Contact Information
Department of Physics525 Northwestern Avenue
West Lafayette, IN
47907-2036
Map and Directions
Telephone:
(765) 494-2970
Fax:
(765) 494-0706
Focus on Science Activities
| The Nature of Science: Observation, Analogies, and Hypotheses | Simple Machine: Pulleys | Simple Machines: Second-Class Levers | Light: The Visible Spectrum | Matter and Energy: Heat Flow | Forces of Nature: Kinetic Energy—Pendulums | Forces of Nature: Magnetism |
The Nature of Science: Observation, Analogies, and Hypotheses
Topics Covered:
Science process skills
Grades: K-8
Group Size: Individual students
Time Required: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will work together to brainstorm the skills required of a scientist
- Students will make close observations of objects from nature and generate a list of 10-15 analogies (It looks like...It reminds me of...)
- Students will be asked to form hypotheses for why they think an object "looks like" something familiar to them (e.g., the plant leaf looks like it is covered with wool because the white stuff acts like wool socks to divert water away from the green part towards the root.)
Simple Machines: Pulleys
Topics Covered:
Physics, simple machines, levers*
Grades: 3-5 OR 6-8*
Group Size: 1-2 students
Time Required: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will be introduced to the concept that levers may be considered a form of technology.
- Students will be introduced to the idea that simple machines reduce the amount of effort required to do work, and that pulleys can change the amount of force needed to do work, the direction of the forces and motion, and the range of movement produced.
- Students will be introduced to the definition: A pulley is a wheel with a groove around the rim for a belt or force.
- Students will experience that pulleys and belts send movement from one place to another.
- Students will be posed with a problem and asked to construct a model using a pulley that solves the problem.
* This science topic may be integrated into a social studies topic on transportation, work, or The Harbor. There are two levels offered; the problem each level is asked to solve differs. These problems reflect the appropriate State standards for the grades.
Simple Machines: Second-Class Levers
Topics Covered:
Physics, simple machines, levers
Grade Levels: 3-5 OR 6-8*
Group Size: 1-2 students
Time Required: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will be introduced to the concept that levers may be considered a form of technology.
- Students will be introduced to the idea that simple machines reduce the amount of effort required to do work, and that levers can change the amount of force needed to do the work, the direction of forces or motion, and the range of movement produced.
- Students will be introduced to the definition: A lever is a rod or arm that tilts around a pivot to produce useful motion.
- Students will experience that the closer the fulcrum is to the load in a second-class lever, the easier the load is to lift. The further the effort is from the fulcrum in a second-class lever, the easier the load is to lift.
- Students will be posed with a problem and asked to construct a model using a second-class lever that solves the problem.
* For 3rd graders, this science topic may be integrated into a reading curriculum which includes reading Paul Bunyan in its entirety.
Light: The Visible Spectrum
Topics Covered:
Physics, light, waves
Grade Levels: 6-7
Group Size: 1-2 students
Time Required: 45 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will investigate different ways scientists investigate natural phenomena.
- Students will understand that energy is a property of many objects and is associated with light.
- Students will identify colors in the visible spectrum and recognize that these colors are the refracted components of white light.
- Students will mix colors by subtracting them from white light and by adding them to a white background.
- Students will distinguish between color addition and subtraction
Matter and Energy: Heat Flow
Topics Covered: physics, energy, heat transfer
Grade Level: 8
Group Size: Individual
Time Required: 45 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will investigate different ways scientists investigate natural phenomena.
- Students will trace heat flow through a wire to understand how atoms in the wire interact to conduct heat.
- Students will discover that some metals conduct heat more rapidly than others to understand how electrons interact in wire to conduct heat.
Forces of Nature: Kinetic Energy—Pendulums
Topics Covered:
Physics, kinetic energy, pendulums
Grade Level: 2
Group Size: 1-2 students
Time Requirement: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will manipulate an object to gain additional information about it
- Students will observe a pendulum and describe its motion
- Students will understand, in qualitative terms, how the frequency of a pendulum changes with length
Forces of Nature: Magnetism
Topics Covered:
Physics, forces, magnetism
Grade Level: 4
Group Size: 1-2 students
Time Requirement: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Students will understand that magnets sometimes attract and sometimes repel
- Students will recognize that only a few materials, like iron and steel, are attracted by a magnet
- Students will identify, then label, the north and south poles on unmarked magnets by using Earths magnetic field as a reference