Teacher's Guides

The Teacher Guides at The Laboratory are intended to provide teachers information about each individual lab. The Guides list the required materials, describe the general procedure, suggest alternative materials and procedures, mention safety concerns, offer helpful notes and suggestions regarding student difficulties and various nuances associated with each lab, and identify the connections between the labs and specific pages at The Physics Classroom Tutorial and specific sublevels of the Minds On Physics Internet Modules. In addition to all this, the Teacher's Guides provide a means for teachers to alter or customize each lab. The Guides are viewable as a PDF document (which requires the free Adobe Reader plug-in) and downloadable as a Microsoft Word document. Having access tothe lab information (Question, Purpose, description of the lab notebook, Auxiliary Materials, and Rubric) as a Microsoft Word document allows teachers to add, subtract and change items to suit the needs of the individual classroom as well as to match the teacher's personal style. Teachers have complete permission (and are even encouraged) to download, alter and use all lab information found at The Laboratory. (Note that other sections of The Physics Classroom web site have a distinctly different set of permissions and restrictions.)

Further information about The Laboratory - the philosophy behind it, suggestions for how to use it, directions for sharing your own ideas, and ideas about using lab notebooks in physics class - is available at the many other pages found at The Laboratory. Teachers are encouraged to read these pages to gain the background required for understanding the placement of these labs on this web site and to improve the means by which they can be utilized in the classroom. Finally, for those teachers looking for other classroom ready curricular materials for use in their classroom, consider a visit to The Curriculum Corner.

Recommended Reading

Quick Links to Teacher Guides

One Dimensional Kinematics

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Speedometer Lab html PDF || MS Word
Speedometer Cubed Lab html PDF || MS Word
Diagramming Motion Lab html PDF || MS Word
Position-Time Graphs Lab html PDF || MS Word
Interpreting the Slope Lab html PDF || MS Word
Velocity-Time Graphs Lab html PDF || MS Word
Match That Graph Lab html PDF || MS Word
Two-Stage Rocket Lab html PDF || MS Word
Free Fall Lab html PDF || MS Word
Dune Buggy Challenge Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Newton's Laws

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Pass the Water Lab html PDF || MS Word
Galileo for a Day Lab html PDF || MS Word
Wait! Hmmm. Gee. Lab html PDF || MS Word
F-m-a Lab html PDF || MS Word
Coffee Filter Skydiver Lab html PDF || MS Word
From a Feather to an Elephant Lab html PDF || MS Word
Falling Body Spreadsheet Study html PDF || MS Word
Friction Lab html PDF || MS Word
Mu Shoe Physics Lab html PDF || MS Word
Breaking Strength Lab html PDF || MS Word
Two-Body Lab html PDF || MS Word
Ut Tensio, Sic Vis Lab html PDF || MS Word
Normal Force-o-meter Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Vectors and Projectiles

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Map Lab html PDF || MS Word
As the Crow Flies Lab html PDF || MS Word
Where Am I? Lab html PDF || MS Word
Road Trip Lab html PDF || MS Word
Crossing the River Lab html PDF || MS Word
Basketball Analysis Lab html PDF || MS Word
Projectile Simulation Lab html PDF || MS Word
Projectile Problem-Solving Lab html PDF || MS Word
Projectile Problem-Solving II Lab html PDF || MS Word
Launcher Speed Lab html PDF || MS Word
Maximum Range Lab html PDF || MS Word
Hit the Target Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Vectors and Forces

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
It's a Breeze Lab html PDF || MS Word
Getting Hung Up by Tension Lab html PDF || MS Word
Sign Hanging Lab html PDF || MS Word
Maximum Load Lab html PDF || MS Word
Science Friction Adventure Lab html PDF || MS Word
Inclined Plane Lab html PDF || MS Word
On a Roll Challenge Lab html PDF || MS Word
Modified Atwood's Machine Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Momentum and Collisions

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Being Impulsive AboutMomentum Change Lab html PDF || MS Word
Balloon Toss Lab html PDF || MS Word
Rebounding versus Sticking Lab html PDF || MS Word
Before and After Lab html PDF || MS Word
Action-Reaction Lab html PDF || MS Word
Sand Balloon Lab html PDF || MS Word
Inelastic Collision Analysis Lab html PDF || MS Word
Elastic Collision Analysis Lab html PDF || MS Word
What's Cooking? Lab html PDF || MS Word
Two-Dimensional Collision Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Work and Energy

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
It's All Uphill Lab html PDF || MS Word
It's All Uphill - The Sequel Lab html PDF || MS Word
Powerhouse Lab html PDF || MS Word
Marble Energy Lab html PDF || MS Word
Marble Energy II Lab html PDF || MS Word
Work-Kinetic Energy Lab html PDF || MS Word
Energy on an Incline Lab html PDF || MS Word
Energy of a Pendulum Lab html PDF || MS Word
Spring Energy Lab html PDF || MS Word
Elastic Cord Spreadsheet Study html PDF || MS Word
Stopping Distance Lab html PDF || MS Word
All Work and No Play Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Circular Motion and Satellite Motion

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Making the Turn Lab html PDF || MS Word
Loop the Loop Lab html PDF || MS Word
Race Track Lab html PDF || MS Word
The Great Mass Attraction Simulation html PDF || MS Word
Solar System Sports Spreadsheet Study html PDF || MS Word
Satellite Motion Simulation html PDF || MS Word
The Law of Harmonies Analysis html PDF || MS Word
Jupiter's Moons Analysis html PDF || MS Word
The Mass of Saturn Analysis html PDF || MS Word
The Mini Drop Lab html MS Word

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Static Electricity

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Action at a Distance Lab html PDF || MS Word
Sticky Tape Experiments Lab html PDF || MS Word
Pop Can Induction Lab html PDF || MS Word
Charging by Induction Lab html PDF || MS Word
Electric Field Simulation html PDF || MS Word
Coulomb's Law Lab html PDF || MS Word
Electric Field Lines Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Electric Circuits

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Sparky the Electrician Lab html PDF || MS Word
First to Light Lab html PDF || MS Word
Greatest Current Lab html PDF || MS Word
Voltage-Current-Resistance Lab html PDF || MS Word
Round vs. Oblong – the Greatest Resistance? Lab html PDF || MS Word
Series versus Parallel Lab html PDF || MS Word
Comparing Voltage Drops and Currents in Series Lab html PDF || MS Word
Bulbs in Series Circuits Lab html PDF || MS Word
Comparing Voltage Drops and Currents in Parallel Lab html PDF || MS Word
Bulbs in Parallel Circuits Lab html PDF || MS Word
Combination Circuits Lab html PDF || MS Word
Energy Audit Activity html PDF || MS Word

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Wave Basics

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
A Wiggle in Time Lab html PDF || MS Word
Period of a Pendulum Lab html PDF || MS Word
A Wiggle in Time and Space Lab html PDF || MS Word
Wave Motion Lab html PDF || MS Word
Speed of a Wave Lab html PDF || MS Word
Vibrating Spring Lab html PDF || MS Word
Nodes and Antinodes Lab html PDF || MS Word
Harmonic Frequencies Lab html PDF || MS Word
Wave Behavior Demonstration Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Sound and Music

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Listen Up! Lab html PDF || MS Word
Mach 1 Lab html PDF || MS Word
Natural Frequency and Standing Waves Lab html PDF || MS Word
Closed End Air Column Lab html PDF || MS Word
Open End Air Column Lab html PDF || MS Word
Guitar String Lab html PDF || MS Word
Music in a Bottle Lab html PDF || MS Word
Musical Intervals Lab html PDF || MS Word
Musical Scales Lab html PDF || MS Word
Timbre Lab html PDF || MS Word
Who Can Hear Monte Tone? Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Light and Color

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Ripple Tank Lab html PDF || MS Word
Two-Point Source Analysis Lab html PDF || MS Word
Young's Experiment Lab html PDF || MS Word
Getting it Right With Light Lab html PDF || MS Word
Diluted by Distance Lab html PDF || MS Word
Color Addition Lab html PDF || MS Word
Taking Away from RGB Lab html PDF || MS Word
Painting with CMY Lab html PDF || MS Word
Filtering Away Lab html PDF || MS Word

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Reflection and Mirrors

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Reflection Lab html PDF || MS Word
Plane Mirror Image Lab html PDF || MS Word
Rough versus Smooth Lab html PDF || MS Word
What Portion ...? Lab html PDF || MS Word
Right Angle Mirror Lab html PDF || MS Word
Improving Your Image Lab html PDF || MS Word
Infinity Derivation html PDF || MS Word
Exploring Curved Mirrors Lab html PDF || MS Word
Finding Smiley Lab html PDF || MS Word
Magnification Ratio Lab html PDF || MS Word
Mirror Equation Derivation html PDF || MS Word

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Refraction and Lenses

Title of Lab Lab Description Teacher's Guide
Refraction Action Lab html PDF || MS Word
Direction of Bending Lab html PDF || MS Word
Least Time Principle Lab html PDF || MS Word
How Much? Lab html PDF || MS Word
The Unknown n Lab html PDF || MS Word
R and R Lab html PDF || MS Word
A Critical Lab html PDF || MS Word
Exploring Lenses Lab html PDF || MS Word
The L•O•S•T Art of Image Description Lab html PDF || MS Word
The Lens Equation Lab html PDF || MS Word

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