Physical Science Course Competencies

The main Physical Science Competencies:

Conducting Experiments and Reporting Results

Atoms, Elements, and Ions

Forces and Motion

Work, Efficiency, and Simple Machines

Energy, Power, and Momentum

Wave Phenomena

Structure of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Surface Features and Events

Nuclear Reactions

Specific Competencies are below.

Conducting Experiments and Reporting Results:

Developing Questions, Designing Experiments, Collecting Data, and Reporting Results like a Scientist

*This set of skills is revisited multiple times during the course.

Create testable questions. (For example, “Does the weight on a cardboard sled changing the sliding friction?)
Suggest possible variables that could affect some outcome (like what could change the amount of sliding friction)
Can identify the dependent and independent variables in an experiment.
Design experiments to test the effect of each independent variable.
Can identify control variables that must remain constant during a specific experiment (which variables to “control”), while deliberately changing the variable of interest (the independent variable).
Can collect data in an organized, deliberate fashion.
Can create effectively-labeled graphs (scatter-plots, bar graphs, etc.) that show the appropriately collected data to answer specific questions.
Optional: Can write an effective, formal, scientific paper (Title, authors, abstract, introduction, procedure, results, conclusions).
Can argue productively with each other using experimental procedures and collected data as the main weapons.

Atoms, Elements, and Ions - Specific Competencies

Can explain that our current understanding of atoms is a great example of how scientific ideas develop. Our model of the atom has changed over time as more observations have been made, causing the development of new models.
Can explain that the Law of Conservation of Mass and the Law of Definite Proportions were clues that led John Dalton to develop the first modern theory about atoms.
Can explain the 5 main points of Dalton’s atomic theory, and that it was an extremely useful set of ideas even if some of the details needed to be modified as we found out more later on.
Can describe the progression of atomic models: “indestructible ball”, plum-pudding model, Rutherford’s model(nuclear model), and Bohr’s model (planetary model). (Quantum model will be addressed in the Chemistry course.)
Through diagrams and written description, can describe the key experiments/observations that led to each new model being developed (cathode rays, Rutherford’s gold foil experiment, line spectra)
Demonstrates an understanding of the connection between number of protons, number of neutrons, number of electrons, and type of atom, which isotope, and ion charge.
Can draw specific isotopes of atoms with the correct number and placement of electrons, neutrons, and protons.
Can draw ions with the correct number and placement of electrons, neutrons, and protons.
Can draw and explain how a beam of electrons react when passing by charged plates. (cathode ray, forces on electric charges)
Draw and explain how Rutherford’s gold foil experiment shows that the nucleus exists, all the positive charge of the atom is concentrated in the very small nucleus, and that the atom is mostly empty space occupied by electrons.
Explain the connection between line spectra, stable electron energy levels, and how come the electrons in an atom don’t just crash right into the positive nucleus.
Can use a periodic table to find the atomic number of chemical elements.
Understands that all materials (cars, hamsters, plants, stars...) are made up of the approximately 100 types of atoms shown on the periodic table. Some materials only contain one type of atom. Others are made up of many types.
Can give examples of substances that are compounds, which are pure substances that are made of more than one type of atom bonded together in a certain proportion. (water, table salt)

Force and Motion – Specific Competencies

Motion....

Can describe the motion of an object (electron, tectonic plate, ball, truck, coyote pack) by describing its position, velocity, and acceleration.
Understands the use and convenience of defining a reference frame (1-dim and 2-dim) to help describe an object's motion.
Can physically demonstrate various types of motion (such as constant velocity; positive velocity with negative acceleration; positive velocity with positive acceleration.).
Can create and identify graphs of position vs. time for non-accelerated and accelerated 1-dim motion.
Can create and identify graphs of velocity vs. time for non-accelerated and accelerated 1-dim motion.
Can identify and use common units for position, velocity, and acceleration.
Can perform calculations to determine an object's change in position.
Can perform calculations to determine the velocity of an object.
Can perform calculations to determine the acceleration of an object.

Forces and how they affect motion...

Knows that a force is a push or a pull.
Appropriately records force data using appropriate common units (Newtons and pounds).
Can draw force diagrams that show one or more forces acting on an object.
Understands that a force is an example of a vector quantity; it has both a size (magnitude) and a direction, and can be represented with an arrow on a force diagram.
Can determine the TOTAL force acting on an object, keeping in mind that the direction of force vectors matter. (Limited to simple scenarios with no trigonometry needed.)
Understands that if the total force acting on an object is zero, then the object is said to be in equilibrium.
Can identify an object that is in equilibrium by analyzing its force diagram.
Can correctly identify that an object in equilibrium will have a constant velocity (or is not accelerating).
Understands that if the total force acting on an object is NOT zero, then the object is NOT in equilibrium.
Can identify an object that is NOT in equilibrium by analyzing its force diagram.
Can correctly identify that an object that is NOT in equilibrium will have a changing velocity (or is accelerating), which could mean that it is speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.
Understands that Newton's first law of motion describes the motion of an object that is in equilibrium.
Understands that Newton's second law of motion describes the motion of an object that is NOT in equilibrium, and can use the a=F/m relationship to solve quantitative problems.
Understands that mass can be thought of as not only the “amount of matter”, but also its “amount of stubbornness” about changing it's velocity.
Can identify kilograms as a unit of mass, and uses it appropriately when recording data or solutions.
Understands that Newton's third law describes that forces always happen in pairs, with two different objects feeling an equal, but oppositely directed, force. (A.K.A. The Punching a Wall Law)
Given information about an object's motion (constant velocity or not), can find the third force acting on the object when only two of the forces are given.

Some types of forces.

1.) Knows that there are different types of forces: a.) Forces that are really important for understanding the nucleus of an atom, b.) Gravitational force (often called “weight” in certain circumstances), and c.) Electromagnetic forces (forces involved with electrical charge and magnets, for example).
2.) Knows the difference between contact forces and “action-at-a-distance” forces, and that most contact forces are really a form of the electromagnetic force.
3.) Can describe the gravitational force between two objects as increasing when the mass of either object increases, and decreases as the distance between the objects increases.
4.) Understands that weight often really just means the gravitational force acting on an object. And can reliably distinguish between mass and weight.
5.) Knows that the weight of an object depends upon its mass and its location (for example, is it on the surface of the Earth or on the moon).
6.) Can use the Weight = mass * g relationship to solve quantitative problems.
Work, Efficiency, and Simple Machines – Specific Competencies
Understands that devices and systems can be designed and built that allow us to change one type of energy to another.
Understands that devices and systems can be designed and built that allow us to alter the amount of force needed to accomplish a task.
Realizes that these devices offer a trade-off. For example, decreasing the amount of force needed will increase the distance over which that force must be applied.
Can explain and give examples showing that such devices and systems can be VERY useful even if some of the energy isn’t transformed into the end use (that is, they are not 100% efficient).
Build a pulley system that multiplies their input forces by, say, 2 or 3 or 4, and can demonstrate that it does so.
Set up a device and measure and record the input force, input distance, output force, and output distance
Calculate the input work and output work for a device (maybe a pulley system, lever, or ramp).
Calculate the efficiency of a device. (And this is efficiency in terms of energy/work.)
Calculate the mechanical advantage (MA) and the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of a device when presented with an actual device or given information about the device.
Knows that when work is done on an object (or a system), the energy used to do the work is typically changed to a different kinds of energy, such as heat, sound, kinetic energy, or gravitational potential energy.
Understands that no device (pulley system, gasoline engine, nuclear power plant) is 100 % efficient. Some energy is always lost while converting to the intended energy output. For example, not all of the stored energy in gasoline can get converted to kinetic energy of the car.

Energy, Momentum, and Power – Specific Competencies

Understands that not EVERY physical quantity that people can define and calculate is always particularly useful, but some, such as energy, momentum, and power, ARE definitely useful.
Knows that kinetic energy is energy an object has due to its motion.
Can calculate the kinetic energy of an object using E_k = 0.5mv² , and reports the energy in Joules (when the mass is in kilograms and the velocity in m/s).
Can solve quantitative problems using the kinetic energy formula.
Knows that potential energy is energy that an object or system has due to position. Our main (but not exclusive) example will be gravitational potential energy.
Can calculate the gravitational potential energy of an object using E_p = mgh, and reports the energy in Joules (when the mass is in kilograms, g is in m/s², and the height is in meters).
Can solve quantitative problems using the gravitational potential energy formula.
Can find the mechanical energy of a system (which is the sum of the kinetic energy and the gravitational potential energy of the objects in the system), and understands that, for many systems (like a roller-coaster, this is very useful to track).
Understands that the TOTAL energy of a system (closed and isolated system, but this fine print will not be overly emphasized) is conserved, even when the system can seem to be changing drastically, and energy is transferring from one type to other types.
Can qualitatively describe (increasing, decreasing, larger, smaller, etc.) energy changes in a system. (Example: As a truck slams on it's breaks and skids to a stop on a flat road, the kinetic energy decreases, the thermal energy increases, and the gravitational potential energy remains the same).
Can quantitatively describe (perform calculations and give numeric answers) energy changes in a system. (Example: If a roller-coaster starts at rest at the top of a 20 meter hill, how fast will it be going at the bottom (assuming no friction) and at the top of the next 10 meter rise (assuming no friction). A challenge will be to do the same while including energy losses due to friction.)
Can calculate the momentum of an object using p=mv. (Units will typically be kg*m/s).
Understands that momentum is a vector quantity, and can use this correctly find the total momentum of a system that involves, say, 2 object moving in opposite directions.
Understands that the TOTAL momentum of a system does not change. (In a closed, isolated system. Will usually limit our examples to collision problems where friction is assumed to not be a significant factor.)
Can solve quantitative problems using conservation of momentum, p_before = p_after. Limited to 1-dimensional situations.
Can explain that power is the rate at which work is done (like when a person lifts a weight), or the rate at which energy is used (by a lightbulb, for example) or is produced (by a generator, for example), and that typical units are Joules/sec (or Watts) and Horsepower.
Can solve quantitative problems involving power using Power =Work/Time or Energy/Time.
Can explain the details of how to determine a person's power output by running up stairs or lifting a weight.
Understands that Joules and kilowatt*hours are both units of energy, and that kilowatt*hours are a useful unit to use when considering the electrical energy in a home or other building.
Can calculate how much energy an electrical device uses when operated for a certain amount of time. Can do so in both Joules and kilowatt*hours.
Can calculate the energy cost of operating an electrical device (the cost per kilowatt*hour charged by the electric company would be given).

Wave Phenomena – Specific Competencies

Knows that waves are physical disturbances that can travel and transfer energy and information.
Can identify a variety of types of waves. Water waves, sound waves, seismic waves, slinky waves, microwaves, visible light, x-rays, ultraviolet light, etc. are all examples of wave phenomena.
Knows that mechanical waves need a medium (material) in which to travel, and can identify several types of mechanical waves.
Knows that electromagnetic waves DON’T need a medium in which to travel, but often can travel through different materials. Can identify several types of electromagnetic waves.
Knows the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves, and can give examples of each.
Knows that waves (periodic waves) have velocities, frequencies, and wavelengths.
Can measure frequencies and wavelengths.
Can calculate frequencies given the number of events and the time needed for these events to take place.
Can perform calculations using the velocity = frequency * wavelength relationship.
Can successfully use and include the common units for velocity (m/s), frequency (1/sec, aka Hertz), and wavelength (m) when setting up and solving quantitative problems.
Can draw representations of longitudinal and transverse waves.
Can research and present multiple uses of certain types of electromagnetic waves, drawing from examples in healthcare, astronomy, military, commercial, and industrial applications.

Structure of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Surface Features and Events – Specific Competencies

Extending what we have learned about waves, student can explain that seismic p and s waves travel through liquids and solids differently, and act like “x-rays” that let us figure out the interior structure of the Earth.
Can observe a simulation of p- and s-waves moving through a planet and use this to figure out the interior structure of the planet.
Can correctly label the basic interior structure of Earth, including the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust.
Can explain that the theory of plate tectonics proposes that the Earth’s surface is made up of large plates that move and cause major geological features and events such as mountain ranges, earthquakes, and tsunamis, and cause a slow cycling of the Earth's surface materials.
Can identify several pieces of evidence that support the plate tectonic theory (i.e. fossil records, coastline matching, age of sea floor, etc.)
Can identify and give examples of the two main types of tectonic plates, oceanic and continental, and know how they differ in thickness and density.
Can identify and describe slab pull, ridge push, and convection currents as the mechanisms believed to cause the motion of the tectonic plates (to different degrees).
Explain the similarities and differences between the Convection Lab (water) and the convection of the mantle in the Earth.
Can explain that a convection current is the vertical cycling of a fluid that has had its density decreased due to a heat source (causing it to rise within the cooler, denser fluid), followed by cooling and sinking back down to repeat the cycle. This is not limited to liquids. For example, both air (weather) and the solid mantle of the earth do this.
Can draw/describe the motions of the plates associated with convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.
Predict and explain the origin of the surface features and geologic events that are likely to occur at different types of plate boundaries (convergent or divergent - oceanic/oceanic; convergent or divergent -oceanic/continental; transform).
Predict and explain the origin of the surface features and geologic events that are likely to occur at hot spots.

Nuclear Reactions – Specific Competencies

Can distinguish between chemical reactions (which involve the electrons of atoms) and nuclear reactions (which involved changes in the nuclei of atoms).
Understands that not all atomic nuclei are totally stable.
Understands that groups of the same type of unstable nuclei undergo a change (decay) with a predictable time-frame (half-life)
Can describe what alpha particles and beta particles are, including the common symbols used for them when writing nuclear reactions.
Can describe how alpha, beta, and gamma radiation penetrate materials differently.
Knows that alpha, beta, and gamma radiation are types of “ionizing radiation”, and how this is different from, for example, infrared or visible light.
Understands that nuclear fusion involves smaller nuclei joining together to form larger nuclei.
Understands that nuclear fission involves larger nuclei becoming even more unstable (often by being whacked by a neutron), then splitting into two smaller nuclei and, usually, several neutrons.
Explain the interplay of gravity and electrical forces in forming solar systems and the “birth” of a star.
Explain a basic version of how higher and higher atomic mass chemical elements are created within stars.
Give a basic explanation of why the creation of elements beyond iron usually needs a supernova explosion.
Can identify several reasonable safety concerns regarding nuclear power plants.
Can identify several advantages of generating electricity with nuclear power compared to other common methods such as coal power plants, hydroelectric, or wind turbines.
Write and identify fusion reactions, fission reactions, and alpha and beta decay reactions using standard symbols for the nuclei and particles involved.