Science · Grade 11

Physics of the Universe SEL activities

36 ready to use activities that teach Physics of the Universe content and build one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill, about 20 minutes each.

Matched to textbook chapters: Physics Techbook, Inspire Physics, California HMH Science Dimensions: Physics in the Universe.

Forces and Motion

• The Physicist in Me Self-awareness · Week 1Students list the motion questions they wonder about, from skateboards to dust devils, and name the scientist identity they bring.
• Force and Motion Self-management · Week 2Analyzing motion data to show that net force causes acceleration and identifying the forces that move students toward their goals.
• Momentum and Collisions Social awareness · Week 3Calculating momentum in collisions and reflecting on how our words and actions transfer impact to others.
• Designing for Safety Relationship skills · Week 4Teams design a device that reduces collision force on an egg and share ideas so every voice shapes the design.
• Seatbelts and Choices Responsible decision-making · Week 5Arguing from crash data about safety features and examining how peer pressure affects risky choices.
• Balanced and Unbalanced Self-management · Week 6Modeling balanced and unbalanced forces and noticing when the forces in life feel balanced or out of control.

Forces at a Distance

• Gravity Holds Us Social awareness · Week 7Using the law of gravitation to predict attraction and noticing the invisible pulls between people in a community.
• Electric Charges Self-awareness · Week 8Modeling attraction and repulsion between charges and reflecting on what attracts and repels us in hard situations.
• Magnets and Motors Self-management · Week 9Investigating how electric current creates magnetic fields and channeling curiosity into persistence when a motor will not spin.
• Fields We Cannot See Social awareness · Week 10Modeling the fields between interacting objects and recognizing the unseen pressures classmates may be carrying.
• Materials by Design Responsible decision-making · Week 11Evaluating claims about engineered materials and practicing honest reporting of a source's limits.
• Generating Electricity Relationship skills · Week 12Explaining how generators induce current and how communities negotiate where new power lines should go.

Energy Conversion and Renewable Energy

• Energy Is Conserved Self-awareness · Week 13Calculating energy changes in a system and tracking where students' emotional energy goes during a school day.
• Wind in the Pass Relationship skills · Week 14Teams design paper turbine blades, compare test data against criteria, and share roles to turn ideas into a stronger design.
• Solar in the Desert Responsible decision-making · Week 15Evaluating cost and benefit evidence for desert solar farms and weighing habitat loss against clean energy.
• Heat Engines and Efficiency Self-management · Week 16Investigating heat flow and efficiency and finding where students lose energy to stress and how to recover it.
• Geothermal Power Social awareness · Week 17Modeling thermal energy at the particle scale in geothermal brine and considering how Imperial Valley communities experience new energy projects.
• Semester Reflection: My Energy Story Self-awareness · Week 18Students write an energy conservation story of their semester, showing where their effort went and what it built.

Nuclear Processes and Earth's History

• Atoms That Change Self-awareness · Week 19Modeling radioactive decay and reflecting on which parts of ourselves change and which stay stable.
• Dating the Earth Responsible decision-making · Week 20Analyzing half life data to date rocks and meteorites while checking our reasoning for bias.
• Moving Plates Social awareness · Week 21Arguing from rock age data for plate motion and recognizing how slow, steady change shapes people too.
• The San Andreas Fault Self-management · Week 22Modeling how plate motion builds and releases stress along the fault and practicing safe ways to release built up stress.
• Earthquake Ready Relationship skills · Week 23Explaining how earthquake risk shapes where and how we live and building a family and class communication plan.
• Signals from Deep Inside Relationship skills · Week 24Modeling energy flow in Earth's interior from seismic wave evidence and reading the hidden signals in classmates' moods.

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

• Waves Carry Energy Self-awareness · Week 25Calculating relationships among frequency, wavelength, and speed and noticing the ups and downs in students' emotional waves.
• Digital Signals Responsible decision-making · Week 26Arguing the advantages of digital information and discussing honesty when sharing images and messages online.
• Light: Wave or Particle Social awareness · Week 27Evaluating evidence that light behaves as both wave and particle and holding two perspectives at once with respect.
• Sunburn and UV Self-management · Week 28Evaluating claims about how ultraviolet radiation affects living tissue and committing to a personal sun safety plan.
• Technology That Uses Waves Relationship skills · Week 29Explaining how phones and medical imaging use waves and practicing clear, respectful communication in group chats.
• Screens and Sleep Responsible decision-making · Week 30Analyzing data on screen light and sleep and deciding on one evidence based screen habit.

Stars and the Origin of the Universe

• The Sun's Engine Self-awareness · Week 31Modeling fusion in the Sun's core and naming what fuels students' own inner light.
• Evidence for the Big Bang Responsible decision-making · Week 32Constructing an explanation from redshift and background radiation evidence and staying humble about the limits of what we know.
• Stars Make Elements Social awareness · Week 33Communicating how stars produce elements and recognizing how everyone is connected by the same star stuff.
• Orbits and Night Skies Relationship skills · Week 34Using the mathematics of orbits to predict motion and protecting the dark desert sky through a team awareness campaign.
• Reflecting on the Universe Self-awareness · Week 35Students revisit their week one questions and explain how their sense of place in the universe has grown.
• Gratitude Across the Cosmos Relationship skills · Week 36Students write thank you notes naming the gravity a classmate or adult provided that kept them on course.

RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.