system. They choose between different system parameters such as pipe sizes, elevation differentials between entry and exit pipes, pipe lengths and tube locations to find a design that provides the maximum flow and minimum water turbidity (cloudiness) at the point of use. In this activity, students play the role of water engineers by designing and building model gravity-fed water systems, learning the key elements necessary for viable projects that help improve the lives people in developing communities.
Visualize the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other. Change properties of the objects in order to see how it changes the gravity force.
Visualize the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other. Change properties of the objects in order to see how it changes the gravity force.
If you visited another world, you would notice a change in your weight, because the force of gravity acting on you there would be different from the force of gravity here on Earth.
In this simulation students will move the sun, earth, moon and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it!
This activity is designed to support a variety of STEM concepts: scientific method, making predictions, gathering and analyzing data, and developing conclusions based on experimentation. This activity draws on active student engagement, and is useful in many STEM content areas.
This activity is designed to support a variety of STEM concepts: scientific method, making predictions, gathering and analyzing data, and developing conclusions based on experimentation. This activity draws on active student engagement, and is useful in many STEM content areas.
This activity is designed to support a variety of STEM concepts: scientific method, making predictions, gathering and analyzing data, and developing conclusions based on experimentation. This activity draws on active student engagement, and is useful in many STEM content areas.
The purpose of this gravity/magnetic mapping project is to have the students conduct a research/consulting project from start to finish. They are expected to design the project (submit a proposal), implement (collect data) the proposal, process the data, analyze and interpret the results and report their findings. Working in teams, they have to budget their time, assign tasks and get the job done on time. The process is as important as the science, however they have make quality assessments of the data they have collected and justify their interpretation of the data using accepted scientific/geologic principles.
Uses geophysics to solve problems in other fields
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Move the sun, earth, moon and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it!
Move the sun, earth, moon and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it!
This video segment, adapted from NOVA, traces the evolving history of theories about gravity and a force that may oppose it, along with our understanding of the impact of both of these forces on our expanding universe.
In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about the effects of gravity as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson falls through a virtual hole through Earth's center.
This video lesson highlights how science can be learned from daily life experiences. It emphasizes the ways in which simple laws of physics can be understood from personal observations and experiences, and in fact it demonstrates that we use these laws as if they were built into our instincts. The video also introduces Newton's laws of motion. The title, Gravity at Work, comes from a fascinating example of two laborers working at a construction site in Pakistan. In this lesson, Newtonian equations of motion are used to determine the velocities and height achieved by the projectile in a very simple and basic manner.
Why do astronauts appear weightless despite being near the Earth? Created by Sal Khan.
Students will observe various aspects of the outdoor classroom to experience the way birds, insects, and objects interact with gravity.
Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.
Students learn about weight by building a spring scale and observing how it responds to objects with different masses.
Students apply their mathematics and team building skills to explore the concept of rocketry. They learn about design issues faced by aerospace engineers when trying to launch rocketships or satellites in order to land them safely in the ocean, for example. Students learn the value of designing within constraints while brainstorming a rocketry system using provided materials and a specified project budget. Throughout the design process, teamwork is emphasized since the most successful launches occur when groups work effectively to generate creative ideas and solutions to the rocket challenge.