Physics in the Universe Lessons and Objectives

A1, A3, A4 Physics in the Universe (1st semester) 2025 - 2026

Use the following schedule to see what we did in class. You can also view and print any of the worksheets and assignments that were distributed during class.
Use this schedule to plan ahead and to check for due dates.

Day	Date	Lesson	Handouts	Objectives	Homework
1	Mon., Aug. 18 All 8 Classes	Class Introduction	Course Syllabus Mathematics Rules Student Background	Students will become aware of class policies and procedures.	Complete Student Background
2	Tue., Aug. 19	Lab 01 Precision of Measuring	Lab 01 Precision of Measuring	Students will use Glug rulers with no divisions, tenths and hundredths to determine which is appropriate for different measuring needs.	Lab 01 Precision of Measuring
3	Thur., Aug. 21	Warm Up #1 SI conversion / ratio / speed pracice	SI conversion / ratio / speed pracice	Students will use conversion factors and calculate speed, distance and time.	SI conversion / ratio / speed pracice
4	Mon., Aug. 25	Warm-up #2 Physics Classroom Kinematic Concepts KC1, KC2, KC3	Physics Interactive Reader pages 24-27 Minds on Physics Tracker Form Exit Ticket Summarizer	Students will describe the motion of objects in one dimension using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs and equations.	Interactive Reader pages 24-27
5	Wed., Aug. 27	Walls That Learn Lab 02 Ultrasonic Motion Detector	Lab 02 Ultrasonic Motion Detector	Students will move to create position vs. time graphs, describe this motion in words, and sketch corresponding the velocity vs. time graph.	Lab 02 Ultrasonic Motion Detector
6	Fri., Aug. 29	Position-Time Graph Velocity-Time Graph p-t vs. v-t graphs	Motion Map, Postition Time, Velocity Time Practice	Students will relate position-time graphs to velocity-time graphs.	Motion Map, Postition Time, Velocity Time Practice Prepare for Unit 01 Quiz
7	Wed., Sep. 3	New Seats Unit 01 Quiz Free Fall on Planet Newtonia	Unit 01 Quiz Free Fall on Planet Newtonia	Students will demonstrate mastery of measuring precisely, SI conversions, calculating speed, distance and time, position-time and velocity-time graphing.	Free Fall on Planet Newtonia
8	Fri, Sep. 5	Lab 03 Determining "g"	Lab 03 Determining "g"	Students will determine the acceleration due to gravity using three different methods.	Lab 03 Typed and Printed Lab Report
9	Tue., Sep. 9	Warm-up #3 Textbooks Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 2 Kinematic Graphing KG1, KG2, KG3	Textbooks Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 2 Kinematic Graphing KG1, KG2, KG3	Students will analyze the velocity and acceleration of a ball hitting a spring in two situations, horizontally and vertically.	Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 2
10	Thur., Sep. 11	Kinematic Concepts KC4, KC5, KC6, KC7	Kinematic Concepts KC4, KC5, KC6, KC7 Interactive Reader pages 30-33	Students will relate position-time, velocity-time and acceleration-time graphs for multiple situations.	Interactive Reader pages 30-33
11	Mon., Sep. 15 HALF WAY 1ST QTR	Lab 04 Bull's Eye	Lab 04 Bull's Eye	Students will calculate and experimentally verify the height of a ramp that a steel ball should be released from for a given position of a target on the floor.	Lab 04 Typed and Printed Lab Report
12	Wed., Sep. 17	Warm-up #4 Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 4	Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 4	Students will create and evaluate an engineering design for dropping aid into a country at need.	Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exploration 4
13	Fri., Sep. 19	Unit 01 Review	Unit 01 Review	Students will review concepts and calculations from Unit 01, Lesson 02, Describing Motion	Study for Unit 01 Motion Test
14	Tue., Sep. 23	Unit 01 Motion Test	Unit 01 Motion Test	Students will demonstrate mastery of Unit 01 content.	none
15	Thur, Sep. 25	Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 5 Engineering Project 1 Bridge Building Bridge Building Plan	Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 5 Engineering Project 1 Bridge Building Bridge Building Plan	Students will make a claim, gather evidence and describe their reasoning about the distribution of a load affecting the forces on a structure. Students will design and buiild a bridge of chopsticks and cardboard to test in class.	Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 5 Bridge Building Plan Engineering Project 1 Bridge Building due Wed., Oct. 15
16	Tue., Sep. 30	Types of Forces & Vector Resolution Vectors & Projectiles VP1 & VP2	Vectors & Projectiles VP1 & VP2	Students will use the graphical and triogonometric methods of adding vectors. Students will decide on their bridge building plan and sketch their scale drawing.	Build your bridge
17	Thur., Oct. 2	New Seats Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 2 with Impact Timer Data Analysis	Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 2	Students will explore two ways of producing constant forces and their effects on motion.	Unit 1, Lesson 3, Exploration 2
18	Mon., Oct. 6	Vectors & Projectiles VP3 & VP 7	Vectors & Projectiles VP3 & VP7 Interactive Reader pages 46-49	Students will determine the magnitude and direction of a vector rotated CCE.	Interactive Reader pages 46-49
19	Wed, Oct. 8	Lab 05 Atwood's Machine	Lab 05 Atwood's Machine	Students will determine the mass of a small washer from the acceleration of a balanced system using an Atwood's Machine.	Complete Bridge Lab 05 Typed and Printed Lab Report
20	Wed., Oct. 15	Bridge Project Testing	none	Students will load their bridges to the breaking point, analyze their design, and indicate what changes they would make next time.	none
21	Mon., Oct. 20	Bridge Building Project Analysis Vectors & Projectiles VP8 & VP10	Project Reflection rubric Vectors & Projectiles VP8 & VP10	Students will examine the components of vectors and confirm the independence of velocities in the x and y directions.	Bridge Building Project Final Reflection (shared Google doc) Bring your textbook.
22	Wed., Oct. 22 END OF 1ST QTR	Textbook Check Ratio of weight to mass mini-lab Equation/Vocab Sheet NL 1 - 2	Newton's Laws NL 1 - 2 Interactive Reader pages 68-71	Students will calculate the force of gravity on an object, recognize that mass and weight are related but different and draw free body diagrams for physical objects at rest and in motion.	Interactive Reader pages 68-71
23	Mon., Oct. 27	Lab 06 Acceleration, Force and Mass (in Lab Room)	Lab 06 Acceleration, Force and Mass	Students will determine the relationships between force, mass and acceleration.	Lab 06 Typed and Printed Lab Report
24	Wed., Oct. 29	Inertia & Net Force NL 3 - 4	Newton's Laws NL 3 - 4 Net Force and Acceleration Practice	Student will understand how the forces exerted on an object on an inclined plane affect the object's motion.	Net Force and Acceleration Practice
25	Fri., Oct. 31	NL 5 - 6	Newton's Laws NL 5 - 6	Students will determine the acceleration from a net force and convert mass and weight.	Study for Unit 01 Forces Quiz
26	Tue., Nov. 4	New Seats Unit 01 Vectors and Forces Quiz	Unit 01 Vectors and Forces Quiz	Students will demonstrate mastery of Unit 1 Forces content.	none
27	Thur., Nov. 6	Lab 07 Hooke's Law	Lab 07 Hooke's Law	Students will determine the spring constant for a couple springs.	Lab 07 Typed Lab Report with two graphs
28	Wed., Nov. 12	NL 9 example 1 NL 7 - 8	Newton's Laws NL 7 - 8	Students will determine the acceleration from a net force and convert mass and weight.	Study for Unit 01 Forces Test
29	Fri., Nov. 14	NL 9 example 2 NL 11 - 12	Newton's Laws NL 11 - 12	Students will consider situations with air resistance and action/reaction pairs.	Study for Unit 01 Forces Test
30	Tue., Nov. 18	Lab 08 Buoyant Force	Lab 08 Buoyant Force	Students will determine the buoyant force on an object and relate this to the weight of displaced water.	Lab 08 Typed and Printed Lab Report
31	Thur., Nov. 20	Unit 01 Forces Test	Unit 01 Forces Test	Students will demonstrate mastery of Unit 01 Forces content.	none
32	Mon., Nov. 24 HALF WAY 2ND QTR	Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation	PhET Universal Gravitation	Students will utilize Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation to determine attractive forces.	PhET Universal Gravitation
33	Mon., Dec. 1	CG 01 & 06	CG 01 & 06 Interactive Reader pages 137-142	Students will be able to distinguish between speed and velocity for objects moving in a circle.	Interactive Reader pages 137-142
34	Wed., Dec. 3	Kepler's Laws Lab 09 Moons Of Jupiter	Lab 09 Moons Of Jupiter	Students will analyze data to determine if Jupiter's moons follow Kepler's Third Law of Motion, the Law of Harmonies.	Lab 09 Moons Of Jupiter
35	Fri., Dec. 5	New Seats CG 07 & 08	CG 07 & 08 Interactive Reader pages 143-147	Students will identify the variables affecting the force of gravity and predict how changes affect it.	Interactive Reader pages 143-147
36	Tue., Dec. 9	PET Bottle Airfoil Project CG 09 & 10	PET Bottle Airfoil Project CG 09 & 10	Students will use the law of harmonies to make calculations of radius and period of orbits of planets.	Engineering Project 2 PET Bottle Airfoil Video and Description Due Fri., Dec. 19 Devices due on Fri., Jan. 9
37	Thur., Dec. 11	Newton's and Kepler's Test	Newton's and Kepler's Test	Students will demonstrate an understanding of concepts and skills learned in Unit 03 Lesson 01.	Work on PET Bottle Airfoil Project
38	Mon., Dec. 15	Activity 1: Sticky Tape	Activity 1: Sticky Tape	Students will draw and label vector diagrams for the static electric force.	Activity 1
39	Wed., Dec. 17	Activity 2: Balloons and Static Electricity SE 01-02	Activity 2: Balloons and Static Electricity SE 01-02	Students will recognize the basic properties of electrical interaction, know how to charge an object, and understand the differences between conductors and insulators.	Activity 2
40	Fri., Dec. 19	Van de Graaff Generator Electric Field Lines Coulomb's Law Activity 3: Matter and Charging SE 03-04	Activity 3: Matter and Charging SE 03-04	Students will gain a conceptual and mathematical understanding of Coulomb's Law.	Activity 3
41	Wed., Jan. 7	New Seats Induction Conduction SE 05-09 & 12 Activity 4: Electrostatics Activity	Activity 4: Electrostatics Activity SE 05-09 & 12	Students will be able to explain the steps involved in charge by friction, conduction and grounding.	Activity 4 Bring your textbook.
42	Fri., Jan. 9	Textbook Check Airfoil Project Testing	Project Reflection rubric	Students will design and build and airfoil made out of PET bottle material that will generate the greatest amount of DC current for one minute.	Airfoil Project Final Reflection (shared Google doc)
43	Jan. 12-15 (double class) END OF 2ND QTR	Semester One Exam	Semester One Exam	Students will demonstrate mastery of Semester One Content KC, KG, VP, NL, CG, SE (about 45 questions)	Enjoy a little break between semesters!