Physical Science Lesson Plans and Resources
Lesson plans for physics, chemistry, astronomy, aviation, and more!
This page was scanned for broken links and updated on 11-21-2024!

Click on a topic in the index below to find the resources you need, or click on the linked text for lesson plans for life science and earth science.

Index:
Collections of Physical Science Lessons, Atoms/Molecules, States of Matter, Gravity, Force and Motion, Light, Magnets, Electricity, Heat, Energy, Simple Machines, Astronomy, Aviation, Chemistry, Physics, Return to Science Index Page

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Collections of Physical Science Lessons
Physical Science Activities
From the California Academy of Sciences.

Physical Science Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans from TeachEngineering.

Physical Science Lessons
Another large collection of lesson plans from Michigan Reach Out!

PBS Learning Media -  Physical Science
Videos and 30 interactive lessons.

Physical Science
Two lesson plans from Education World.

Generation Genius
Many lesson plans, including quite a few for physical science.

Physical Science Lesson Plans and Activities
From Share
My Lesson.

Physical Science Activities and Experiments
From Education.com.


Atoms and Molecules
Atoms and Molecules
A lesson plan for grades 4-6. See also
Atomic Models and Spectra.

Molecules in Motion
A middle school lesson plan.

Atoms Lesson Plan
A lesson plan "using the 5E method of instruction."

Matter: Atoms and Molecules
A Teacher's Guide for grades 9-12 from Discovery Education.

Making Models: The Atom
An activity-based lesson plan for grades 4-6. For an excellent introduction to atoms, see All About Atoms.  

Molecules Matter
A middle-grade lesson plan.

Atom Lesson Plan
A middle school lesson from Atomic heritage Foundation.
 

Matter/States of Matter
States of Matter: Making Ice Cream
A 1st-grade lesson plan.

States of Matter
A lesson plan from Better Lesson.

States of Matter
A lesson plan from NASA.

Matter
A 6th-grade lesson  plan. See also States of Matter and What is Particular Matter?

Is Air Something?
A 3rd-grade unit. Scroll down the page to find the 14 lessons.

States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases
A K-3 lesson plan.  See also Introduction to Gases.

Density: Sink or Float for Liquids
A middle-grade lesson plan. See also Density: Sink or Float Solids and Sink or Float?

Density of Liquids 
A lesson plan for the elementary grades.

Gravity
Gravity Gets You Down
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from Discovery Education. See also Force Counterforce.

What Is Gravity?
A 3rd-grade lesson plan.

Gravity: It's GREEEAAATTT!
Another middle-grade lesson plan. This one is from the National Teacher Training Institute.

Understanding Newton's Law of Gravity
One more middle-grade lesson plan.

Understanding Gravity
A lesson plan for grades 3-5. It
includes printable reading comprehension worksheets.

I'm Falling For You!
A 3rd-grade lesson plan in which students experience gravity just like Galileo did during his experiments.


Gravity Launch

An elementary-grade lesson plan exploring how the earth’s and moon’s gravity affects the path of a rocket launched into space.

Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation
A high school lesson plan.

Force and Motion
Rules of Forces and Motion
A lesson plan for grades K-5 from Discovery Education.

What is Newton's Third Law?
A lesson plan for 6th grade..

Force and Motion
A 3rd-grade lesson plan.

Forces and Motion
A lesson plan for 8th grade.

Motion in a Circle
A high school lesson plan on Newtonian mechanics and space flight.

Projectile Motion
A teacher toolkit for high school physics..


Light
Shadows and Light
Many lesson plans from A to Z Teacher Stuff.

What Is Light?
A primary-grade lesson plan.

Light - Reflection - Illusion
An elementary lesson plan on the law of reflection. See also Reflections Of for another elementary-grade lesson plan.

I "Light" What I See
A 3rd-grade unit. See also Seeing Is (Sometimes) Believing.

How Light Moves
A lesson plan for grades 4-5.

Light Wave Lesson
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from the National Park Service.

Plane Mirror Images

A high school lesson plan.

Magnets
Magnets: Fields of  Force
A 2nd-grade unit. See also Marveling in Magnets.

Amazing Magnets!
Another 2nd-grade unit. This one uses experiments which explore magnetic force and compass use.

May the Force Be With You
Still another 2nd-grade unit on magnets and magnetism.

Science - 5th Grade
Many lesson plans about magnetism using magnets from the Utah Education Network.

Magnetism
A lesson plan for high school students from Discovery Education. See also Magnetism Hands-On Activities.

Magnetic Fields and Bermuda Triangles
An activity for grades 8-12.

Electricity
Brown Bag Science
A discovery-based elementary lesson plan on electrical circuits.

Get Charged! Introduction to Electrical Energy
A 4th-grade lesson plan. See Electricity 101 for an excellent resource.

Static and Current Electricity
Several 5th-grade lesson plans. Click here for an excellent resource on static electricity.

Introducing Static Electricity
A lesson plan from Science NetLinks.

Teaching Some Basic Concepts of Electricity
A middle school unit complete with handouts

Electricity and Magnetic Fields
A high school lesson plan from Teach Engineering.

Electricity  - Ohm's Law
A high school lesson plan.

Current Electricity -  AC/DC
A lesson plan for grades 5/6. See also AC/DC: What's the Difference?

Circuits
A 9th-grade lesson plan from Teach Engineering.    

What Is Electricity?
A lesson plan for grades 9-10.

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
A high school lesson plan.

Lesson Plan: Electromagnetism (age 14-16) - Transformers
From the UK.

Understanding Electricity
A high school lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Risk Watch Electrical Safety Lesson Plans
Lesson plans for all grades 3-4.

Heat
Temperature: Is It Hot or Cold?
A 2nd-grade lesson plan.

Where Does Heat Come From
A 3rd-grade lesson plan. See also The Heat Is On for another 3rd-grade lesson plan.

Centigrade and Fahrenheit: What's the Difference?
A multi-level, cooperative learning lesson plan for fifth-grade science/math.

Heat Moves
A 6th-grade lesson plan.

Problem #4: What is Heat - Heat Vs. Temperature
A lesson plan from the Kenan Fellows Program.  See also  Heat Vs. Temperature for an additional lesson plan.

How Does Heat Move? An In troduction to Heat Transfer
A lesson plan from Better Lesson.

Heat, Temperature, and Conduction
A middle school lesson plan.

Ups and Downs of Thermometers
A lesson plan from Middle School Chemistry.

Energy
Alliance to Save Energy
Many activity-based energy conservation lesson plans.

What is Energy
A 4th-grade lesson plan.

Draft-O-Meter
An esson plan for graes K-4 or 5-8.

Introduction to Energy
A lesson plan for grades 3-5. See also What Is Potential Energy?


What Are the Forms of Energy?

A middle-grade lesson plan.

We've Got the Power
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 in which students learn about different methods of power production.

Energy
A high school lesson plan in which students learn about the concept of energy, energy conservation, the units of energy, and the special nature of heat as the "soft currency" of the energy world.

Renewable Energy Activities: Choices for Tomorrow
Several lesson plans for the middle grades.

Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
A lesson pln for grades 6-10.


Is Solar Power the Future of Energy?
A lesson plan fro grades 9-12 from PBS. See also Solar Energy Lesson Plan.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Teacher's Lesson Plans
Instructional units and classroom activities on nuclear energy.

Energy And The City Person
An 8th-grade unit.

Energy in the U.S. WebQuest

Simple Machines
Simple Machines
A lesson plan for grades 3-4.

Engineering: Simple Machines
A lesson plan for grades 3-5 from Teach Engineering.

Simplke Machines on a Great Lake
A lesson plan for grades 3-5.

The Official Rube Goldberg Website
Information, biography, gallery, and machine contest.

It's So Simple!
Lesson plan introducing simple machines.

Roto-Copter
Build one out of paper with your elementary class.

Astronomy Lesson Plans and Resources
Astronomy for Kids
Qizzes, games, facts, projets. images.

Space Science Institute Resources for Educators
Many lesson plans and resources.


The Story Of The Solar System
One elementary lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Selected Topics in Astronomy and Space Studies
Thirteen middle grade and high school units from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Teacher resources including lesson plans from NASA.

Educator's Guide to Moon Phases
Good, concise information from Views of the Solar System. See their collection of lesson plans and activities.

Savage Sun
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 from Discovery Education. See also The Energy of the Sun.

Our Solar Nighborhood from Messenger Education      
A few lesson plans organized by grade level.

NASA Solar System Exploration
Use their Fast Lesson Finder to locate NASA approved lesson plans. See also Exploring the Planets.

Best of the Solar System
A lesson plan for grades 5-8.

The Discovery of the Solar System
A lesson plan from NASA in which students
learn about the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced.  See also Take a Spin through the Solar System.

Mars for Educators
Classroom activities and resources from NASA.

Mars Education
STEM lesson plans from Arizona State University.

Destination Mars
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from the Discovery Education.

Mission to Mars
Ideas for teaching about Mars from Education World.

Live From Earth and Mars
Teaching tools, projects, workshop materials, and information.

Surviving and Thriving on Mars
Activities from NASA.

The Discovery of Jupiter Radio Waves
Lesson plans from NASA.

Ceres and Pluto: Dwarf Planets as a New Way of Thinking about and old Solar System
A Teacher Guide and activity from NASA. See also Pluto's Not a Planet.

The Impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9
A unit on the comet that smashed into the planet Jupiter.

The Educator's Guide to the NEAR Project
Information and lesson plans form the NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) Project.

Life in the Universe (LITU) Curriculum Files
Lesson plans on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. 

Exploring Stars
An elementary lesson plan from Discovery Education. See also
Lesson Plan G2 The Stars and Constellations.

Build a Satellite
An classroom activity from NASA.

Make a Moon Crater
Classroom activities from NASA.

Space Adventure WebQuest
For another astronomy WebQuest, see The Ultimate Solar System Catalog.

Windows to the Universe
A graphics-intensive space science website with tons of information and a teacher/student workbook.

Planets in Our Solar System
Great source for pictures of and information about the planets from NASA.

Hubble Site
Six activities from NASA.
+

Challenger Center
More space stuff.

Aviation/Aeronautics (Scroll  past the lesson plans for sites with aviation information, pictures, and history)
Mn DOT Aviation Education
Aviation education classroom presentations and curricula.

The K-8 Aeronautics Internet Textbook
Download a copy in pdf format from NASA.

How Things Fly: Activities for Teaching Flight
Three lesson plans from the Smithsonian Institute.

The History of Flight and Some Mathematical Application
A high school unit primarily designed for math, but parts of it also seem appropriate for science.

Rockets
A teacher's guide from NASA.

Roto-Copter
Build one out of paper with your elementary class.

How to Build the World's Best Paper Airplanes
You be the judge, but that's what the site is called!

Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics
An excellent site with information on how airplanes fly, why wings change shape on takeoff and landing, and propulsion systems.

See How It Flies
A complete and understandable online aeronautics text!   

How Airplanes Work
An excellent, well illustrated article from How Stuff Works. It not only answers the basic question of how airplanes fly, but also describes the function of wings and the other parts of an airplane.

How Does a Jet Engine Work?
The basics on jet propulsion from NASA's Ultra Efficeint Engine Technologyn Kid's Site. See their lesson plans.

Looking for Wright Brothers Lessons?
Five lessons for teaching about the Wright brothers from Education World.

Stories of the Wright's Flights
A lesson plan from Smithsonian Education. See also Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Charles Lindbergh began his transatlantic flight in 1927
A classroom activity from Read-Write-Think. See also
Charles Lindbergh - Aviation Pioneer Lesson Plan.


The Dream of Flight
A timeline from the Library of Congress

National Air and Space Museum
From the Smithsonian Institution.

Airliners.net
Almost 3-million photos!   



Chemistry Lesson Plans and Resources

Middle School Chemistry
Many lesson plans organized by chapter from the American Chemical Society. See their
High School Chemistry Education Resources.

SMILE Program Chemistry Lesson Plans
A large number lesson plans, but some dead links.

Acids, Bases, and Indicators
One high school lesson plan from the above source.


The Science Spot Chemistry Lesson Plans   
Many junior high school lesson plans.

Chemistry Lesson Plan Menu
Many lesson plans from Columbia University's Science Teacher Summer Research Program.

Classroom Resources
Search for lesson plans and resources from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers.

Chemistry Inquiry
Five free sample lesson plans from the Constructing Chemistry Curriculum.

National Historic Landmarks in Chemistry
Chemistry history lesson plans from the American Chemical Society. See their other Chemistry Education Resources.

Kitchen Chemistry
A lesson plan from NISE..

The Flavor of Organic Chemistry
A three-part unit introducing students to organic chemistry through the study of flavor.

The Periodic Table
A high school unit from the AACT.

The Periodic Table
A middle school lesson plan. See also Ultimate Periodic Table Bingo.

Supernova Chemistry Lesson Plan
A high school lesson plan from NASA in which students observe visible spectra of known elements and identify an unknown element or combination of elements by visible spectra.

Acids and Bases
A high school lesson plan. See also Acid-Base Chemistry Teacher Page and Determining Acids and Bases.

Corals and Chemistry
A Lesson plan from the EPA.       


Physics Lesson Plans and Resources
Physics Lesson Plans
Several lesson plans from The Science Spot.

SMILE Program Physics Index
A long list of lessons divided into the following categories: Matter, Mechanics, Fluids, Electricity & Magnetism, Waves, Sound and Optics, and Miscellaneous. There are some dead links.

High School Physics Lesson Plans
Seven lesson plans from Science Buddies.

Physics and Astronomy Lesson plans
A long list organized by topic from Rutgers University. See also Links to Physics and Astronomy Lesson Plans.

High School Physics Lessons
Another long list of high school physics lesson plans.

High School Physics Lesson Plans
Different from the above site. This page offers 6 lesson plans from Science Buddies.

eGFI
Engineering-based lesson plans and activities for all grade levels.

The Engineering Place
Elementary and middle school lesson plans.

STEM Resources Collection

From PBS.

Instructional Materials in Physics and Astronomy
From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Web Physics
A network of resources for introductory physics teaching.

The Physics Classroom
High school physics lessons and resources.

Physics Lesson Plan Menu
Lesson plans developed at the Columbia University Summer Research Program for Science Teachers.

Physics Inquiry Lesson Plans
Three sample lessons as well as skill practice.

Physics Classroom Resources
From the National Science Foundation.

Physical Science Lesson Plans
From PBS.

Elements of Physics: Energy and Work
A high school lesson plan from Discovery Education. See also
Elements Of Physics: Motion, Force & Gravity and Elements of Physics: Matter, for other lesson plans fro Discovery Education.

AP Physics 1 Course Home Page
From AP Central. See also AP Physics 1: Algebra Based -  Course Planning and Pacing Guide.


Amusement Park Physics Interactive
Information and an online activity exploring the physics of amusement park rides! See also Roller Coaster Project Page.

 


 

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Please let me know if you find any links on this site that no longer function. My name is
Edmund J. Sass, Ed.D.
You can reach me at
esass@csbsju.edu