The Science Buddies website offers a lesson plan called the “Rubber Band Car Challenge” designed for grades 6-8. In this engaging engineering activity, students build rubber band-powered cars using readily available craft supplies. The challenge is to construct a car that can travel as far as possible while being mindful of the materials used. The lesson plan includes learning objectives related to designing devices based on specific criteria, evaluating competing design solutions, and understanding concepts like kinetic and potential energy, force, and friction. Students can enter their car designs in the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge for a chance to win a cash prize for their school. The lesson aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and encourages hands-on exploration of physics concepts. The materials allowed for building the cars include items like CDs, plastic bottle caps, paper, wooden pencils, straws, and rubber bands. Teachers can find detailed instructions and guidelines on the Science Buddies website

Students conduct an experiment to determine the relationship between the speed of a wooden toy car at the bottom of an incline and the height at which it is released. They observe how the photogate-based speedometer instrument "clocks" the average speed of an object (the train). They gather data and create graphs plotting the measured speed against start height. After the experiment, as an optional extension activity, students design brakes to moderate the speed of the cart at the bottom of the hill to within a specified speed range.

This interactive simulation models the motion of a simple pendulum. Users can explore how pendulum motion is affected by changing length of the string, initial angle, and mass of the bob. Adjust the acceleration due to gravity to simulate pendulum motion on another planet. Energy bar graphs can be displayed in stepped motion alongside the swinging pendulum to get a clear picture of kinetic/potential energy conversion. Click on "Forces" to see free body diagrams. Advanced learners can view graphs of angular position, angular velocity, and angular acceleration as well. The model is simple enough for middle school students to manipulate, yet also provides an array of robust tools that render it appropriate for introductory physics courses. See Related Materials for a multi-day module on simple harmonic motion (Science NetLinks) and for instructions on installing and running the cost-free EJS Modeling and Authoring Tool. This applet was created with EJS, Easy Java Simulations, a modeling tool that allows users without formal programming experience to generate computer models and simulations.

Students are introduced to the engineering challenges involved with interplanetary space travel. In particular, they learn about the gravity assist or "slingshot" maneuver often used by engineers to send spacecraft to the outer planets. Using magnets and ball bearings to simulate a planetary flyby, students investigate what factors influence the deflection angle of a gravity assist maneuver.

Students see how potential energy (stored energy) can be converted into kinetic energy (motion). Acting as if they were engineers designing vehicles, they use rubber bands, pencils and spools to explore how elastic potential energy from twisted rubber bands can roll the spools. They brainstorm, prototype, modify, test and redesign variations to the basic spool racer design in order to meet different design criteria, ultimately facing off in a race competition. These simple-to-make devices store potential energy in twisted rubber bands and then convert the potential energy to kinetic energy upon release.

This activity shows students the engineering importance of understanding the laws of mechanical energy. More specifically, it demonstrates how potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by using the equations for potential and kinetic energy. The equations will be justified as students experimentally measure the speed of the pendulum and compare theory with reality.

Students learn the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from a two-liter plastic bottle. They investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine into work, and experiment with how weight affects the rotational rate of the waterwheel. Students also discuss and explore the characteristics of hydroelectric plants.

With an introduction to the ideas of energy, students discuss specific types of energy and the practical sources of energy. Hands-on activities help them identify types of energy in their surroundings and enhance their understanding of energy.

Students learn how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They explore how design and position affect the electrical energy production.

Investigating a waterwheel illustrates to students the physical properties of energy. They learn that the concept of work, force acting over a distance, differs from power, which is defined as force acting over a distance over some period of time. Students create a model waterwheel and use it to calculate the amount of power produced and work done.