552 Physics (Level CP1)

Teacher: Ms. Krista Siren

Ms. Siren's Email: ksiren at IGNORETHIS gdrsd dot org

Office Hours: TBD

Room: 107

Text: Hewitt, Paul G., Conceptual Physics, Prentice Hall, Needham, Massachusetts, 2002. (Price: approximately $50)

Program of Studies Description

Grades 11-12 Level CP1 Semester 1 Credit

Physics is the study of the interaction of matter and energy. It can describe and predict the behavior or everything from galaxies to electrons. Students will explore physics concepts through demonstrations and hands-on laboratory activities and will use algebra, geometry, and data analysis software to analyze their results. Some of the topics include: forces and motion; energy and heat; electricity and light. Students will analyze physical situations and problems through conceptual descriptions and mathematics. As concepts are introduced, students will learn about their development in a historical context. Prerequisite: Biology 1 & 2; 422 or 423 Algebra I; 432,433, or 434 Geometry

Schedule (Follow the links for each unit to find the specific learning goals for those units, further description of those topics, assignments and their due dates, electronic copies of class hand outs, and links to additional resources for understanding those topics.)

Particle Mechanics:
Wave Mechanics:
- Unit 7: Waves - Mechanical
- Unit 8: Waves - Light
Electricity and Magnetism:

Course Goals

Describe and predict motion, or lack there-of, of objects or systems of objects, using mathematical tools and broad concepts including the exchange and transformation of energy, as well as related ideas such as momentum exchange, and interaction of objects through forces.
Apply those tools and concepts to examples from everyday life as well as more extreme situations from scales as small as atoms to as large as galaxies.
Demonstrate how scientific knowledge is acquired by designing and carrying out experiments.
Demonstrate laboratory skills: making measurements, using various lab equipment, keeping a science lab book, setting up and cleaning up experiments
Demonstrate valuable problem-solving skills through the process of designing experiments and analyzing data

What To Bring To Class Daily

Covered textbook
Pens/pencils and scientific calculator
3-ring binder with section dividers
Completed Homework, Assignments, Projects, and Lab Reports
Lined paper and graph paper for notes, labs and quizzes.

3-Ring Binder Format

Each student is expected to have a 3-ring binder exclusively for science. This binder should be organized into the following sections:

List of Assignments
Notes and handouts
Completed Practice work
Quizzes and Tests
Labs
Project Work
Miscellaneous

By having all your papers and by keeping them organized throughout the year, you will be much more effective in preparing for quizzes and exams. To encourage the habit of organization, your notebook may be checked by me at any time. Some pop quizzes will also be designated as open notebook.

Grading Policy for Each Quarter:

Labs

Graded Practice Questions

Tests

25 to 50 points each

1 to 10 points each

100 points each

Both announced and pop quizzes will be given frequently throughout the year to help me evaluate your understanding of new material, lab preparation, reading comprehension, and homework completion.

You will have tests at the end of each unit.

You will usually have at least one lab per unit. Some of these labs will be formal labs (50 points), requiring a formal lab report. Others will be mini-labs (25 points), requiring a less extensive write-up.

While class time will be given for many assignments, expect to spend approximately one and a quarter to two hours per week (15 - 30 minutes per night for 5 nights a week) on physics outside of classroom time for reading questions, conceptual questions, word problems, lab write-ups, and test preparation. Class time will be provided for some of these same assignments. Please make use of the resources that are your teacher and fellow students when working on assignments in class. Under most circumstances questions will be taken on assignments prior to their collection. Following a question and answer period, an open-assignment quiz may be given in lieu of the full assignment being collected. Late work may be accepted at my discretion, but will be assigned a 10% per late class-day penalty.Problem Sets are assigned in two parts,

Graded practice questions, where your thoroughness and correct completion will be assessed and commented on, and ungraded practice questions which you may still ask questions about and we can go over solutions for, but will not automatically be marked up and analyzed. It is recommended that you do all of the ungraded practice questions as well. Test questions may be similar to the ungraded practice questions as well as the graded practice questions.

How to succeed when part of the class is challenging:

If understanding a concept is challenging, if completing assignments in less than 2 hours a week is a struggle, addressing those challenges earlier rather than later is key. If you can't have concepts clarified or questions answered satisfactorily during class, then I am always available during break and during the office hours listed above. In addition, the pages for each unit list practice resources including problems from our and other text books and elsewhere. Getting together with other students outside of class to work through the homework together or to practice in advance of tests is helpful. You may consider organizing an online study group. The National Honor Society also offers tutoring after school on some weekdays and includes students who have already taken this class.

Collaborative Learning vs. Academic Dishonesty

Please learn the difference between collaborative learning and academic dishonesty! Collaborative learning is positive and involves constructive discussion of homework problems and labs with your classmates. However, what you write down for homework or in you lab notebook must be in your own words in order to reflect your effort and understanding of the material. Students who hand in identical work, or work that is too similar, will experience serious disciplinary consequences! Note that all quizzes and exams are considered strictly independent work. While lab partners may share data and discuss how to address the analysis questions, their final words should be their own.

Smart phones, tablets, and computers:

You should not be messaging or playing games during class. There are certainly other inappropriate uses for the smart phone to avoid as well. There are, however many appropriate uses for smart phones in this class. These include but may not be limited to: calculator apps, timer and clock functions, video recording lab activities or class demonstrations (if you do record a class demo, please forward me a copy, which I may share with other students), taking pictures of notes or other information on the whiteboard, researching class related information online at appropriate times. No video, audio, or still images should be taken of people without the subject’s knowledge and permission. Phones used inappropriately may be collected and held until the end of class.

Remote learning necessarily requires the use of internet capable devices. It is expected that students will direct a similar degree of focus towards the course during classroom time as one would in the physical classroom.

Zoom protocols:

I will get to know you better if I can see your face, and your full name as you want to be addressed in class. Including your pronouns in your Zoom name is also helpful but optional. I will more easily be able to judge your engagement when you are on cam. I encourage you to be on cam through the class. Please provide a picture of your face for your Zoom profile, so that when you are off cam, I can still more easily associate your name and face. You may use backgrounds, but to assure that they won’t be distracting, you may only use the ones provide directly by Zoom.

Google Classroom:

Students are responsible for checking the Google Classroom pages for this class a minimum of once per weekday. I will preferentially make class announcements through that page, provide links to assignments, and videos of class lectures and provide access to other online resources and copies of files of class handouts through that page rather than through e-mail. I will still respond to and send some e-mail. But most business intended for the class as a whole will come through Google Classroom.

Physics in the News:

Students may earn extra credit by completing physics in the news assignments. These may only be done on Fridays when no test is scheduled. Each student may submit physics in the news no more than twice per term, no more than once per Friday. Students are to find a news article either online or offline which was originally published within a year of that Friday, which is focused on some aspect of physics, and which is at least three paragraphs long. Students are to write a hardcopy summary of the article which is a paragraph long to be turned in that Friday. Students will also share that summary out loud with the class, and we may have some discussion and additional explanation of the article.

Physics in the time of Covid-19:

Even though we have some experience with remote learning from the spring, and there has been preparation through the summer, the actual experience of running and taking classes with remote and in person components is still very new. Even in normal circumstances, I try to learn new ways to better communicate an understanding of physics as I get to know my students and as I learn new things to try from elsewhere. That is even more likely this fall. The structure of this class may change and evolve as we find that some things aren’t working and learn about other things that may work better. We will try to cover as much of the same material as we would under normal circumstances, but I won’t force things to fit to a particular schedule if I think we need to spend more time on a subject to better understand it. Learning physics is a cooperative experience and together we’ll work so that you have a better understanding of its core ideas and how to apply them.