Electricity

• Electrified Ben Sound of thunder. A Franklin Insitute for Science Site.
• Electric Force. How negative and postive charges cause each other to move. Students can create an electron (negative) which moves to the proton (positive). Reading explanation is easy to read and clear. Colorado Physics site. Grade 4+
• Lightning Strike. When the menu comes up choose Lets Explore Energy. Choose Lightning Strike from the side menu. Simulation of the negative and postive electrons. Simple written explanation of how it works. Also a fountain of other information about electricity. Reading level high grade 4+. An Electric Avenue site by First Energy Corp in Ohio.
• Lightning. Excellent diagram of exactly how lightening is formed. Very clear explaination of conductivity. Reading level Grade 4+
• Lightning. Incredible demo of how lightning is formed as shown in a darken sky. Shows the negative and positive electrons in the clouds. Description is complex reading, but the demo alone is fascinating. Grade 4 demo. Grade 6+ reading.
• Tell Me more about Electricity. Electricity Basics. Good reading review of atoms and electrons. Includes how electricity is generated and transmitted. Includes a hidden danger game. A PG&E site. Grade 4+
• Blobz Guide to Electrical Circuits Five interactive sections take users through What Makes Circuits Work, Conductors and Insulators, All About Switches, Changing Circuits, and Circuit Diagrams. Lots of reading with excellent diagrams. Activities after reading and a quiz for each section. Reading level Grade 4+. A BBC site.
• Frankenstein's Lightning Laboratory. Electrical safety. Click on the characters to find out what they are doing wrong. The Atoms Family, Miami Science site. Reading level Grade 4+
• Interactive Electricity book. Include lighting a bulb, what is electricity, electricity in action, the cell and battery, symbols, and series and parallel. Very intereactive, but not very colorful. Includes demostration of the electrons moving through the wires and a light bulb. From the United Kingdom.
• Electricity A beginning electricity site. Changing circuits. A virtual experiment using an on off switch, batteries, various wires, and light bulbs. Revision bite includes circuits, symbols, switches, and changing circuits fact sheet. A Bitesize revision BBC schools site. Quiz included. Grade 4+.
• Electricity and Magnetism. Good demonstration of how things work. Lots of reading, but good visuals. Students will need an introduction to the terminology such as electrons, protons,neutrons, and nucleus. From the Internet Plasma Physics Association. Reading level Grade high 4+
• Batteries. How they work. Watered Down Electricity. Uses water to demonstrate how batteries work. Very clear explanation. Includes the terminology of electrons. All Audio. No reading required. Grade 3+ A Southern Company site.
• Circuits and Ammeters. Interactive circuit diagrams. Not colorful. Click on them to explore electrical circuits, Series and parallel circuits, what happens inside the wires, using an ammeter, current in a series circuit, and current in a parallel circuit. A complex site. A BBC site. High grade 4+.
• Virtual Current. AC and DC. Whats the difference. Interactive. A PBS Site.

Force, Friction, Motion

• Friction Explorer. Simple virtual experiment. Slide a book across a virtual table without making the book fall off the table. Friction and mass can be manipulated. Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development SEED site. Grade 3+
• Friction. Change the surfaces from ice to vinyl to carpet to see how far the car goes. Be sure to move the surfaces as the written instructions tell you. Drag the surfaces to the track. Includes a quiz. A BBC site. Reading level Grade 3+
• Galileo Drops the Ball. Simple virtual experiment on air resistence and friction between objects. Needs some explanation. Schlumberger SEED site. Grade 3+
• Build a Parachute. Simulation to see the affects of gravity and air resistance on a parachute. Bring the man down safely. The wind is a variable. A United Kingdom site.
• Forces and Movement. Simulation of force and movement by pushing and gravity. Change the mass and the gradient. Very interactive. Focus is on friction and gravity. Includes a fact sheet and test. A BBC site. Good beginning virtual experiment. Reading level Grade 3+
• Forces in Action. A BBC site virtual experiment site. Very interactive. Students can change the weight and slope to send their truck down the road to see the effects. Includes an online chart to record distance traveled. Includes a quiz. Reading level Grade 4+.
• Force by Stretching. Virtual experiment to find the effects of force (in this case pull) & gravity on Earth, Jupiter, the Moon and even 0 gravity. Can adjust the friction level and the stiffness of the spring on spring #3. Has a moveable ruler to measure affect of different weights. Can show the energy use on each spring. Has a show help option. Use next website Kids Eyeview of the Solar System to reinforce the idea of the affect of gravity. Grade 4+ Physics dept Colorado.
• Kids Eye View of the Solar System. Write your weight and it will tell you how much you would weigh on a planet. This will tell you which planets have the most and least gravity. A NASA site.
• Projectile Motion. Very Simple virtual experiment. Adjust the angle and the speed with the red arrows to fire to hit the target. From the physics site of the Kid Zone of the science spot. No reading. grade 2+
• Projectile Motion 2. Very interactive. Colorful. Has sound. A complex form of the first projectile motion listed on this web page. Students can change the choice of object shot. Angle can be changed by moving the cannon. Speed & air resistance can be adjusted. Even the target can be moved. Little reading, but lots of chances to experiment virtually. A Colorado Edu Physics site. Grade 3+
• Projectile Motion 3 Simulation. Adjust the velocity, angles, and mass. Limited reading, but helpful to be able to read the chart to figure out how to get the greatest height or distance. Will show a trail in 3 different colors. From Galileo physics. Grade 4 +
• Physics of Baseball. Projectile motion. Scientific Slugger. Interactive. Follow the parabolic path of the baseball. Change the ball from knuckleball, curve, or fast ball. Change results from bunt to home run. Change the angle.Very colorful. Exploratorium Site. Little Reading. Grade 3+
• Physics of Basketball. Spin on the ball, Receiving a Pass, Bouncing the ball, Starting and Stopping, Hang Time, Foul Shots, and Layups. One page all reading. Not interactive. Reading level Grade 4+
• Roller Coaster Physics. A virtual demonstration of a roller coaster. Includes potential energy, gravity, free fall, projectile motion, kinetic energy, and more. Allows students to see a visual model of the physics of roller coasters. Can click on the headings to get detailed information but the reading level for that is high, grade 8+. Demo is grade 4+. Encyclopedia Britannica site.
• Build a Roller Coaster. Very simple lesson in gravity, balance, and motion. A Foss website. Not difficult and fun. Grade 2+
• Make tracks. Virtual roller coaster built by you. Shows a bar going around the tracks. If not designed correctly the bar will get stuck and not complete the run. Students must keep in mind in their design that gravity makes this roller coaster run. The start has a loop at the beginning that is not put in by the user. An Australian site. Grade 3+
• Design a Roller Coaster. Amusement Park Physics. Students build a virtual roller coaster. They design the height, shape, and slope of the hill. It rates the safety and fun factor for the conclusion. An Annenberg project. Grade 4+
• Build Your Own Coaster. Build a drag and drop roller coaster. Can be a complicated design, but doesn't show how the science of physics really affects the coaster. Just for fun. Has a Fear-o-Meter. A Travel Channel Site. Grade 4+
• Roller Coaster Designer. A one player game for designing a roller coaster. Each level gets harder. Can't go to the next level untill you complete the ride and get the required points for each level. Drag the lines to change the coaster. High difficulty level. A Brainteaser Australian site. Little Reading.
• Funderstanding Roller Coaster. A virtual experiment interactive tool that simulates the application of physics for the design of a roller coaster. Tool for setting the size of the hills, the loop, the speed, the mass, gravity, and friction. Plus a menu to explain terms. Those who really loved Design a Roller Coaster will love this. Not much reading,, unless you do the terms, but lots of thinking and planning. Grade 4+

Magnets and Magnetism

• Auroras! Lights in the Sky. Beautiful and colorful online flash book explaining the Aurora Boralis. Has some moments of slow loading within the story so be patient. Reading level grade 3+.
• Compass and Map. Virtual compass which can actually be manipulated by students. Online directions for using and reading a compass and map. Includes an online compass reading test. Takes some practice but an informative and educational site. If students miss one and try to print a certificate a note comes up saying you are cheating. But once warned students don't fret about it. A Barcelona Field Studies Centre site located in Spain.
• Earths Magnetic Field. Clear Simple Graphics. Easy Reading. Simplistic description. one page. Not intereactive. A NASA site. Grade 4+
• Earth as a Magnet. Planet Earth as a great magnet. Not interactive. One page explanation. From the spaceweathercenter. Reading level grade 5+
• Magnets and Springs. Virtual experiment with simulated different sized magnets to pull a variety of objects. A BBC site. Grades 3+
• Magnetic Field Lines. Simulation of north and south of a bar magnet and iron filings. Students can turn the magnet off and on. A Molecular Expressions site. Grade 4+
• Attraction and Repulsion. Students can virtually switch the north and south. A Molecular Expressions site. Grade 4+
• Magnets in Motion. A fascinating site showing the magnetic fields of a various magnets in color. Some can be slow loading. Grade 4+ A Cool Magnet Man site.
• Force Magnetism. Very interactive. Includes a fact sheet and a test. A BBC Revise Wise site. Grade 3+
• Kitchen Magnets and Electromagnets. Find all the things that have a magnet in them. Shows the location of the magnets in various machines, such as a blender. A Foss site.
• Electromagnets. An introduction to how electromagnets work. From How stuff works.
• Nordlys. An excellent online comic book explaining how Aurora Borealis are formed. Click on the bottom section to get the English version. Very colorful. Good explanation of the magnetic fields around the earth. Also explains solar winds and particles, A site from Norway.
• Professor SYZ's Lab. Click on the magnet on the refrigerator to go to the magnet game. Before you play the game click on the CLUES to learn how magnets work. Includes a quiz also. Many games with a scientific basis. Use the CLUES to learn what you need to learn to play the games successfully.

©2007: Sharon Chambers, MLIS
Last Modified April 2007

VirtualScience3Grades3-5Electricity, Force, Motion, Magnets