Dear future AP Physics 1 students and their parents/guardians,
On the second day of class, there will be a Physics Exam over One-Dimensional Motion. This will count as a test grade. There are summer assignments that will prepare you for this exam. These assignments will not be collected, but they reflect what will be covered on the exam. The first day of class will consist of me answering students’ individual questions as they prepare for the next day’s exam.
There are two required assignments that will be collected on the first day of class: 1) Academic Records and 2) Math-Pretest.
The motivation for the summer assignment and early exam is two-fold. It allows for more time during the school year for labs and activities. It also gives you all a data point early on whether AP Physics 1 is a good fit, compared to Regular Physics. AP Physics 1 is a college-level course, comparable to PHYS 220 and PHYS 221 at Purdue (for science majors), whereas, Regular Physics is a college-prep course. Every year only about 75% of the students that start AP Physics 1 finish the course, which is NOT an intentional strategy on my part. The dilemma now is that students are not allowed to switch into Regular Physics from AP Physics 1 AFTER 3 WEEKS have begun. This means that students who decided that AP Physics 1 isn’t for them are stuck until the end of the semester, unless they drop the course for a study hall if they don’t have one already. This initial exam will give you a feel for what my tests are like and give you immediate feedback on how you are doing. There will be a second exam in AP Physics 1 during the third week, which will be your second data point for how you are doing on tests, hopefully giving you more guidance on which physics course to commit to.
The objectives that you will be responsible for learning are the following:
1) Know the variables, units, and definitions for position, displacement, velocity, and acceleration.
2) Understand what the sign of displacement, velocity, and acceleration communicates.
3) Understand the difference between distance vs displacement, speed vs velocity, and velocity vs acceleration.
4) How to read a position vs time graph, a velocity vs time graph and an acceleration vs time graph.
5) How to make a position vs time graph, a velocity vs time graph and an acceleration vs time graph from various descriptions of motion.
6) How to make a velocity vs time graph from a position vs time graph, and how to make an acceleration vs time graph from a velocity vs time graph or a position vs time graph.
7) How to make a velocity vs time graph from an acceleration vs time graph, and how to make a position vs time graph from a velocity vs time graph or an acceleration vs time graph.
8) How to use the basic equations of displacement, average velocity, average acceleration, and kinematic equations to solve story 1-D motion problems. (Equations do NOT need to be memorized.)
Assignments that will be collected on the first day of school.
1.) Academic Records
2.) Math Pre-Test
Worksheets & Answers (These will not be collect, but the content they cover will be on the first exam.)
1.) Unit Conversions
4.) Pos vs time & Vel vs time Graphs
5.) Acceleration
Conceptual Multiple Choice Questions: these questions are intended give you a chance to apply what you learned from the reading in a sequential order. You must strive to understand WHY the answer is correct, and do not be satisfied in the fact that you guessed the correct answer. Do NOT look at the answer until you have committed to a choice and can explain why you made that choice, and only then look at the answer. If you got it wrong, then this an opportunity for learning and changing your understanding of displacement, velocity, and acceleration. These concepts are NOT intuitive for most people, especially when working through acceleration. It is a process that you must struggle through.
Lab (This can be done in your yard or a parking lot with any kind of markers (cones, sticks, parking-lot lines) that are spaced evenly apart at a distance of at least 20 feet between each markers. You will probably need to recruit at least one other person to help you. This lab will not be collected.)
Reading and Resources
1.) OpenStax.org: College Physics for AP Courses: Chapter 1 section 2, Chapter 2 sections 1 - 6 & 8
2.) PhysicsClassroom.com: Tutorials: 1-D Kinematics: Lessons 1 – 4 & 6
3.) Khan Academy: AP Physics 1: One-Dimensional Motion (everything except for Freefall)