Marna Eckels
Community Charter School of Cambridge
MA

Lots of great ideas and links - thanks everyone! I have shown video clips of curling already and used it to talk about inertia and Newton's Laws. Great stuff. Makeshift curling materials are an interesting idea for sure. I will have to call up the public rink and see what they will let us do on the ice!

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I just found out that an outdoor skating rink within walking distance of my school will allow my classes free admission and skate rentals on weekday afternoons. Has anyone ever done physics labs or demos at an ice rink? We've covered motion, forces, and work/energy so far, and any of those topics would be reasonable to revisit in January as we review for the midterm exam. I can think of lots ...

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I have done this Friendship Detector circuit project with my 9th graders and it has been a great way to reinforce the concept of series and parallel circuits! Very high interest, and we did it with cheap materials (LEDs/resistors, tin foil for wire, paper clips and paper fasteners/brads for switches). http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/4/tst12_079_02_46

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