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Student Lab Activities

You need a new student lab activity for your Physics class -- but which is the right one? Explore what Flinn Scientific has developed that is free to you to access. Or preview what is available in a lab activity before purchasing it.

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Soda Can Calorimeter

Have you ever noticed the nutrition label located on the packaging of the food you buy? One of the first things listed on the label are the calories per serving. How is the calorie content of food determined? This activity will introduce the concept of calorimetry and investigate the caloric content of snack foods.

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Build the Simplest Electric Motor

Challenge your students to build a simple motor with only three components: a battery, a piece of copper wire and a strong magnet.

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Land Versus Water

While at the beach on a hot summer day, have you ever observed the temperature difference between the dry sand and the body of water? You nearly burn the bottom of your feet trying to get to the water! Why is there such a huge temperature difference between land and water? Use this activity to get your students thinking about the concept of specific heat and why various substances have different specific heat values.

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Demonstrating Waves

Waves are all around us! You may not be aware of it, but we encounter waves on a daily basis. Use these demonstrations to help your students visualize the properties of waves and wave propagation.

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Bowling Ball Pendulum

Students may think it is foolish to place their face in front of a heavy, swinging bowling ball. However, this classic demonstration will clearly illustrate the conservation of energy principle.

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Rubber Band Cannon

What determines how far a cannonball will fly? How does the launch angle of a cannon affect its range? Explore some of the variables that influence projectile motion using a Rubber Band Cannon.

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Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Simulation

Use diffraction to explain and demonstrate the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

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Introducing WhiteBox Learning

Engage in real-world, turn-key applied STEM with the WhiteBox Learning process of informed iteration!

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Flame-Retardant Balloon

Show students a “special” balloon that doesn’t pop when exposed to a flame. Students will come up with very clever ideas for why the balloon doesn’t pop. But, when all is said and done, the “magic” is the result of important scientific principles involving specific heat capacity and heat transfer.

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Magnetic Linear Accelerator

Create a simple magnetic linear accelerator using magnets and steel ball bearings! Demonstrate magnetism, the conservation of energy and momentum and projectile motion.

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Gummy Bear Wave Machine

Amplify your students’ understanding of wave motion with this captivating demonstration! Using simple materials, students can have significant influence on large-scale variables of frequency, amplitude and wave speed as they observe wave motion through a medium.

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Centripetal Acceleration

Take your students on an amusement park ride—for just a penny! Discuss how an object can be accelerating yet moving at constant speed. Investigate how a change in direction (at constant speed) is acceleration; that is, centripetal acceleration!

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Bouncing with Momentum

The collision of objects is a great way to demonstrate the conservation of momentum. Engage students by having them drop and collide toy balls of different mass and size. The results may be surprising! This inquiry-based activity will really get your students thinking about momentum.

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Students experience the effects of inertia every day—riding in a car, playing sports, even when picking up their backpacks. Present a more dramatic demonstration of Newton’s first law by safely dropping three raw eggs into glasses of water, without touching the eggs! Applause is guaranteed!

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It’s a race! Investigate the properties of the moment of inertia by rolling differently shaped objects, such as a solid disc, ring, and sphere, down an incline. Discover why the sphere always wins!

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Sample Activity Egg-streme Parachuting

Sample Activity for Flinn STEM Design Challenge Book (Catalog No. AP8333)

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Water Drops on a Penny

Why do water droplets bead when dropped on a waxy surface? Why can some insects walk on water? These observations can be attributed to the high surface tension of water. Surface tension is the result of attractive forces between molecules. Water’s large contribution to life on Earth depends on its unique properties. Without it, life on Earth would be impossible.

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Aluminum Air Battery

Build a dry cell battery with this fun activity! Batteries provide electricity for nearly every small electrical device in the home—from flashlights to power tools. The composition of a battery depends on the purpose for which it will be used. Some batteries, such as those in an artificial pacemaker, need to operate for a very long time. Other batteries need to be reliable and ready to supply electricity at any time, even after several years of storage.

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Resonance with Washers

Have you ever heard a crystal glass hum when someone runs a finger around its rim? Do you remember the great height you could reach on a swing when you pumped your legs with proper timing? Do any objects in your home vibrate when music is playing? Although these observations seem to be unrelated, they all involve a phenomenon known as resonance.

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Solar Oven STEM Challenge Activity

Capture solar energy in a useable way! Learn how solar ovens work and cook some yummy snacks with energy from the sun with this Flinn STEM Design Challenge.

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Color and Light Spectrum Demonstrations

Is there more to light than meets the eye? Does a green filter change white light into green light? What color of light is observed when blue and yellow filters are mixed? This demonstration uses a holographic diffraction grating and an overhead projector to produce a large, sharp rainbow of color. The large spectrum allows you to demonstrate the true nature of color and light and address common misconceptions related to the perception of color.

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Smartphone Spectroscopy

A spectroscope is a device for forming and observing the color spectrum of visible light. A spectrum is produced when light from any source is bent or dispersed. Does every type of light show the same spectrum? Turn your smartphone camera into a spectroscope to find out!

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Balloon Rocket Blastoff

Have you ever watched a rocket or space shuttle soaring through the sky? How is it possible for these massive objects to move through the air? The basic principle behind rocket flight is Newton’s third law of motion. In this activity, students will experiment with Newton’s third law by launching balloon rockets across the classroom.

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Twirling Toy Challenge

In the Spring, maple trees release multitudes of seeds into the air. They carelessly spin and drift in the wind until landing at their final destination, the ground. What causes the flight patterns the seeds follow? A twirling toy demonstrates the same careless flight and by manipulating different factors of the twirling toy, you can discover which factors are more influential.

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Up, Up and Away Hot Air Balloon Kit

After witnessing the ascent of a manned hot air balloon in Paris in 1783, Benjamin Franklin described the event as “a most beautiful spectacle.” Watching these airships glide across the sky still evokes a sense of awe and inspiration today. Generate the same excitement in the science classroom with model hot air balloons!

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Science of Sailing Kit

Sailing a boat calls for knowledge of Newton’s laws of motion, forces, and sailing principles such as the angle of the sails with respect to wind direction. It is easy to see how a sailboat can travel downwind, but how does a boat sail into the wind? Why do we see so many different types of sails?

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Cartesian Diver Construction Kit

Cartesian divers are great toys that can be used to teach important science concepts of density, buoyancy, and Boyle’s law. These concepts have applications in fish physiology, scuba diving, and submersibles. How can a craft be designed to retrieve an object from the ocean floor and bring it to the surface? Use Cartesian divers as models for designing and testing solutions to this and many other creative challenges.

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Cartesian Diver Construction Kit

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Simple Form Truss Kit

The ability of a structure to support a load is important for both safety and economic reasons. Ensuring structural integrity and preventing failure involves both scientific inquiry and engineering design. Optimizing the design solution for an overhanging sign includes consideration of performance as well as aesthetics and cost.

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STEM Integration Guide for Flinn Wind Energy Kit

Demand for alternative energy sources has led to a dramatic increase in the use of wind energy over the past decade. The design, construction, and use of wind turbines involve a wide range of career fields including mechanical, electrical, structural, civil, and computer engineering, computer programming, manufacturing, utility grid management, meteorology, environmental impact studies, and transportation logistics. How do windmills and wind turbines work?