Physics Through Inquiry
Legacy Notice: The following collection of experiments utilize older generation PASCO sensors and equipment. View the updated versions of these experiments »
The following is a complete list of lab activities from PASCO's Physics Through Inquiry Teacher Guide. You may preview and download editable student handouts or export them to Google Classroom using the chalkboard icon. Individual materials lists are included within each student handout, and a complete materials list is provided below.
Grade Level: High School
Subject: Physics
Student Collection Files
| PS 2873 Material and Equipment | 221.53 KB |
Activities
01) Position: Match Graph
In this lab, students will use motion sensors to track and graph their motion in real time. Students will get a hands-on introduction to the concept of motion being a change in position.
02) Speed and Velocity
In this lab, students will make predictions about how a cart's speed and velocity differ. Then, they'll test their predictions using motion sensors.
03) Relative Motion
In this lab lab, students will use motion sensors to apply the concepts of relative motion and frames of reference to understanding velocity as a vector quantity in one-dimensional motion.
04) Acceleration
In this lab, students will use motion sensors to represent motion as a change of position in graphical form.
05) Introduction to Force
In this lab, students will use force sensors to observe and measure contact and non-contact forces as they relate to gravity.
06) Archimedes' Principle
In this lab, students will use force sensors to explore the relationship between the volume of fluid displaced by a submerged object and the buoyant force experienced by that submerged object.
07) Hooke's Law
In this lab, students will use force sensors to observe the relationship between the extension of a spring and the resulting force required to extend the spring.
08) Newton's First Law
In this lab, students will use motion sensors to determine how force influences the motion of an object. Students will observe that an object’s motion is unchanged in the absence of an external force.
09) Newton's Second Law
In this lab, students will use force and motion sensors to study the relationship between the net force applied to an object, the acceleration of the object, and the object's mass.
10) Newton's Third Law
In this lab, students will use pairs of force sensors to observe the relationship between an action force and the resulting reaction force.
11) Static and Kinetic Friction
In this lab, students will use force sensors to investigate static friction and kinetic (sliding) friction.
12) Conservation of Energy
In this lab, students will use motion sensors to detect how energy is transformed in a dynamics system. Students will observe that the total energy of a system is conserved.
13) Conservation of Momentum
In this lab, students will use pairs of motion sensors to explore the concept of momentum and its conservation during common types of collisions.
14) Impulse Momentum
In this lab, students will use motion and force sensors to explore changes in momentum during a collision. Students will determine how that change is related to the impulse associated with the collision.
15) Work and Energy
In this lab, students will use motion and force sensors to develop an understanding of the work-energy theorem that relates the work done on an object by a net force to the change in the object’s kinetic energy.
16) Simple Harmonic Motion
In this lab, students will use force and motion sensors to determine the spring constant. Students will measure the spring extension created by three different masses suspended from the spring.
17) Pendulum
In this lab, students will use motion sensors to determine how the mass and length of a simple pendulum affect its period of oscillation.
18) Circular Motion
In this lab, students will use force sensors to develop a kinesthetic understanding of circular motion. Students will measure the period of rotation of a mass in uniform circular motion.
19) Centripetal Force
In this lab, students will use force sensors to study the centripetal force experienced by an object in uniform circular motion.
20) Projectile Motion
In this lab, students will use pairs of photogates to demonstrate how independent, horizontal and vertical motions describe the motion of a projectile.
21) Temperature versus Heat
In this lab, students will use temperature sensors to explore the relationship between heat transfer and temperature changes in various substances.
22) Phase Change
In this lab, students will use stainless steel temperature sensors to observe physical changes in a system undergoing a phase change.
23) Specific Heat of a Metal
In this lab, students will use stainless steel temperature sensors to compare the heat transferred by different metals to water.
24) Heat of Fusion
In this lab, students will use temperature sensors to identify heat as a form of energy. Students will observe heat transfer during a phase change from solid to liquid.
25) Heat of Vaporization
In this lab, students will use temperature sensors to develop a better understanding of the phase change from gas to liquid.
26) Boyle's Law
In this lab, students will use absolute pressure sensors to observe the relationship between volume and pressure of an enclosed gas at constant temperature.
27) Absolute Zero
In this lab, students will use absolute pressure and temperature sensors to experimentally determine a numerical value for absolute zero in degrees Celsius.
28) Charge and Electric Field
In this lab, students will use charge sensors to charge different objects by contact and to explore the electric field produced by various charged objects.
29) Voltage: Fruit Battery/Generator
In this lab, students will use voltage sensors to explore both the chemical and physical production of a potential difference.
30) Ohm's Law
In this lab, students will use voltage and current sensors to investigate the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance in a circuit.
31) Series and Parallel Circuits
In this lab, students use voltage and current sensors to explore the properties of both series and parallel circuits.
32) RC Circuit
In this lab, students will use voltage and current sensors to explore the behavior of a simple circuit with a resistor and capacitor in series.
33) Magnetic Field: Permanent Magnet
In this lab, students will use magnetic field sensors to investigate the magnetic field strength of a permanent magnet as a function of distance from the magnet.
34) Magnetic Field: Coil
In this lab, students will use current and magnetic field sensors to understand some of the factors affecting the electromagnetic field strength within a solenoid.
35) Faraday's Law of Induction
In this lab, students will use voltage sensors to observe the electromotive force generated by passing a magnet through a coil.
36) Inverse Square Law
In this lab, students will use light sensors to explore how light intensity varies inversely as the square of the distance from a point source of light.
37) Polarization
In this lab, students will use light sensors to study the effects of polarization on light intensity and to explore Malus’ Law.
38) Sound Intensity
In this lab, students will use sound level sensors to investigate the sound intensity from devices such as tuning forks, musical instruments, and the human voice.
39) Radiation
In this lab, students will use a Geiger-Müller tube to measure radiation intensity, while studying how radioactive particles react with various materials.
