Articles

Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure

Why do you feel dizzy if you stand up too quickly?

Themes: Biology & Medicine and Human Body

Topics: Biophysics, Fluids, and Pressure

Grades: 8-10

Stretching Rubber Bands

Stretching Rubber Bands

We can use common household objects to measure properties that match physical laws. This experiment takes a very common household item, the rubber band, and applies physical laws (Hooke’s Law and the Young’s Modulus) to them in a hands-on way.

Themes: Student Projects

Topics: Deformations, Experiments, Hooke's Law, Materials, and Young's Modulus

Grades: 11-12

Bats and the Doppler Shift

Bats and the Doppler Shift

What compensation for Doppler shifts do bats perform to keep their echoes within their hearing range?

Themes: Animals, Biology & Medicine, and Waves

Topics: Biophysics and Sound

Grades: 11-12 and 8-10

Nerve Impulses

Nerve Impulses

Why are eye-foot and eye-hand reaction times different?

Themes: Biology & Medicine and Human Body

Topics: Biophysics

Grades: 11-12 and 8-10

Wave Power – A Simple Analysis

Wave Power – A Simple Analysis

How much power can we extract from ocean waves?

Themes: Energy and Environment and Renewable and Clean Energy

Topics: Energy and sustainability

Grades: 11-12

True, False, or Not Sure? Philosophy of Science in the 21st century

True, False, or Not Sure? Philosophy of Science in the 21st century

Whatever happened to objective reality? Why is anthropogenic climate change so hard to “prove”?

Topics: Climate, Energy, and Science Literacy

Grades: 11-12 and 8-10

Dimensional Analysis

Dimensional Analysis

Unsure if your result makes sense?

Themes: Skills and Techniques

Topics: Mathematics and Science Literacy

Grades: 8-10

Scientific Notation

Scientific Notation

“The suspect is a male, age 1.73 × 109 s, height 1.83 m, weight 7.5 × 101 kg…”

Themes: Skills and Techniques

Topics: Mathematics and Tools

Grades: 8-10

Order of Magnitude Calculations

Order of Magnitude Calculations

How can we make reasonable approximations without tedious calculations?

Themes: Skills and Techniques

Topics: Mathematics, Science Literacy, and Tools

Grades: 8-10

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Significant Figures

This tyrannosaurus is 70,000,003 years old. How many significant figures should I quote?

Themes: Skills and Techniques

Topics: Mathematics and Tools

Grades: 11-12 and 8-10