By Ian Bowen
As Nyack students get ready to select their 2026-2027 courses, it can be important to get an understanding of what a day in the class actually looks like beyond the several sentence write-ups in the course of studies or the rumors of your classmates. With this in mind, I visited Dr. Corbett’s room on a Thursday afternoon in November to try and get an idea of what AP Physics 1 is really about.
AP Physics 1 is an Advanced Placement course meant to be the equivalent of a first semester introductory college class in algebra-based physics. At Nyack, the class is populated by a wide mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, so it can often be unclear when is the best time to take the course. Dr Corbett finds that students entering Physics 1 during their junior year are often able to have high success, often because of their experiences in Algebra II. Though not a strict prerequisite, she believes that the rigorous math experiences in Algebra II get students ready for what is expected of them in physics. Students should also keep in mind that Nyack offers another AP Physics course: AP Physics 2, which Dr Corbett recommends taking directly after AP Physics 1. Personally, I took AP Physics 1 in my sophomore year, followed by AP Physics 2 in my junior year. I definitely felt that I had the necessary math skills for the course, but my choices also left me without an obvious science class for my senior year. Students who have taken Chemistry in their freshman year but are interested in physics may be better suited taking AP Chem in their sophomore year, before moving on to AP Physics.
Written on the Promethean board in the front of the room when I walked into the classroom was a simple heading: “Flying Pig.” The students were working on a lab about centripetal motion by hanging a mini animatronic pig with wings from the ceiling and having it fly in a circle. The students measured the radius of the pig’s circular path, time per revolution, and angle, with respect to the vertical and other metrics before calculating the pig’s theoretical speed and the tension in the string. This all connected to the work the students had been doing on centripetal forces and tension over the past few weeks, culminating in an opportunity to actually see their theories in motion with the flying pig. Much of the learning in AP Physics 1 follows a similar pattern, with students gaining an understanding of the concepts behind it before putting them into practice with hand-on labs. The students appreciate how these practical activities are able to increase their understanding, with Junior James Jacobson putting it simply: “The pig definitely helps.”
In the classroom, there was a constant vibe of collaboration as classmates chatted (about Physics and other topics) and worked together on problems. Students were constantly explaining difficult concepts to their friends or asking each other to check their answers. If anyone was really stumped, Dr Corbett was always walking around helping clarify things or answering any questions her students had. The students value this laidback community, with Junior Keiryn Ucker saying, “It allows us to make meaningful mistakes and learn from them.” Senior Lena Frappier explained that while conversations can get a little bit off topic, they “definitely help to alleviate the stress around a rigorous science course like Physics” and don't “negatively impact [her] productivity at all.”
When it comes to the workload, Dr Corbett says “If you’re working diligently during class, the workload outside of class is manageable to minimal.” Dr Corbett aims for “one homework assignment and one lab writeup every week, hopefully working out to less than 2-3 hours of homework.” She also says the class “is not assessment heavy, with not many tests” and that she curves all tests (not quizzes though), and does not allow retakes. In my discussions with current students and in my experience as a former student, this is a difficult class, but mostly because of the difficult concepts and complicated nature of the problems, not the sheer amount of work.
In the past five years, the AP Physics program at Nyack has exploded in popularity and it’s easy to see why. For students interested in a lab-based mix of math and science, it is a great option. While AP Physics 1 might not be for everyone, nobody should be discouraged by the backbreaker reputation or the shockingly low national pass rate; Nyack teaches it in an accessible, engaging way.