Galileo: His Place in Science

Einstein called Galileo the "father of modern physics." This media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's quest to understand the mathematics of motion.

Galileo on the Moon

Watch Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott perform Galileo's falling objects experiment on the Moon in this video segment from NASA.

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Galileo's Big Mistake

Scientists don't always get it right. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's failed theory for the motion of the tides.

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Galileo's Inclined Plane

How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion.

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Galileo's Thought Experiment

How can Earth move through space without our feeling its motion? This video segment adapted from NOVA answers this question by dramatizing one of Galileo's thought experiments.

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Galileo: Timeline of His Life

This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site turns back the clock to the late 1500's to relive the dramatic life of one of the world's most renowned scientists.

Getting Airborne and Wing Design

What makes an airplane fly? Discover the connection between Newton's third law of motion and flight in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.

Glider Boy

Meet 12-year-old Jesse, the designer of dozens of gliders, in this ZOOM video segment. Some of his gliders fit in your hand, while others can only be stored in the garage. Watch his gliders go and learn why they fly.

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Glory: The Rough Road to Space

This video adapted from NASA describes the various factors engineers must consider when designing a spacecraft that can withstand the extreme conditions in space.

Gravity and Falling Objects

Students investigate the force of gravity and how all objects, regardless of their mass, fall to the ground at the same rate.

Gravity at Earth's Center

In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about the effects of gravity as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson falls through a virtual hole through Earth's center.

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Invisible Force Challenge

In this video from Design Squad Nation, kids design and build systems that use magnets to control the speed and direction of a rolling ball. They also learn how NASA uses gravity to direct a spacecraft.

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Invisible Forces

Sometimes it is challenging to comprehend the forces that effect out everyday life because most forces we can't see. This video segment from SPARK shows how one artist makes them visible.

Let's Build Something

Children learn about the types of machines on a construction site and the different jobs they do to help us build in this original video from KET.

Let's Build Something Interactive

Children learn about the types of machines on a construction site and the different jobs they do to help us build in this original interactive from KET.

Levers: Raising the Moai on Easter Island

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a team of archaeologists and engineers explores different uses of the lever by recreating the engineering feats of the ancient Easter Island peoples.

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Lift and Drag

In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag and how critical they are to the operation of all sorts of devices.

Mass vs. Weight: Accelerating Mass

Astronauts on the International Space Station demonstrate Newton’s Second Law of Motion in this video from NASA's Teaching From Space initiative.

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Mass vs. Weight: Air Powered Mass

In this video from NASA's Teaching From Space initiative, astronauts on board the International Space Station conduct an experiment using an air gun to exert a consistent force on two difference masses -- an empty water bag and a full water bag.

Mass vs. Weight: Introduction

Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) describe mass and weight and the differences between the two in this video from NASA’s Teaching From Space initiative.