Projectiles are always amusing, and students can use a steel ball or marble and an incline to make predictions on where the marble will land. Give students a paper with a target on it and assign points to each spot on the target. Students can take measurements to figure out the velocity at which the ball will travel down the incline, and estimate where the ball will hit the floor. Students should place their paper where they think the ball will land, and those who understand the physics of the assignment will land on a good grade.
In a lesson about gravity, teachers can discuss how all items, regardless of weight, fall at the same rate. Use gravity and pair students up to do a reaction-time test. Have one student hold a ruler with the higher numbers up, and the other student places a hand toward the bottom of the ruler without touching it. When the ruler is released, the other person tries to catch it and records where she caught the ruler. According to Washington University, students can use the following table to find their reaction time:
2 inches = .10 second reaction time
4 inches = .14 second reaction time
6 inches = .17 second reaction time
8 inches = .20 second reaction time
10 inches = .23 second reaction time
Students can also test people of different age groups and genders to see results.
As students learn about sound waves, frequencies and wavelengths, challenge them to create music using non-traditional instruments. In "Resonance and Standing Waves," Physics Classroom suggests ideas such as blowing across the mouth of bottles with different amounts of water in them, rubbing fingers on water goblets, or tapping different lengths of cardboard tubing. Students must accurately figure out the notes they need, and then play a simple song such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Students who are involved in any sort of sport will enjoy this project. After a discussion about procedure, allow students to go outside and throw tennis balls at assigned angles from the ground. Students should perform many trials of throwing the ball at 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees (straight up). Measurements should be taken to determine how far the ball traveled, as well as how high. After the activity, students should be able to determine what angle to throw a ball to get the most distance or height.
Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Have students decorate empty 2-liter plastic bottles and make them into water rockets to learn this concept. According to Physics Central, when you fill the bottle with water, the water will be pushing down on the bottle. In response, some of the water pushes back up to the top of the rocket, which propels it into the air when compressed air is added to the equation. Students will enjoy seeing their creations launched using only water and air.