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This educational guide discusses rockets and includes activities in science, mathematics, and technology. It begins with background information on the history of rocketry, scientific principles, and practical rocketry. The sections on scientific principles and practical rocketry focus on Sir Isaac Newton's Three Laws of Motion. These laws explain why rockets work and how to make them more efficient. Activities include: (1) "Activity Matrix"; (2) "Pop Can Hero Engine"; (3) "Rocket Racer"; (4) "3-2-1 Pop!"; (5) "Antacid Tablet Race"; (6) "Paper Rockets"; (7) "Newton Car"; (8) "Balloon Staging"; (9) "Rocket Transportation"; (10) "Altitude Tracking"; (11) "Bottle Rocket Launcher"; (12) "Bottle Rocket"; (13) "Project X-35"; and (14) "Additional Extensions". (MVL)

This curriculum supplement introduces students in the early childhood classroom to the International Space Station and the role rockets play in its construction. The guide uses these topics as the basis for interdisciplinary activities for the early learner. Each activity features objectives, a material list, educator information, procedures, and suggestions for assessment and enrichment. A glossary of terms and acronyms is also included. Activities include: (1) "Station Information"; (2) "Destination: Station"; (3) "Countdown Begins"; (4) "Simple Rocket Science"; (5) "More Rocket Science"; (6) "Launch Time"; (7) "The Right Order"; (8) "Good Enough to Eat"; (9) "Rocket Construction"; (10) "Rocket Alphabet"; (11) "Rocket Rhymes and Songs"; (12) "Rocket Math"; (13) "Rocket Patterns"; (14) "Number Rockets"; (15) "Rockets By Size"; (16) "Getting in Shape"; (17) "Getting in Shape Again"; (18) "Hide and Seek Rocket"; (19) "Rocket Problems"; and (20) "Fact and Fiction". (MVL)

In this activity, students learn about composite materials, tension as a force, and how they act on structural components through the design and testing of a strip of plastic chair webbing. This activity requires a 60-minute time period for completion. (Author/NB)

In this activity, students conduct several simple lab activities to learn about the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. In Part One, students play the role of molecules in a beam subject to various loading schemes. In Part Two, students break foam insulation blocks by applying these five fundamental load types. Each type of fracture pattern (break in the material) is carefully studied and drawings of them are made in order to learn the telltale marks of failure due to each fundamental load type. This activity requires a 100-minute time period for completion. (Author/NB)

This teaching unit is designed to help students in grades 5 to 8 explore the concepts of measurement, ratios, and graphing in the context of designing a dragster. The units in the series have been developed to enhance and enrich mathematics, science, and technology education and to accommodate different teaching and learning styles. Each unit consists of background notes for the teacher, a list of teacher resources, and two activities, one of which is Web-based, complete with blackline masters. Also included are suggestions for extensions to the problems and their relationships to national mathematics, science, and technology standards. In this activity, students work in groups to construct a dragster and propulsion system using common household supplies. (MM)

This teaching unit is designed to help students in grades 5 to 8 explore the concepts of geometry and algebra in the context of the force of drag. The units in the series have been developed to enhance and enrich mathematics, science, and technology education and to accommodate different teaching and learning styles. Each unit consists of background notes for the teacher, a list of teacher resources, and two activities, one of which is Web-based, complete with blackline masters. Also included are suggestions for extensions to the problems and their relationships to national mathematics, science, and technology standards. In this activity, students learn about the force of drag and how National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers use models and glowing paints to see how air flows over vehicles in a wind tunnel. (MM)

Primary grade pupils can become fascinated with simple machines. This paper suggests that teachers have simple machines in the classroom for a unit of study. It proposes some guidelines to create a unit of study for six simple machines that include the fulcrum, inclined plane, pulley, wheel and axle, wedge, and screw. Friction, gravity, force, and inertia are the concepts to be studied in all facets of the unit. (ASK)

The purpose of the Toys in Space project was to create new ways for children to discover the joy and excitement of science and technology in the world around us. This book describes how familiar toys behave in the space environment where the downward pull of gravity is absent, and clearly documents those principles of physics that explain why the toys behave as they do. Chapter 1 provides the background for the Toys in Space project. Chapter 2 provides the physics concepts needed to explain toy behaviors on earth and in space. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of everyday life in orbit and a context for the toy experiments. Chapters 4 through 12 discuss how different toys work on earth and in space and contain instructions for constructing some of the toys. Two appendices list personal histories of the astronauts involved in the program and a list of NASA teacher resource centers. Contains an index and a glossary. (JRH)

This teaching guide for 4th through 6th grade classes integrates science, language arts, and math concepts into ready-to-use space and space technology lessons. Significant learning outcomes for this curriculum are linked to Ohio's educational objectives for science in an at-a-glance curriculum matrix. A summary of the significant 4-H life skills addressed within this curriculum is also provided. This curriculum is organized around three distinct units of study, Forces, Fibers, and Foods, linking space age technology to the everyday interests of students. Activity sheets and a pre/post test are included for these topics. (PR)

This Idaho secondary education curriculum guide provides lists of tasks, performance objectives, and enabling objectives for instruction intended to impart entry-level employment skills in industrial technology. The first list is a general job competencies task profile, followed by a sheet on which teachers can evaluate students' general job competencies. The remaining eight lists are on the following topics: employability skills, force, work, rate, resistance, energy, power, and force transformers. Each task describes an occupational activity that will result in a finished process or product. (CML)

This document presents activities in the physical sciences. Activities are grouped in the following chapters: (1) "Science and Measurement"; (2) "Measurement Units"; (3) "Introduction to Chemistry"; (4) "The Periodic Table"; (5) "What is Inside an Atom?"; (6) "Bonding"; (7) "Formulas and Equations"; (8) "The Bursting Atom"; (9) "Relationships between Changes"; (10) "Per Problem Solving Made Easy"; (11) "Density, Speed, and Acceleration"; (12) "The Proportional Relationship"; (13) "Force"; (14) "Gravity"; (15) "Work and Machines"; and (16) "Energy and Heat." (JRH)

This paper discusses the physical principles behind the flying ability of both kites and airplanes. This background material was developed for a program in which a Japanese kite maker conducts kite making and flying classes in the Japan School District Elementary Schools of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS), Pacific Region. The two principles critical to understanding why kites fly are an understanding of Newton's Law and Bernoulli's Principle. While other factors such as the friction between the air particles moving over the flying surface and the material comprising the flying surface are important, these two factors explain the major components of lift and therefore the major reasons kites fly. (KR)

This instructional guide, one of a series developed by the Technical Education Advancement Modules (TEAM) project, is a 20-hour introduction to industrial physics that explains and demonstrates to industrial maintenance mechanics the direct relationship of physics to machinery. Project TEAM is intended to upgrade basic technical competencies of unemployed, underemployed, and existing industrial employees. The materials in this module serve as a student outline and an instructor guide. The manual identifies 12 units: (1) pretest (not included); (2) measurement and trigonometry; (3) motion and forces in one direction; (4) concurrent forces, work and energy; (5) simple machines; (6) rotation motion; (7) rotational motion and nonconcurrent forces; (8) matter; (9) fluids; (10) temperature and heat; (11) gas laws; and (12) posttest (not included). Page references to the text used in teaching this course are given for each session. (NLA)

Introduces an activity in which students learn principles of force and motion, systems, and simple machines by exploring the best position of the dogs on the dashboard. Includes a sample lesson plan written in the five instructional models: (1) engagement; (2) exploration; (3) explanation; (4) elaboration; and (5) evaluation. (KHR)

Presents an activity to teach buoyancy. The lab determines what mass of sand can be added to the open end of hollow plastic containers of various shapes so that objects just float at the surface, without sinking, with their entire volume submerged. Discusses Archimedes' principle and aligns with current national science education standards. (Author/NB)

Defining "force" in everyday terms is not a simple matter. Discusses experience with various examples and shows that it is useful to examine whether students have indeed grasped the correct meaning. (Author/MM)

Presents data illustrating some of the problems that students encounter when learning about force for the first time. The data illuminate the complexity of the task that students face and reveal some difficulties that have received little attention in the literature. Discusses some issues that arise regarding the traditional presentation of Newton's laws. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/YDS)

Uses microcomputer-based laboratories (MBL) to teach Newton's second law and the impulse-momentum relationship with a high degree of precision and accuracy while applying forces that change in an arbitrary way. (YDS)

Describes an activity for designing, building, and launching rockets that provides students with an intrinsically motivating and real-life application of what could have been classroom-only concepts. Includes rocket design guidelines and a sample grading rubric. (KHR)

Presents the Isaac Newton Olympics in which students complete a hands-on activity at seven stations and evaluate what they have learned in the activity and how it is related to real life. Includes both student and teacher instructions for three of the activities. (YDS)

When students are forming their ideas of what will eventually become the concept of force, the images of arrows in our standard diagrams carry with them unconscious attributes of direction of movement and so on. Describes how the use of a 'symbolic representation of interactions' with double-headed arrows avoids these unwanted messages being conveyed. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/ASK)

Presents a science activity on modeling a bridge to teach about the forces of tension versus compression. The activity is designed for middle school students. (YDS)

The subject of biomechanics is growing as athletes turn to science to improve their performance, and biomechanics interests many students and is a good area in which to investigate forces and Newton's laws. Uses force platforms to quantify such studies. (Author/ASK)

Discusses the nature and orientation of the forces that allow an engineless airplane (a glider or sailplane) to fly. A glider flying at constant velocity provides a nice example of an object moving under the action of several forces that add to zero. (WRM)

Uses engineering projects to make students create design prototypes of paper airplanes in order to teach the scientific principle of flight. (ASK)

Teaches concepts such as inertia, gravity, and friction using a "Lunch Box Derby" activity. Uses vegetables for the construction of race cars. Explains student approaches during the design and construction portion. Describes the rubrics used for student evaluation. (YDS)