Whilst watching the Winter Olympics it occurred to me that the sport of curling would be an excellent discussion starter for teaching the motion of particles, momentum & impulse.

• The motion of the curling stone on ice relates to F=ma.
• The moment the player pushes off the hack, whilst still pushing the stone relates to the motion of connected particles.
• The collision of stones relates to momentum and impulse.
• The action of the sweeper changes the friction.

On YouTube I discovered this physics video by NBC Learning. They have many videos explaining the Science of the Winter Olympics.

I  pulled my ideas together in this Prezi, which allows plenty of student discussion: the task is blank for your own resource as I used a textbook.