Course Overview
Course Description
Like a three-legged stool, a thorough science education requires a solid foundation in three disciplines: physics, chemistry and biology. The knowledge of physics is essential to fully understanding the other two disciplines. This course is designed to be an introduction to physics and to lay a foundation for the upper-level sciences. Students will study laws of motion, matter and energy, electricity, magnetism, vibrations, waves and sound, and light and optics. It is required that the student have completed or currently be enrolled in Algebra I. This course is considered a high school lab science.
Textbook and Materials
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Course Learning Outcomes - Semester 1
- Demonstrate understanding of how physics transitioned from natural philosophy to modern physics through the scientific method (which had its birth in Christianized Western Europe)
- Describe the fundamental concepts of physics and solve simple problems using both written language and some basic mathematical formulas.
- Describe and solve simple problems involving free-fall and motion along a straight line.
- Solve simple problems involving the fundamental concepts of motion: distance and displacement, speed and velocity, and acceleration.
- Describe Newton’s Laws of Motion and understand the Newtonian concepts of inertia, force, and acceleration.
- Solve simple problems involving Newton’s laws and force diagrams.
- Demonstrate understanding of why vectors are useful in physics and solve simple physics problems involving vectors such as those involving motion and Newton’s laws.
- Apply the concepts of physics to “real world phenomena” by solving problems involving circular motion, falling objects, effects of static and kinetic friction, rotating objects, etc.
- Solve simple problems involving conservation of energy- kinetic and potential, work-energy theorem, and impulse-momentum theorem.
- Perform simple calculations: estimate by order-of-magnitude, convert units, and use of scientific notation.
Schedules/ Pacing Guide
Below, please find the Syllabus, and Week-at-a-Glance for Quarter 1. To print out, simply click on buttons below for a pdf file.