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.
This 14-week course is the second course in a two-part series in introductory Physics concepts. The class does not rely too heavily on advanced mathematical calculations but algebraic understanding is required. Instead, we will stick to principles, overarching concepts, and major theories and how they apply to our everyday lives.
Total classes: 14
Prerequisite: Algebra I (Geometry is recommended)
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1 full semester
Description
This 14-week course is the second course in a two-part series in introductory Physics concepts. The class does not rely too heavily on advanced mathematical calculations but algebraic understanding is required. Instead, we will stick to principles, overarching concepts, and major theories and how they apply to our everyday lives. Students will have live instruction once a week, as well as frequent online interactives and simulations that will assist them in understanding and applying knowledge. The course is a survey of topics in physics with the goal of leading toward further study (Advanced Placement or College Prep Physics). Students will build on their natural intuition—and break some commonly held misconceptions. Students will learn how the cosmos that God created works and apply the laws of physics to everyday examples in their lives. Students will learn that physics is phun!
Outline
Week 1 – Circular Motion
Week 2 – Center of Gravity
Week 3 – Rotational Mechanics
Week 4 – Special Relativity – Space & Time
Week 5 – Special Relativity – Length, Energy, & Momentum
Week 6 – Temperature, Heat, and Thermal Expansion
Week 7 – Heat Transfer
Week 8 – Vibrations and Waves
Week 9 – Sound
Week 10 – Light
Week 11 – Electrostatics
Week 12 – Electric Fields & Potential
Week 13 – Electric Current
Week 14 – Electric Circuits
In order to ensure student success, students will be expected to read ahead in the textbook, interact with online resources, complete weekly homework assignments, and take weekly quizzes. There will be five Unit Tests that each student will take.
For students and parents seeking a “lab” credit: There is no formal lab component to this Introductory Physics course. However, students get some experience in data collection and analysis through online interactive simulations. Interactives are assigned for most weeks and take 30-60 minutes to complete. These are not formal lab write-ups. If you like, as a parent, you could simply adjust the course to have your student write up formal labs for any of the interactive activities you see fit (see https://homeschool-101.com/write-lab-report/ on how to write a lab report) and evaluate these as part of your child’s learning experience. In that case, this introductory Physics class could count as a lab credit.
Materials and Homework
Course materials: (We suggest buying used to save considerable money!)
Course Text cover
Conceptual Physics, Paul Hewitt (2002) ISBN: 0-13-054254-7. Some students have purchased the following text which seems to be identical inside: Conceptual Physics, Paul Hewitt (2004) ISBN: 0-13-166301-1
We will also reference The Physics Classroom (online)
Homework:
Weekly reading from the textbook as well as online resources will be assigned. Homework questions will be assigned from the textbook (along with solutions for students to self-check progress). Students will also be assigned interactive online activities that will help them to better understand and apply concepts learned in class. Each week students will have an interactive activity and a Moodle-based quiz or test.
***NOTE TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS***
For some of the PhET simulations to work, you must have JAVA installed on your Mac or PC. JAVA can be downloaded for free at www.java.com. Newer HTML5 versions of all the interactives are being written every day. These can be accessed on all digital devices.
