Subtopic: Gravity

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Acids and Bases: Testing Rocket Cars In this ZOOM video segment, cast members make bottle rocket cars using lemon juice and baking soda, and experiment with different ways of launching the cars.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Astronauts in Hard Hats This media-rich series of interviews from the NOVA Web site explores the unique challenges faced by astronauts doing construction work in outer space.	6-12	HTML Document
Astronauts Speak: Gene Cernan In this audio resource from NOVA, astronaut Gene Cernan recounts his harrowing experience during America's first attempt to do work in outer space.	3-12	Real Audio
Atmospheric Pressure Did you know that air has weight? This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explores conditions that affect air density and atmospheric pressure.	6-12	HTML Document
Birth of a Supernova, Type Ia In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type Ia supernova — that is so bright that astronomers can measure the distance to the galaxy in which it resides, and even learn which elements make up the star.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Birth of a Supernova, Type II In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type II supernova — that is so large it has a mass 10 times greater than the mass of our Sun.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Center of Gravity: Pencil Balance Watch the ZOOM cast learn about center of gravity by trying to balance a pencil on their fingers and noses.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Construct an Aqueduct Think like an engineer and build an aqueduct in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	3-12	Shockwave Interactive
Defy Gravity! Balancing Balls on Air In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members use a hair dryer to balance a ball in a stream of air, seemingly defying gravity.	K-8	QuickTime Video
Defy Gravity! Centripetal Force How can you keep a ball from falling out of a jar if the jar is upside down? Watch the ZOOM cast use centripetal force to meet this challenge.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Defy Gravity! Upside Down Ping Pong Ball In this video segment, the ZOOM cast is challenged to keep a ping pong ball in a funnel while the funnel is held upside down, seemingly defying gravity.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Demolition Woman Find out how controlled explosions are used to demolish multi-story buildings in this interview from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	HTML Document
Energy in a Roller Coaster Ride See potential energy convert to kinetic energy in this interactive activity from WGBH that shows a roller coaster in action.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Experimenting with a Pendulum In this video segment, members of the ZOOM cast experiment with a pendulum and discover what they need to do to make the pendulum complete one back-and-forth swing in five seconds.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Free-Falling and "Weightlessness" Discover the difference between free-falling and weightlessness in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Funny Boat In this video segment adapted from FETCH!™, contestants are challenged to use materials from a garbage dump to build a boat that floats, can be steered, and is propelled by something other than oars.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Galileo: A Different Thinker Students examine four of the experiments that Galileo used to discover the effects of gravity and inertia on moving objects.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Galileo: His Experiments This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.	6-12	Flash Interactive
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.	6-12	HTML Document
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	HTML Document
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.	3-5	Lesson Plan
Gravity and the Expanding Universe This video segment, adapted from NOVA, traces the evolving history of theories about gravity and a force that may oppose it, and the impact of both on our expanding universe.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Gravity on Earth and in Space This collection of images compares the effects of gravity on Earth and in space.	K-8	Flash Image
History of the Universe This interactive timeline from the NOVA Web site recaps the theoretical origin and formation of the universe, and forecasts its eventual fate.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Hoover Dam This video segment from Building Big: "Dams," demonstrates the basic principals at work in the Hoover Dam, a concrete gravity dam that also makes use of the properties of the arch.	3-12	QuickTime Video
How Do You Get to the Moon? This video, adapted from NOVA, showcases the competing engineering plans designed for landing a person on the Moon for the first time.	6-12	QuickTime Video
How Would You Turn a Bolt in Space? In this fast-paced NASA Brain Bites™ video, an astronaut demonstrates the impact of microgravity on the use of tools in space.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Inverse Square Law This animation from KET's distance learning physics course demonstrates the mathematical formula for a scientific law as it applies to light.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Investigating Kinetic and Potential Energy Students use media resources and an in-class investigation to explore the types of energy within different types of systems. They also use the formulas for kinetic and potential energy to examine the path of a projectile.	9-12	Lesson Plan
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.	4-12	QuickTime Video
The Leaning Tower: Where It Stands Today Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa give way to gravity? In this interview from the NOVA Web site, engineer John Burland relates the difficult job of saving the tower.	6-12	HTML Document
Masses and Springs In this interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project, hang various masses from different springs and see the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy of each spring system. You can even slow time or move your demonstration to another planet.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Microgravity In this video from DragonflyTV, Tiana and Sammy measure, record, and analyze the results of a "drop box" test to find out how everyday items behave in microgravity.	6-8	QuickTime Video
More on Galileo's Big Mistake Even great scientists make mistakes! This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's theory of the tides, which, while well thought out, was wrong.	6-12	HTML Document
Newton's Third Law of Motion: Astronauts in Outer Space In this video segment adapted from NOVA, NASA learns hard lessons from the first American attempt to do work while "walking" in space. The video also explores Newton's third law of motion.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Pantheon Dome This video segment adapted from Building Big: "Domes" illustrates how the design of the Pantheon Dome emerged out of another form, the arch.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Projectile Motion In this interactive simulation adapted from University of Colorado’s Physics Education Technology project, learn about projectile motion by firing various objects from a virtual cannon into the air. Experiment with the settings and try to hit a target.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Raising an Obelisk: An Engineering Puzzle This video segment adapted from NOVA follows two teams as they each test a different engineering design in an effort to explain how ancient Egyptians raised a giant stone obelisk.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It? What do the laws of physics have to do with engineering? Find out in this video segment featuring inventor Dean Kamen and his inventions, the IBOT and the Segway.	6-12	QuickTime Video
String Theory: A New Picture of Gravity This video segment from NOVA describes the general theory of relativity and the theory of electromagnetism.	6-12	QuickTime Video
String Theory: A Strange New World This video segment from NOVA chronicles Einstein's quest to unify the forces of electromagnetism and gravity.	6-12	QuickTime Video
String Theory: Newton's Embarrassing Secret This video segment from NOVA chronicles Newton's theory of gravity and Einstein's discovery that contradicted it.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Trash Bag Kites In this video from Curious George, children fly kites they have made from trash bags and explore the forces of pushes, pulls, and gravity.	K-2	QuickTime Video
Virtual Pendulum This interactive activity from ZOOM offers a chance to experiment with a virtual pendulum and to see how it can be influenced by a variety of factors.	3-8	Shockwave Interactive
What Is "Weightlessness"? This video segment, adapted from ZOOM, shows how dropping a cup of water can both demonstrate gravity and create "weightlessness" here on Earth.	K-8	QuickTime Video
Your Weight on Other Worlds This interactive resource from the Exploratorium calculates your weight on other bodies in our solar system and offers an explanation of mass and weight and the relationship between gravity, mass, and distance.	6-12	HTML Interactive

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Subtopic: Gravity