online course
Sports Physics
Sports Physics Grades 6 to 8
Free online physics course · 12 weeks
- Grade
- Grades 6 to 8
- Ages
- Ages 11 to 14
- Price
- Free
- Format
- Self-paced online course at learn.lanternlearn.com
About this course
Sports Physics Grades 6 to 8 is a free 12-week online forces, motion and energy course for middle schoolers that uses only things a family already has. Students set up a physics field at home and measure speed, test balanced and unbalanced forces, see how mass changes motion, time falling objects, compare friction on different surfaces, find out how mass and speed change kinetic energy, store energy with height and stretch, follow energy through a bounce, meet action and reaction, explore magnets and static, and track the arc of a thrown ball. The course ends with a landing pad the student designs, builds, tests and improves.
12-week list
Each week has short lessons Monday to Friday, a hands-on Field Lab, and a Game Day with the family on Saturday.
| Week | Topic | Focus | NGSS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Measuring Motion | Speed as distance divided by time, and a frame of reference | MS-PS2-2 |
| 2 | Pushes, Pulls and Balanced Forces | When forces balance, motion does not change | MS-PS2-2 |
| 3 | Mass Matters | The same push, a light ball and a heavy ball | MS-PS2-2 |
| 4 | Gravity Pulls | Falling objects, and gravity on Earth, the Moon and the planets | MS-PS2-4 |
| 5 | Friction and Air | Rolling on wood, carpet and grass; a flat sheet and a crumpled ball | MS-PS2-2 |
| 6 | Kinetic Energy: Mass and Speed | A slow roll, a fast roll and a sliding cup | MS-PS3-1 |
| 7 | Potential Energy: Height and Stretch | Ramp height, rubber bands and stored energy | MS-PS3-2 |
| 8 | Bounce, Roll and Stop | Where the energy goes when a ball bounces and stops | MS-PS3-5 |
| 9 | Action and Reaction | A balloon rocket and two balls that meet | MS-PS2-1 |
| 10 | Forces Without Touching | Magnets, static and the field idea | MS-PS2-5 |
| 11 | Throws and Arcs | Why a thrown ball curves back down | MS-PS2-2 |
| 12 | Design a Landing Pad | Build, test and improve your own crash cushion | MS-ETS1-1 |