Hands-on stations introduce measurement tools and unit conversions, using a reference table that students can keep all year.
Physics Alignment Guide
Summary
This guide offers a collection of physics lessons and activities for teachers, focusing on core concepts such as measurements, energy, and electricity. It provides a variety of engaging resources, including hands-on labs, math challenges, and small group discussions, designed to connect abstract physics principles to real-world applications. This curated content saves teachers time while providing a practical way to enhance their curriculum.
Resources
Energy Units Math Challenge
Challenge your students with real-world energy and power calculations using a variety of units – joules, watts, megawatts, and more. This activity builds fluency with key physics concepts like kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy, and power.
What Powers the World – Video
Watch the video on global electricity consumption as a class and discuss the vital role that electricity plays in our modern lives.
Introduction to Energy
Have students watch the video and complete the data set to explore sources of electricity globally.
Introduction to Electricity
Have students build and test series and parallel circuits using Play-Doh in the hands-on activity.
Introduction to Energy Storage
Begin with a bell ringer, review the vocabulary, and complete the data set with students to introduce energy storage.
Introduction to Efficiency – Video
Explore why efficiency is the first step in managing personal energy use.
Science of Electricity
Explore how electricity is made, then use a hands-on lab to show how generators work through electromagnetic induction—linking real-world production to core physics concepts.
Science of Energy Storage
Explore batteries and a host of other methods that could solve the energy storage problem. Have students read the info sheet and work in small groups to answer the questions on energy storage.
Developing Media Literacy - Mini-Unit
Introduce students to the fundamentals of media literacy through the lens of researching energy topics.