This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Join this introductory physics course designed to help you understand foundational physics principles. If you would like to learn major concepts from a non-mathematical perspective, come to appreciate the beauty found in science, and earn a high school physics credit, then this is the course for you.
Total classes: 12
Prerequisite: Completion of one year of Algebra 1
Suggested grade level: 11th or 12th grade
Suggested credit: One full semester Physics
Special notes: This is Part One of a two-part course. Students are expected to also register for Part Two offered in the Spring semester. This basic high school physics course will help instill a love of science. However, it is not college preparatory.
Description
This is the first of a two-semester course sequence on introductory physics. In this course, physical principles involved in motion, energy, and fluids, will be demonstrated in the classroom by the use of everyday devices with an effort to set them in their historical and philosophical contexts. The overall goals are to help the student understand the major concepts of physics from a non-mathematical perspective and to appreciate the interaction of these physical principles in nature. This course is especially focused for students who are not planning on a STEM field but still desire a foundational knowledge of Physics. Although this is a basic course, it does require a knowledge of Algebra, especially being able to rearrange algebraic equations.
Outline
Week 1: Motion
Week 2: Gravity and Acceleration
Week 3: Newton’s Laws of Motion
Week 4: Circular Motion
Week 5: Review for Midterm
Week 6: Momentum & Impulse
Week 7: Energy
Week 8: Rotational Motion
Week 9: Fluids
Week 10: Heat
Week 11: Heat Engines
Week 12: Review for Final
Materials and Homework
Materials: The Physics of Everyday Phenomena, 6th Edition by E. Thomas Griffith and Juliet W. Brosing, ISBN 978-0073513904 (https://amzn.to/38jAeRo or BookFinder.com).
Homework: Each week, students will be required to read a selection from the textbook, take a short 10-question quiz, and occasionally watch or perform a simple experiment on their own. If students are having difficulties, there are extra practice problems in the book they can do to support their knowledge.
Important Dates
Class dates: Mondays, September 9 to December 9, 2024. (No class Oct. 28 & Nov. 25) (Rain Day December 16th)
Starting time: 2:30 PM Eastern (1:30 Central; 12:30 Mountain; 11:30 Pacific)
Duration: 55 minutes
