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Intro to Physics I (Conceptual Physics) Physics I focuses primarily on investigating conceptual physics through inquiry-based lab experiments. One primary goal of the class is for students to develop critical problem solving skills and to develop connections between physics in the classroom and physics in their everyday lives. This year, we will be piloting the Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum. November 2011:
Happily, our class set of iPads have just arrived and we are taking time in class to learn how to use them, as well as to get acquainted with several different programs/applications including: Google Docs, Dropbox and the Apple programs Pages and Keynote, which are similar to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. We are currently working on a special College and Career Prep Unit in which we've been learning about FAFSA and different types of financial aid, as well as researching a college of our choice that we will then represent during a mock college fair (November 14 & 15). Important websites for this project include: FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Naviance CollegeinColorado.org CollegeBoard.org September-October 2011: We are currently studying motion, looking at how to represent motion using graphs, and how motion is affected by different forms of energy, as well as by collisions that transfer energy. In this unit, we have already studied the following: * How to graphically represent an object's motion using graphs: position(x) vs. time(t) and velocity(v) vs. time(t) graphs * How to calculate the speed of an object based on the slope of a line on a position vs. time graph * How to use motion detectors to monitor an object's motion * How kinematics is used in everyday professions including cartooning, animation and gaming (inverse kinematics), and in robotics. |