Introduction:
Can you balance a pencil on your finger? Can you build a battery or a motor? Can you turn a cup of water upside-down and not spill it?  In this class you will learn how to do these things and more!

Description:
In this Flex class, students will learn about a variety of physics topics and then perform easy-to-do experiments using materials found in their homes at their own pace.  Each week students will watch a slide show, which explains the chemistry concept and provides details on how to set up the experiments for that week. Because this is a Flex Class, there are NO LIVE CLASSES.  All the lessons are pre-recorded and posted in the Classroom.  Students will be provided a worksheet each week detailing the instructions for the experiments and provides data tables in which to record data. The worksheet will also explain what information students need to post in the Outschool Classroom by the end of the week in order to interact with other students and demonstrate participation in the class. 

Students Interaction:
Each week students will be asked to participate and interact with the other students. During the videos that students watch, there will be pauses in order to ask students questions.  Students will respond to these questions by posting their answers in the Classroom under the post for that week’s lesson.  Examples include: posting a hypothesis, a question about prior knowledge, an observation, and possible explanations for an observation.

For some lessons, students will be asked to post pictures or videos of their experiments to share with the class. These lessons often involve different designs, as is the case for the homopolar motor and the balloon car. It will be interesting to see the designs made and demonstrated by the students. In addition students will be asked to comment on a the pictures or videos posted by at least one other student.  

For some lessons, students will be asked to upload a copy of their results to share with the class so that the class data can be used to draw conclusions.  Students will be asked to explain what worked, what problems they encountered, and possible sources of error.  There will be occasional posts asking students to participate in a game, challenge or scavenger hunt to locate an in their homes that models the concept being taught. 

Students will receive weekly feedback from me about their pictures, videos, hypotheses, data comments and conclusions.  I will be available to help students who need additional support or help with their experiments. Students who feel they need additional assistance can request a live meeting with me and I will be happy to try to arrange it.

Topics and Experiments:

Week 1: Newton’s First Law of Motion
	Penny Stack
	Golf Ball Plunge
	Tablecloth Trick
	
Week 2: Newton’s Second Law of Motion
	Effect of Changing Force
	Effect of Changing Mass
	
Week 3: Newton’s Third Law of Motion
	Hero’s Engine
	Straw Spinner
	Marshmallow Catapult
	Balloon Car Challenge

Week 4: Centripetal Force
	Spinning Penny
	Gravity-defying Water Cup
	Ping-Pong Ball Spin
	
Week 5: Make a Homopolar Motor

Week 6: Build a Battery
	Lemon Battery
	Penny Battery

Week 7: Bernoulli Effect

Week 8: All About Pressure 	
	Egg in a Bottle
	Water and Candle
	
Week 9: Paperclip Pendulum
	
Week 10: Making Waves
	Seeing Waves
	Make a Musical Instrument

Week 11: Balancing Act - Center of Gravity 

Week 12: Make an Electroscope - Electrostatic Experiments