An "Illumination" is a short chunk of explanatory/exploratory material that addresses a specific topic, usually from a conceptual point of view. These Illuminations contain simulations and were designed primarily for student self-study and practice.  (Open Website)

Background information and tutorials for graphing motion.  (Open Website)

Toy trucks and motion detectors are used in this lesson plan that explores motion graphing and its terminology.  There are no calculations required.  (Open Website)

A lesson plan developed by the PhET project for use with "The Moving Man" simulation.  Students with little prior knowledge of graph interpretation will gain understanding of velocity vs. time graphs and how they differ from position vs. time.  (Open Website)

This is a PhET Gold Star winning lesson that helps students build skills in interpreting graphs of motion.  It accompanies the PhET simulation "The Moving Man" (see link below) and includes classroom-ready Power Point concept questions, student guide, and assessments.  (Open Website)

Students will apply knowledge of motion by making their own animated sequences that model real-life physical situations.  Sound a little zany?  Topics include motion in an inertial reference frame, gravity on a falling body, and orbital motion of planets.  Fun and creative!  (Open Website)

Student-centered activity whose goals include dispelling motion myths.  (Open Website)

Maneuver a simulated man and watch simultaneous graphs of his position, velocity, and acceleration.  For beginning learners, the acceleration graph may be closed.  Try teaming this simulation with the great companion lessons above.  (Open Website)

With one mouse click, students may create their own customized graphs from among five types: bar, line, area, pie, and X/Y.  Various patterns, colors, grids, and label choices allow for customization, with a full tutorial to help in set-up. This resource is cost-free.  (Open Website)

This set of lessons investigates the language of kinematics.  It is designed to help students internalize the meaning of words used to describe motion.  (Open Website)

A very well-organized tutorial on how to construct and interpret three basic kinematic graphs:  P/T, V/T and A/T.  It includes animated examples, links to five worksheets, and related problems for student exploration.  (Open Website)

Excellent self-guided tutorial promotes understanding of "position" as a physics concept.  Contains multiple graphs, animations, and interactive opportunities for students to test their comprehension.  (Open Website)

An assessment designed by the award-winning Modeling Instruction team.  It assesses a student's ability to create and also interpret motion maps, p-t graphs, and v-t graphs.  Could be used either as a class review or as a unit test.  Downloadable in pdf format.  (Open Website)

An assessment in the form of a question that asks students to identify which objects are accelerating, when shown a set of four strobe diagrams.  A2L materials are designed to reveal what students do NOT know and build a basis for formative assessment.  (Open Website)

Lesson Plan
This two-day lesson is built around a pair of online games that let beginners investigate single-vector and dual-vector systems.  Includes post-lesson assessments with answers provided.  (Developed by National Council for Teachers of Mathematics)  (Open Website)

Simulation
Students explore several kinematics situations involving different starting positions and speed.  Velocity and acceleration vectors are displayed in real-time graphs as the action is animated.  (Open Website)

Simulation
It can be difficult for beginning students to understand what a vector represents.  This fun simulation allows them to watch vectors change as they drive a virtual car.  Speed vs. Time is also displayed in a real-time companion graph.  (Open Website)

Related Research
The primary goal of the Kinematics Graphing Project is to investigate the ability of students to interpret kinematics graphs and to generate a set of suggestions for faculty teaching the subject.  (Open Website)

Reference Material
This page is an interactive environment where subjects are organized in flow charts allowing easy movement from one topic to a related item.  Vector resolution, addition, and product are covered in-depth.  (Open Website)

Self Study/Content Support
This award-winning web tutorial is a great choice for the crossover teacher who wants a refresher on vectors and their properties.  Included is an introduction to free-body diagrams, example problems, a series of self-paced questions, and related interactive simulations.  (Open Website)

Comprehensive Student Tutorial
This tutorial, part of the respected Physics Classroom web site, is an Editors' Top Choice.  It  discusses fundamentals and operations of vectors, plus in-depth support in understanding vector addition and resolution.  Entertaining animations and images accompany the text.  (Open Website)

Simulation-Based Tutorial
This Java applet walks students step-by-step through the process of tip-to-tail vector addition.  The accompanying text is easy for high school students to follow.  (Open Website)

Simulation-Based Tutorial
This simple, yet effective Java-based tutorial uses geometric overlays to demonstrate why the Pythagorean Theorem works.  Background text helps students understand its importance in vector algebra.  (Open Website)

In this inquiry-based lesson plan for grades K-2,  students record data as they roll different objects down a ramp whose height is variable.  It is the first of a two-part lesson on ramps and their mechanical advantages.  (Open Website)

This project-based lesson for grades K-2 is designed as a follow-up to Ramps 1 (see item above.)  In this activity, students experiment with a variety of materials as they design, build, and test their own ramps. Included is a printable student data sheet.  (Open Website)

In this activity students will be able to use a computer generated graph to explain the motion of a body and analyze alternative explanations and models.  (Open Website)

This simple animation shows the motion of an object moving with constant acceleration. Ghost images can be displayed, with controls available to pause, step, and rewind.  Try teaming this applet with the one below on constant velocity.  (Open Website)

This java applet simulates two particles moving and colliding in one dimension.  The collision is elastic and is shown as being caused by a virtual spring.  Graphs of momentum and kinetic energy are viewed as the user manipulates starting velocities and spring constant of the virtual spring.  One great feature is that the teacher can download a "snapshot" to email for use when computer lab is unavailable.  (Open Website)

This simulation demonstrates the motion of a model car with constant acceleration. The user can set values for initial position, velocity and acceleration; the simulation will create real-time graphs.  Two timers can be placed anywhere along the path of the car to measure the motion at intervals.  (Open Website)

This page contains links to lesson plans, graphs, and activities on linear motion.  Topics covered include rates of change, scalar and vector quantities.  These resources are tied to standard goals for instruction in kinematics.  (Open Website)

This resource offers support in understanding equations related to acceleration and includes several problems for numerical practice.  (Open Website)

This page offers a clear explanation of the equations that can be used to describe the motion of an object in a straight line.  A comprehensive set of algebraic, statistical, and conceptual problems are included.  (Open Website)

This is a web-based homework problem that helps students understand velocity vs. time graphs (v vs. t).  A sequence of user-activated questions takes beginners through a full conceptual analysis before introducing the math.  It was developed using principles of physics education research.  Appropriate for 8th grade.  (Open Website)

Students can have fun exploring projectile motion as they interactively fire objects of varying mass from a cannon.  Users may set initial velocity, angle, and air resistance.  This resource would be teamed well with the Physics Classroom student tutorial on projectile motion (below).  (Open Website)

This simulation would be a good follow-up to the PhET projectile motion applet (above).  This item takes the learner to the next level by calculating maximum height, horizontal distance, magnitude of velocity, and total energy of a projected object.  Students will set initial height, speed, angle, and mass before firing their projectile.  (Open Website)

Kinematics is the science of describing the motion of objects using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs, and equations. The goal of any study of kinematics is to develop sophisticated mental models which serve to describe (and ultimately, explain) the motion of real-world objects.  (Open Website)

This seven-part resource is an excellent introduction to the characteristics of projectile motion.  Through in-depth explanations and animations, it explores vertical acceleration and explains why there are no horizontal forces acting upon projectiles, a common student misconception.  The last two sections are devoted to problem solving.  Try teaming it with the PhET Projectile Motion activity above.  (Open Website)

This applet illustrates both conservation of energy and circular motion. A roller coaster travels over a large and small hill, then goes through a loop. Students can have fun controlling speed, height of the hills, and size of the loop, then viewing the effect on the moving car.  It is an engaging way to explore the physics governing roller coaster construction.  (Open Website)

For the teacher planning a unit on amusement park physics, this tutorial can double as a student classroom activity.  It offers an excellent overview of the forces acting upon a roller coaster as it travels on a straight, curved, or looped track.  It includes a self-test at the end to gauge student comprehension.  Free body diagrams and animations depicting kinetic/potential energy also enhance student understanding of a complex set of interactions.  (Open Website)

One of the most deeply entrenched misconceptions among beginning physics students is that centrifugal motion (away from the center) is a "force" in itself.   In this resource, part of Physics Classroom, the author explains why the direction of force is viewed from an inertial frame of reference in a classical mechanics course and thus why centrifugal motion is not a force in a Newtonian framework.  (Open Website)

This resource guides the beginning student through characteristics of circular motion.  It is broken into five sections addressing:  the mechanics of circular motion, centripetal force,  algebraic and trigonometric problems and solutions, and a full chapter that debunks the centrifugal "force" misconception.  Interactive problems feature liberal use of diagrams and force vectors to enhance understanding.  (Open Website)

This student tutorial illustrates how circular motion principles can be combined with Newton's Second Law to analyze physical situations.   Two algebraic problems and detailed solutions are provided, plus a five-step model for solving circular motion problems.  (Open Website)

This page contains procedures for setting up 20 demonstrations relating to motion.   All demos have been fully tested in the classroom and were selected for inclusion because they are engaging, require minimal set-up, and are highly illustrative of key concepts taught in introductory classical mechanics.  Historical anecdotes and commentary add to the depth of this unique resource.  (Open Website)

This resource is the Motion section of the Science Literacy Benchmarks published by the AAAS.  It is a statement of desired learning outcomes on the topic of motion and kinematics for grades 2, 5, 8, and 12.  It was developed to provide a research-based sequence of specific learning goals that educators can use in curriculum building.  (Open Website)

This inquiry-based lesson for grades K-2 is similar to Galileo's classic experiment with inclined planes.  Children roll spherical objects of different masses down ramps of varying heights.  As they record data, they are building a conceptual base for understanding the constant nature of acceleration due to gravity.  See the item below for Part 2 of the lesson.  (Open Website)

This project-based lesson for grades K-2 is designed as a follow-up to Ramps 1 (see item above.)  In this activity, students experiment with a variety of materials as they design, build, and test their own ramps. Included is a printable student data sheet.  (Open Website)

This simulation is an interactive means to understand how friction can play a role in the analysis of motion.  (Open Website)