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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.
Critical Load
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In this activity, learners explore the concepts of structural engineering and how to measure the critical load, or the maximum weight a structure can bear.
A Pressing Engagement
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In this quick and easy activity and/or demonstration, learners illustrate the effect of the weight of air over our heads.
Clay Bridges
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In this activity, learners make bridges using an oil-based modeling clay (plasticene). The instructions include discussion questions for both before and after bridge building.
Clay Beams and Columns
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In this activity, learners make or use pre-made clay beams to scale and proportion. Specifically, they discover that when you scale up proportionally (i.e.
Weight in Space
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In this activity, learners are challenged to calculate their own weight on various planets using a scale and calculator. Older learners may be challenged to do so without using calculators.
Wind Tube
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In this activity, learners explore moving air and the physics of lift and drag by constructing homemade wind tunnels.
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.
Paper Cup Stool
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In this activity, learners will explore how and why weight distribution works.
Bridge the Gap
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Learners work in groups to construct bridges using stale marshmallows and toothpicks.
Big Things Come in Little Packages
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As a group, learners investigate three packages which are all the same size and shape, but have different contents. One is filled with foam, one is filled with wood, and one is filled with metal.
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
A Question of Balance
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In this activity, learners explore how engineers use scales and measures when designing a manufacturing process to ensure that final products are uniform in weight or count.
How Many Pennies?
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In this math activity, learners pretend there is a special store that lets you pay for toys by their weight in pennies.
Watercraft
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In this design challenge activity, learners build a boat that can hold 25 pennies (or 15 one inch metal washers) for at least ten seconds before sinking.
Going Green
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In this activity, learners conduct a waste audit and use their findings to implement a plan for reducing trash.