CP Physics Assignments

This is where each week's assignments in CP Physics are posted. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 30: Monday, April 7th – Friday, April 11th

Hi there! Here's the plan for this week as we begin our brand new unit, Unit 9: Electrostatics:

Mon. 4/7

• review Unit 8 Test B

• start Unit 9: Electrostatics

• Sticky Tape Lab

Tue. 4/8

• start Static Electricity Lab

Wed. 4/9

• finish Static Electricity Lab

• DUE: Sticky Tape Lab

Thu. 4/10

• start Charges and Charged Objects PhET

• DUE: Static Electricity Lab

Fri. 4/11

• finish Charges and Charged Objects PhET

This is our last regular week for a while – next week we'll have late arrival and shortened periods on Monday and Tuesday due to state-mandated testing for ELA (boo!), followed by a four-day weekend (yay!), followed another week of shortened periods due to state-mandated testing (boo!). Fortunately, most of what we'll be learning for the rest of the year is pretty straightforward, so we should be fine despite all the interruptions. I hope you have a great first full week of April, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 29: Monday, March 31st – Friday, April 4th

Hello again everyone, and welcome back from Spring Break! We only have nine more weeks of school, much of which will be broken up by extended weekends and state testing, so it should go by pretty quickly. Here's the plan as we wrap up Unit 8: Momentum Transfer:

Mon. 3/31

• review momentum calculations

• DUE: Unit 8 Practice #3 – Conservation of Momentum

Tue. 4/1

• Unit 8 Quiz #2 – Conservation of Momentum

• review quiz

Wed. 4/2

• Unit 8 Test A – Momentum Transfer

Thu. 4/3

• review test

Fri. 4/4

• Unit 8 Test B – Momentum Transfer

Next week we'll start electrostatics, which involves lots of fun hands-on activities, so I think you'll enjoy that topic. I hope you have a great week back from break, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 28: Monday, March 17th – Friday, March 21st

Welcome to 4th Quarter and the last week before Spring Break! Here's the plan as we continue on into Unit 8: Momentum Transfer:

Mon. 3/17☘️

• Start 4th Quarter!

• review momentum simulations

• Unit 8 Quiz #1 – Impulse-Momentum Theorem

• DUE: PhET Collision Simulation

Tue. 3/18

• review quiz

• start Unit 8 Momentum in Collisions Lab

Wed. 3/19

• finish Unit 8 Momentum in Collisions Lab

Thu. 3/20

• start Unit 8 Practice #3 – Conservation of Momentum

• DUE: Unit 8 Momentum in Collisions Lab

Fri. 3/21

• finish Unit 8 Practice #3 – Conservation of Momentum

The collisions lab is a lot of fun, so I hope it'll make this week fly by so you can mentally get through these next five days as quickly as possible. Thanks for all of your hard work in the first three-fourths of the course so far, and have a fun and relaxing Spring Break! 🩴

Week 27: Monday, March 10th – Friday, March 14th

We've made it to the end of 3rd Quarter! After this week, we'll only have one week of classes before we all get a well-deserved week off for Spring Break. Here's the plan as we begin Unit 8: Momentum Transfer:

Mon. 3/10

• start Unit 8: Momentum Transfer Model

• changes in momentum demos

• start Unit 8 Practice #1: Momentum and Impulse-Momentum

Tue. 3/11

• finish Unit 8 Practice #1: Momentum and Impulse-Momentum

• start Unit 8 Practice #2: SOS Diagrams

Wed. 3/12

• finish Unit 8 Practice #2: SOS Diagrams

• DUE: Unit 8 Practice #1: Momentum and Impulse-Momentum

Thu. 3/13

• start PhET Collision Simulation

• DUE: Unit 8 Practice #2: SOS Diagrams

Fri. 3/14

• Early Release Day

• finish PhET Collision Simulation

• End of 3rd Quarter – ALL OUTSTANDING WORK IS DUE BY TODAY!

I hope all the sunshine today offsets losing an hour this morning. Have a wonderful week, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 26: Monday, March 3rd – Friday, March 7th

Hello again, and welcome to March! Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 3/3

  • finish calculating component and resultant vectors

  • Vernier Projectile Motion Video Activity

• Tue. 3/4

  • finish Vernier Projectile Motion Video Activity

• Wed. 3/5

  • Unit 7 Test A: Projectile Motion

  • DUE: Vernier Projectile Motion Video Activity

• Thu. 3/6

  • review test

  • intro to momentum

• Fri. 3/7

  • Unit 7 Test B: Projectile Motion

Have a great week, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 25: Monday, February 24th – Friday, February 28th

Welcome to the end of February! To wrap up Black History Month, one last physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (b. 1946). Dr. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. where she attended Roosevelt Senior High School (what a coincidence!) and later enrolled at MIT to study theoretical physics. While at MIT, she advocated for the recruitment and retainment of black students, and was a co-founder of the Black Students' Union. She earned her Bachelor's degree in 1968 and her PhD in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics in 1973, becoming the first black women to earn a Bachelor's degree and the first to earn a PhD from MIT in any field. Dr. Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1976, where she researched the optical and electronic properties of two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional systems. In 1995, she was appointed by President Clinton to serve as chairperson of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, becoming the first woman and the first African American to hold that position. Dr. Jackson became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1999 - the first woman and first African American to hold this position (notice a pattern?) - and served in that role for 23 years, helping to raise over $1 billion in donations for philanthropic causes. She was also the Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board under President Obama from 2014–2017. Dr. Jackson is married to Dr. Morris Washington, a physics professor at RPI, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically African American sorority. What an incredible career!

Here's the plan for this fragmented week:

• Mon. 2/24

  • review quiz

  • Spring Launched Projectile Activity

  • DUE: "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab

• Tue. 2/25

  • ACT – NO SCHOOL for Seniors; good luck, Juniors!

• Wed. 2/26

  • start Projectile Motion PhET Part 2: Angled Projectiles

  • DUE: Spring Launched Projectile Activity

• Thu. 2/27

  • finish Projectile Motion PhET Part 2: Angled Projectiles

• Fri. 2/28

  • calculating component and resultant vectors

  • DUE: Projectile Motion PhET Part 2: Angled Projectiles

After this week, we'll only have two weeks before the end of 3rd Quarter, and then another week after that will be Spring Break. Hang in there, and have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Week 24: Tuesday, February 18th – Friday, February 21st

Good morning! I hope you've been enjoying the winter wonderland during this three day weekend. Another Black physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Edward Alexander Bouchet (1852-1918). Dr. Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut where he attended one of only three schools that admitted Black children. Based on his academic prowess, he was later accepted into Hopkins Grammar School, a private institution that prepared young men to attend Yale, and he graduated first in his class at Hopkins. He became the first Black student to graduate from Yale in 1874, and was the first Black student to ever be nominated for the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 1876, Bouchet successfully completed his dissertation on geometric optics and became the first Black person to ever earn a Ph.D. from an American university as well as only the sixth American of any race to earn a Ph.D. in physics. Unfortunately, despite his accomplishments, Bouchet was unable to obtain a college or university position due to institutional racism, so he moved to Philadelphia to teach at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in its new science program for the next 26 years where he influenced countless Black students. He left in 1902 when the all-white board fired all of the teachers and held a variety of positions in education over the next 14 years, including as principal of Lincoln High School of Gallipolis, Ohio. Illness forced him to retire in 1916 and he passed away in 1918; he never married or had children.

Here's the plan for yet another abbreviated week in Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 2/17

  • Washington–Lincoln Day – NO SCHOOL

• Tue. 2/18

  • finish Unit 7 Practice #2: Horizontally Launched Projectiles

• Wed. 2/19

  • start "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab

  • DUE: Unit 7 Practice #2: Horizontally Launched Projectiles

• Thu. 2/20

  • work on "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab

• Fri. 2/21

  • finish "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab

  • Unit 7 Quiz #2: Horizontally Launched Projectiles

  • DUE: "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab

Juniors will take the ACT next week on Tuesday, so make sure you take that practice ACT that I gave you and I'll be happy to score it for you. Get outside and go sledding if you're so inclined (get it? 😉). Have a great week – stay warm!

Week 23: Monday, February 10th – Friday, February 14th

Hello again! I hope you've enjoyed your surprise 4-day weekend and stayed warm during the ice storms. This week for Black History Month, I'd like to tell you about Valerie Thomas (b. 1943). Ms. Thomas earned her degree in physics with honors from Morgan State University and was hired by NASA as a data analyst in 1964. While at NASA, she developed software to analyze real-time data from satellites and oversaw the creation of the Landsat program, the longest-running acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. She also pioneered the use of satellite technology to automate the prediction of crop yields around the world. In 1977, she began research on ways in which light and concave mirrors could be used to transmit 3-D illusions of an object, which led her to invent and patent the "illusion transmitter", a technology still being used by NASA today. Ms. Thomas retired in 1995 and has received many awards, including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal. Very impressive!

Here's the plan for another abbreviated week of projectile motion:

• Mon. 2/10

  • start Projectile Motion PhET

  • Unit 7 Quiz #1: Vertical projectiles

• Tue. 2/11

  • review quiz

  • finish Projectile Motion PhET

• Wed. 2/12

  • intro to horizontal projectiles

  • start Marble Activity

  • DUE: Projectile Motion PhET

• Thu. 2/13

  • finish Marble Activity

  • start Unit 7 Practice #2: Horizontally Launched Projectiles

• Fri. 2/14

  • Teacher PD Day – NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Next week, we'll take Quiz #2 on horizontal projectiles, and then we'll look at projectiles launched at an angle, so make sure you don't forget everything during your time off. Have a great week, and enjoy your 4-day weekend!

Week 22: Monday, February 3rd – Friday, February 7th

Welcome to February, and Happy Black History Month! Before I list this week's activities, I'd like to tell you about Warren Elliot Henry (1909-2001), who was a Black physicist who studied magnetism and superconductivity. He was valedictorian of his class at the Tuskegee Institute, earned his Masters degree in organic chemistry at Atlanta University, and received a PhD in Physical Chemistry and Physics from the University of Chicago. Some of his work included inventing a metal dewar for liquid helium and a magnetic moment lift for moving samples in and out of a magnetic field. He also established that uranium is a semiconductor and performed experiments on magnetic susceptibility. Dr. Henry earned many awards throughout his life, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Community from the prestigious National Science Foundation. Pretty impressive, to say the least!

Here's the plan for this week as we start Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 2/3

  • intro to vertical projectiles

  • start Unit 7 Practice #1: Vertical projectiles

• Tue. 2/4

  • finish Unit 7 Practice #1: Vertical projectiles

  • Unit 7 Quiz #1: Vertical projectiles

• Wed. 2/5

  • review quiz

  • start Projectile Motion PhET

  • DUE: Unit 7 Practice #1: Vertical projectiles

• Thu. 2/6

  • finish Projectile Motion PhET

• Fri. 2/7

  • intro horizontal projectiles 

  • marble activity

  • DUE: Projectile Motion PhET

This will be our last full week of school for a while, because for the next three weeks we'll only have four school days each week due to teacher in-service, a holiday and the ACT. I hope you have a great week, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 21: Monday, January 27th – Friday, January 31st

Hello again, and welcome to the last week of January! Here's the plan as we finish Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

• Mon. 1/27

  • finish Unit 6 Practice #4: Energy Transfer and Power

• Tue. 1/28

  • Unit 6 Quiz #2: Energy and Power Calculations

  • DUE: Power of a Person Lab

• Wed. 1/29

  • Unit 6 Test A: Energy Transfer Model

  • DUE: Unit 6 Practice #4: Energy Transfer and Power

• Thu. 1/30

  • review test

• Fri. 1/31

  • Unit 6 Test B: Energy Transfer Model

Next week, we'll start our next unit on projectile motion. As always, I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 20: Tuesday, January 21st – Friday, January 24th

Wow, a five-day weekend! I hope you're all resting and staying warm. For this short week, we'll start to wrap up Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model with an easy lab:

• Mon. 1/20

  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day – NO SCHOOL

• Tue. 1/21

  • Cold Day – NO SCHOOL

• Wed. 1/22

  • Cold Day – NO SCHOOL

• Thu. 1/23

  • finish Energy Transfer Stations Lab

• Fri. 1/24

  • Power of a Person Lab

  • start Unit 6 Practice #4: Energy Transfer and Power

  • DUE: Energy Transfer Stations Lab

Make sure you get enough sleep tonight so that you're ready to go back tomorrow, and enjoy your short week of school!

Week 19: Monday, January 13th – Friday, January 17th

Hello again! I hope you had a good first week back from break and you're fully back into the swing of things. Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work on energy:

• Mon. 1/13

  • Energy storage & conversation with bar graphs (LOL diagrams)

  • start Unit 6 Practice #2: Energy LOL diagrams

  • DUE: Unit 6 Practice #1: Energy Pie Charts

• Tue. 1/14

  • finish Unit 6 Practice #2: Qualitative LOL diagrams

• Wed. 1/15

  • Unit 6 Quiz #1: Qualitative Energy Diagrams

  • intro to energy equations

  • start Unit 6 Practice #3: Quantitative LOL Diagrams

  • DUE: Unit 6 Practice #2: Qualitative LOL diagrams

• Thu. 1/16

  • finish Unit 6 Practice #3: Quantitative LOL Diagrams

• Fri. 1/17

  • Energy Transfer Stations Lab

  • DUE: Unit 6 Practice #3: Quantitative LOL Diagrams

This week is all about moving from a qualitative approach to a quantitative one so that we can keep track of the amounts of energy that are being transferred. As always, let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 18: Monday, January 6th – Friday, January 10th

Happy New Year 🥳, and welcome back from Winter Break! I hope you were able to take some time to rest, relax and recharge before we get right back into the thick of things. Here's the plan for our first school week of 2025 as we start Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

• Mon. 1/6

  • review 1st Semester Exam

  • start Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model

  • Types of energy

• Tue. 1/7

  • start Energy Stations Lab

• Wed. 1/8

  • finish Energy Stations Lab

• Thu. 1/9

  • Energy pie charts

  • Unit 6 Practice #1: Energy Pie Charts

  • DUE: Energy Stations Lab

• Fri. 1/12

  • LOL diagrams

Once we learn how to make LOL diagrams, they'll help us understand energy and how it transfers and transforms, which will make this unit pretty easy. I hope you have a great first week back! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 17: Monday, December 16th – Friday, December 20th

Welcome to exam week! The plan is pretty straightforward – study for the 1st Semester Exam so you can earn the best grade possible and enjoy your Winter Break. Here's the schedule for this week:

Mon. 12/16

• review quiz

• prepare for the exam!

Tue. 12/17

• prepare for the exam!

• Unit 5 Quiz B: Uniform Acceleration

• DUE: ANY OUTSTANDING WORK FROM 2nd QUARTER MUST BE TURNED IN BY TODAY!

Wed. 12/18

• 1st period exam – 7:30-9:00am

• 2nd period exam – 9:15-10:45am

• Lunch – 10:50-11:20am

• 6/7th or 7/8th period exam – 11:25am-12:55pm

• Open study – 1:10-2:29pm

Thu. 12/19

• 9th period exam – 7:30-9:00am

• 10th period exam – 9:15-10:45am

• Lunch – 10:50-11:20am

• Make-up exams – 11:25am-12:55pm

• Open study – 1:10-2:29pm

Fri. 12/20

• 3rd period exam – 7:30-9:00am

• 4/5th or 5/6th period exam – 9:15-10:45am

• Lunch – 10:50-11:20am

• Make-up exams – 11:25am-12:55pm

• Open study – 1:10-2:29pm

I'll also send out the exam schedule flyer on Remind and on Google Classroom as a picture so you can save it to your phone. You have plenty of prep material: I gave you a paper copy of the 1st Semester Practice Review in class and posted the key on Google Classroom, and you have your past quizzes and tests, which cover all the material on the exam.

Good luck on this exam and all of your other exams this week! Please let me know if you have any questions at all. I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing Winter Break, and I'll see you next year!

Week 16: Monday, December 9th – Friday, December 13th

We've finally made it to the end of 1st Semester! The plan for this week is to learn how to do acceleration graphs and calculations so that we can go on Winter Break with everything nicely wrapped up. Here's what we're doing for our last full week of class before Semester Exams:

Mon. 12/9

• finish Changing Velocity Lab

• Unit 5 Practice #1 - Accelerated Motion Models

Tue. 12/10

• Unit 5 Practice #2 - Interpreting Graphs of Accelerated Motion

• DUE: Changing Velocity Lab

Wed. 12/11

• Unit 5 Practice #3 - Quantitative Acceleration Problems

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #1 - Accelerated Motion Models

Thu. 12/12

• finish Unit 5 Practice #3

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #2 - Interpreting Graphs of Accelerated Motion

Fri. 12/13

• Unit 5 Quiz A: Uniform Acceleration

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #3 - Quantitative Acceleration Problems

This is the last topic we're going to learn before next week's 1st Semester Exam on Wednesday, December 18th. Fortunately, we've already been talking about acceleration in our Unbalanced Forces unit, so my hope is that this is a good review of all the material we've learned this semester. Have a wonderful week!

Week 15: Monday, December 2nd – Friday, December 6th

Welcome back! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving Break and were able to get some rest so you're fully recharged and ready to go for this final sprint to the end of the semester. Here's the plan for the first week of December ☃️:

Mon. 12/2

• Unit 4 Review - Unbalanced Forces

Tue. 12/3

• Unit 4 Test A: Unbalanced Forces

Wed. 12/4

• review test

• intro to Unit 5: Uniform Acceleration

• DUE: Unit 4 Review - Unbalanced Forces

Thu. 12/5

• Unit 4 Test B: Unbalanced Forces

Fri. 12/6

• Changing Velocity Lab

There are only 12 school days left to get through acceleration next week, and I want to take at least one day two weeks from now to go over everything that will be on your 1st Semester Exam, which will look a lot like your tests. Imagine taking all of your tests so far, stapling them together, and maybe cutting the number of questions by 25%, and that'll be your exam.

I hope you have a great week back, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 14: Monday, November 18th – Friday, November 22nd

We've finally made it to Thanksgiving Break!🦃 I'm really proud of you all for sticking with CP Physics for this long. For this last week before break, we're going to learn more about friction and how we can calculate its effect on moving objects. Here's the plan:

Mon. 11/18

• review quiz

• static friction vs. kinetic friction and the coefficient of friction

• Unit 4 Practice #3 - Newton's Second Law and Friction

• DUE: Coffee Filter Drop Activity

Tue. 11/19

• Friction Lab

Wed. 11/20

• work on Friction Lab Report

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #3 - Newton's Second Law and Friction

Thu. 11/21

• Unit 4 Quiz #2: Newton's Second Law and Friction

• DUE: Friction Lab Report

Fri. 11/22

• review quiz

• friction on inclined planes

This will be a nice place to pause until we return from break and take our Unit 4 test on Unbalanced Forces. As always, let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a relaxing Thanksgiving Break, and I'll see you in December!

Week 13: Monday, November 11th – Friday, November 15th

Hello, future scientists! For this week in CP Physics, we're going to continue our work on Unit 4: Unbalanced Forces with some hands-on activities and a simulation. Here's the plan:

Mon. 11/11 🇺🇸

• force plate in an elevator demo

• finish Unit 4 Practice #1 - Force Diagrams and Net Force

• DUE: Modified Atwood Machine Activity

Tue. 11/12

• Unit 4 Practice #2 - Net Force and Acceleration

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #1 - Force Diagrams and Net Force

Wed. 11/13

• PhET Forces and Free Body Diagrams Lab

Thu. 11/14

• Unit 4 Quiz #1: Modified Atwood's Machine

• Coffee Filter Drop Activity

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #2 - Net Force and Acceleration

Fri. 11/15

• finish Coffee Filter Drop Activity

• Unit 4 Practice #3 - Newton's Second Law and Friction

• DUE: PhET Forces and Free Body Diagrams Lab

We're going to do our best to wrap up Unit 4 by the middle of next week so that we can take the test and go on Thanksgiving Break with a clean sheet. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 12: Monday, November 4th – Friday, November 8th

Hello again, I hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep this morning! For this week in CP Physics, we're going to wrap up our unit on balanced forces and move on to Unit 4: Unbalanced Forces. Here's what we're doing for the first full week of November:

Mon. 11/4

• Unit 3 Test A: Balanced Forces

Tue. 11/5 🗳️

• review test

• intro to unbalanced forces

Wed. 11/6

• Unit 3 Test B: Balanced Forces

Thu. 11/7

• start Unit 4: Unbalanced Forces

• modified Atwood machine

Fri. 11/8

• Unit 4 Practice #1 - Force Diagrams and Net Force

I hope you enjoy the early morning sunshine while it lasts, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 11: Monday, October 28th – Friday, November 1st

Good afternoon, I hope you've enjoyed this excellent weekend! For this week in CP Physics, we're going to wrap up our work on Unit 3: Balanced Forces so we can take our test at the end of the week. Here's what we're doing for the last week of October:

Mon. 10/28

• start Unit 3 Practice #4 - Interactions

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #3 - Quantitative Free Body Diagrams

Tue. 10/29

• finish Unit 3 Practice #4 - Interactions

Wed. 10/30

• Balanced Forces Stations Activity

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #4 - Interactions

Thu. 10/31 🎃

• Unit 3 Formative Quiz 2 - Quantitative Force Diagrams

• review quiz

Fri. 11/1

• Unit 3 Test A: Balanced Forces

Do your best to not overdose on candy, and please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Week 10: Tuesday, October 22nd – Friday, October 25th

Hello, future scientists! I hope you're enjoying this extended weekend and getting outside to enjoying the warm weather while it lasts. For this week in CP Physics, we're going to continue our work on balanced forces by adding quantities to our diagrams. Here's what we're doing for this short first week of 2nd Quarter:

Mon. 10/21

• Fall Break – NO SCHOOL

Tue. 10/22

• BEGIN 2nd QUARTER

• Spring Constant Lab

• DUE: Gravitational Field ("little g") Lab write-up

Wed. 10/23

• Unit 3 Formative Quiz 1 - Force Diagrams

• start Unit 3 Practice #3 - Quantitative Free Body Diagrams

Thu. 10/24

• review quiz

• finish Unit 3 Practice #3 - Quantitative Free Body Diagrams

• DUE: Spring Constant Lab

Fri. 10/25

• Balanced Forces Stations Activity

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #3 - Quantitative Free Body Diagrams

The topics this week should be very straightforward, but they'll inform our work going forward, especially when we get to our next unit on unbalanced forces (which lead to acceleration). Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 9: Monday, October 14th – Friday, October 18th

Welcome to the end of 1st Quarter! It may be hard to believe, but after this week, we'll be 25% done with the school year. For this week in CP Physics, we're going to continue our work on balanced forces with an easy lab activity so that we can go into another relaxing three-day weekend. Here's what we're doing this week:

Mon. 10/14

• Unit 3 Practice #1 - Force Diagrams

Tue. 10/15

• drawing free body (force) diagrams and component forces

Wed. 10/16

• Unit 3 Practice #2 - Force Diagrams and Component Forces

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #1 - Force Diagrams

Thu. 10/17

• Gravitational Field ("little g") Lab

Fri. 10/18

• Early Release Day

• work on Gravitational Field ("little g") Lab write-up (due Tue. 10/22)

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #2 - Force Diagrams and Component Forces

• END OF 1st QUARTER – all outstanding work from Unit 2 must be turned in by this day!

Congratulations on making it this far! When we come back next week, we'll start adding quantities to our force diagrams that will make it easier for us to do calculations. Please let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 8: Monday, October 7th – Friday, October 11th

And just like that, it's October! 🍁 For this week in CP Physics, we're going to take our Unit 2 Test and then start our next unit on balanced forces. Here's what we're doing for the next-to-last week of 1st Quarter:

Mon. 10/7

• Unit 2 Test A: Constant Velocity

• Parent-Teacher Conferences @5-8pm - sign up here!

Tue. 10/8

• review test

Wed. 10/9

• Unit 2 Test B: Constant Velocity

Thu. 10/10

• start Unit 3: Balanced Forces

• interaction diagrams

• Hover Disc Activity

Fri. 10/11

• Teacher PD Day – NO SCHOOL

I hope you enjoy this short week and get some rest and relaxation over the upcoming three-day weekend! Let me know if you have any questions.

Week 7: Monday, September 30th – Friday, October 4th

Hi there! I hope you had fun at Homecoming and were able to dry out after all the rain we got this weekend. For this week in CP Physics, we're going to continue our work on understanding constant velocity and how to model it through motion maps, graphs and equations. Here's the plan:

Mon. 9/30

• review Unit 2 Formative Quiz 1

• finish Unit 2 Practice #2: Velocity Time Graphs and Displacement

• DUE: Motion Graphs practice quizzes on PhysQuiz.net

Tue. 10/1

• start Unit 2 Practice #3

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #2: Velocity Time Graphs and Displacement

Wed. 10/2

• finish Unit 2 Practice #3

• Motion Graphs velocity vs time practice quizzes on PhysQuiz.net

Thu. 10/3

• Unit 2 Formative Quiz 2

• Dueling Buggies!

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #3

Fri. 10/4

• Unit 2 Review

• DUE: Motion Graphs velocity vs time practice quizzes on PhysQuiz.net

Next week, we'll have our test on Unit 2: Constant Velocity on Monday 10/7 with the make-up on Wednesday 10/9. I hope you have an excellent week, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 6: Monday, September 23rd – Friday, September 27th

Hello, future scientists! For this week in CP Physics, we'll continue our work on constant velocity with some fun new equipment! Here's the plan for the first week of fall 🍁:

Mon. 9/23

• start Motion Detector Lab

• DUE: Buggies Lab report

Tue. 9/24

• finish Motion Detector Lab

Wed. 9/25

• start Practice #1: Motion Maps and Position vs. Time Graphs

• DUE: Motion Detector Lab

Thu. 9/26

• finish Unit 2 Practice #1: Motion Maps and Position vs. Time Graphs

• Motion Graphs practice quizzes on PhysQuiz.net

Fri. 9/27

• Unit 2 Formative Quiz 1

• start Unit 2 Practice #2: Velocity Time Graphs and Displacement

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #1: Motion Maps and Position vs. Time Graphs

Have a great Homecoming week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 5: Monday, September 16th – Friday, September 20th

Hi, everybody! This week in CP Physics we'll wrap up our unit on scientific thinking and move into our new unit on constant velocity. Here's the plan for the last week of summer:

Mon. 9/16

• review Unit 1 Test A

Tue. 9/17

• Unit 1 Test B: Scientific Thinking

• All assignments from Unit 1 must be turned in by today in order to receive credit!

Wed. 9/18

• start Unit 2: Constant Velocity

• start Buggies Lab

Thu. 9/19

• finish Buggies Lab

• start Buggies Lab report

Fri. 9/20

• finish Buggies Lab report (due Mon. 9/23)

• Juniors: Register for the PSAT on MyPaymentsPlus!

I hope you have a wonderful week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions, and I'll see you in Fall. 🍂

Week 4: Monday, September 9th – Friday, September 13th

Hello again! I hope you had a good weekend and have recovered from all that rain on Friday night. Here's what we're doing this week as we wrap up our first unit on Scientific Thinking:

Mon. 9/9

• finish Spaghetti Bridge Lab (if necessary)

• finish Scientific Notation summative on PhysQuiz.net

• start Physics Fix 2: Converting Units

Tue. 9/10

• finish Physics Fix 2: Converting Units

• work on S.T.A.R. #2

• DUE: Spaghetti Bridge Lab write-up

Wed. 9/11

• Unit 1 Formative Quiz #2: Scientific Notation & SI Conversions

• SI Conversions summative on PhysQuiz.net

• DUE: Physics Fix 2: Converting Units

Thu. 9/12

• review quiz

• study for the test!

Fri. 9/13

• Unit 1 Test A: Scientific Thinking

Next week, we'll go over the test and then take the make-up test on Tuesday.

This week, I'm going to pass out PSAT practice exams to all juniors in the class. The PSAT takes place on Wednesday, October 9th in the morning at RHS and costs $19. It's a good way to practice for the full-length SAT, but more importantly, it's the qualifying exam for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship for juniors. Doing well on the PSAT could really pay off, and it looks good on a college application. Registration begins on September 20th on MyPaymentsPlus - I highly recommend taking it!

Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 3: Tuesday, September 3rd – Friday, September 6th

Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying your three-day weekend! Here's what we're doing in class for this abbreviated week as we continue working on our first unit in the course:

Mon. 9/2

• Labor Day – NO SCHOOL

Tue. 9/3

• Physics Fix 1: Scientific Notation

Wed. 9/4

• Unit 1 Formative Quiz: Graphing

• Scientific Notation summative on PhysQuiz.net

• DUE: Unit 1 Practice #1: Graphical Analysis of Data

Thu. 9/5

• review quiz

• start Spaghetti Bridge Lab

• DUE: Physics Fix 1: Scientific Notation

Fri. 9/6

• finish Spaghetti Bridge Lab

• work on lab write-up – due Tue. 9/10

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 2: Monday, August 26th – Friday, August 30th

Welcome to the first full week of school! I hope that school has started well for you and you have any issues with your schedule worked out. Now that we've had a few days to get to know each other and set some expectations, we can get to work! Here's what we're doing in class this week:

Mon. 8/26

• finish Bouncing Ball Activity and share

• discuss good experimental procedures

Tue. 8/27

• Scientific Measurement Stations Lab

Wed. 8/28

• continue review of S.T.A.R. #1

• graph data from Stations lab

Thu. 8/29

• Unit 1 Practice #1: Graphical Analysis of Data

Fri. 8/30

• continue review of S.T.A.R. #1

• Physics Fix 1: Scientific Notation

Please let me know you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 1: Wednesday, August 21st – Friday, August 23rd

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I'm excited to have you in class, and I hope you're looking forward to a good year of learning about physics.

CP Physics is a challenging course that explores the laws that govern the ways objects move or are changed. Students will need strong Algebra skills, an interest in scientific issues, and a willingness to work hard in order to be successful in this course. Over my career, I’ve found that students who take Physics in high school are generally better prepared for college than those who don't.

Here's what we're doing in class for the first week of school:

• Welcome to CP Physics! - first day presentation

• Class Rules

• Class Contract - get it signed!

• S.T.A.R. #1

• start Bouncing Ball Activity

I hope you had a great first week and that you were able to get some rest this weekend before we attempt to go to school for five full days without strange bell schedules or burning birds. Let me know you have any questions!

Everything below this section is from the 2023-2024 school year!

Week 36: Monday, May 13th – Friday, May 17th

Welcome to the last week of high school for the Class of 2024! Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up our work in Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

• Mon. 5/13

  • start CASTLE Unit 4 activities

• Tue. 5/14

  • work on CASTLE Unit 4 activities

• Wed. 5/15

  • finish CASTLE Unit 4 activities

• Thu. 5/16

  • Senior Awards Assembly 1st-3rd periods

• Fri. 5/17

  • review for 2nd Semester Exam

It was a pleasure having you in class this year! Seniors, good luck with all of your future endeavors, CONGRATULATIONS, and please keep in touch! Juniors, I hope you'll consider taking Intro to Computer Science with me next year. If not, stop by to say hi any time. Have a great summer, everyone!

Week 35: Monday, May 6th – Friday, May 10th

Welcome to the first full week of May! We only have two more weeks of school for seniors followed by a week of exams for everyone else. Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work in Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

• Mon. 5/6

  • review Unit 10 Quiz 1

  • start CASTLE Unit 2 activities

• Tue. 5/7

  • work on CASTLE Unit 2 activities

• Wed. 5/8

  • finish CASTLE Unit 2 activities

• Thu. 5/9

  • Unit 10 Quiz 2

  • start CASTLE Unit 3 activities

• Fri. 5/10

  • work on CASTLE Unit 3 activities

Have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 34: Monday, April 29th – Friday, May 3rd

We've finally made it to the last month of school! Only three weeks left for seniors. Here's the plan for this week as we start our final topic, Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

• Mon. 4/29

  • Unit 9 Test Part 2

  • DUE: Unit 9 Packet

• Tue. 4/30

  • start Unit 10: Electric Circuits

  • lamp, paperclip, and battery activity

• Wed. 5/1

  • start CASTLE Unit 1 activities

• Thu. 5/2

  • work on CASTLE Unit 1 activities

• Fri. 5/3

  • #RHSE3 Celebration – Seniors, wear your Employment, Enlistment or Enrollment gear!

  • finish CASTLE Unit 1 activities

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a great first week of May!

Week 33: Monday, April 22nd – Friday, April 26th

Welcome to the last full week of April! We're almost done with state testing, so please make note of our last day of the late arrival schedule on Monday. Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 9: Electrostatics:

• Mon. 4/22 🌍 

  • SCHOOL STARTS AT 9:19am

  • electric field notes

• Tue. 4/23

  • Fun Fly Stick Lab

• Wed. 4/24

  • Unit 9 Practice #3: Electric Field and Review Questions

• Thu. 4/25

  • Unit 9 Quiz 2: Coulomb's Law and Electric Fields

• Fri. 4/26

  • Unit 9 Test Part 2

Have a great week! Hang in there – we're almost done.

Week 31: Tuesday, April 9th – Friday, April 12th

Hello again! I hope you survived the solar eclipse and enjoyed your bonus 3-day weekend. Here's what we're doing for this week as we continue our work on electrostatics:

• Mon. 4/8

  • NO SCHOOL – SOLAR ECLIPSE!

• Tue. 4/9

  • finish Static Electricity Lab

  • start PhET: Charges and Charged Objects

• Wed. 4/10

  • finish PhET: Charges and Charged Objects

  • start Charging by Induction Lab

• Thu. 4/11

  • finish Charging by Induction Lab

• Fri. 4/12

  • Unit 9 Practice #1: Conductors, Insulators and Transfer of Charge

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

Week 30: Tuesday, April 2nd – Friday, April 5th

Welcome back! I hope you had a fun and relaxing Spring Break and are fully recharged to wrap up the course over the next month and a half. During this short week, we're going to begin our brand new unit on electrostatics! Here's what we're doing for the first week of April:

• Mon. 4/1

  • NO SCHOOL

• Tue. 4/2

  • start Unit 9: Electrostatics Model

  • Sticky Tape Lab

• Wed. 4/3

  • notes on transfer of charge by contact and friction

  • start Static Electricity Lab

• Thu. 4/4

  • finish Static Electricity Lab

• Fri. 4/5

  • prepare for the Great American Eclipse! 🔭☀️🌚

Speaking of the eclipse, here's some useful information about the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th:

• 1:59:28 pm: Partial eclipse begins - the moment the edge of the Moon touches the edge of the Sun is called "first contact"

• 3:14:30 pm: Totality begins 😱 - the moment the edge of the Moon covers all of the Sun is called "second contact"

• 3:15:54 pm: Maximum eclipse‼️ - this is the deepest point of the eclipse, with the Sun at its most hidden

• 3:17:17 pm: Totality ends 😭 - the moment the edge of the Moon exposes the Sun is called "third contact"

• 4:29:17 pm: Partial eclipse ends - the moment the edge of the Moon leaves the edge of the Sun is called "fourth contact"

There's also a really cool interactive map of the eclipse path, and you can find out all about the many, many eclipse-related events happening this weekend in Kent at the Kent Total Eclipse 2024 website. Make sure to build a pinhole projector out of cardboard and aluminum foil ahead of time – they're really cool and they work based on something called Huygens' principle that we'll learn about this week!

I hope you have a great week back from Spring Break! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 29: Monday, March 18th – Friday, March 22nd

We've made it to Spring Break! 4th Quarter has begun and we can move into our final topics in the course. Here's what we're doing for the first week of Spring:

• Mon. 3/18

  • BEGIN 4th QUARTER

  • Unit 8 Practice #3: Conservation of Momentum

• Tue. 3/19 🌸

  • Unit 8 Quiz #2

  • review quiz; Extra Momentum Transfer Questions

• Wed. 3/20

  • Unit 8 Test A: Momentum Transfer Model

• Thu. 3/21

  • review test

• Fri. 3/22

  • Unit 8 Test B: Momentum Transfer Model

I hope you have an awesome Spring Break and get lots of rest and relaxation! I'll see you next month. 😎

Week 28: Monday, March 11th – Friday, March 15th

Welcome to the end of 3rd Quarter! I hope you survived the time change over the weekend and you're ready to finish strong. Here's what we're doing for this last week of Winter as we continue our work in Unit 8: Momentum Transfer Model:

• Mon. 3/11

  • finish Unit 8 Practice #2: SOS Diagrams

  • start Momentum in Collisions Lab

• Tue. 3/12

  • finish Momentum in Collisions Lab

• Wed. 3/13

  • discuss lab results

  • Unit 8 Quiz #1

• Thu. 3/14

  • review quiz

  • begin Unit 8 Deployment Lab: Egg Drop!

• Fri. 3/15

  • finish Unit 8 Deployment Lab: Egg Drop!

Seniors, you're 15/16ths done with high school. 😱 I hope you have a great week, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 27: Monday, March 4th – Friday, March 8th

Welcome to the first week of March! Here's what we're doing for this week as we start Unit 8 on momentum:

• Mon. 3/4

  • Unit 7 Test B: Projectile Motion

• Tue. 3/5

  • start Unit 8: Momentum Transfer Model

  • change in momentum demo

• Wed. 3/6

  • Unit 8 Practice #1

• Thu. 3/7

  • Unit 8 Practice #2: SOS Diagrams

• Fri. 3/8

  • PhET Collision Simulation

We only have two weeks left in 3rd Quarter, so make sure you're getting all of your work completed and turned in. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a wonderful week!

Week 26: Monday, February 26th – Friday, March 1st

Welcome to the end of February! To wrap up Black History Month, one last physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (b. 1946). Dr. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. where she attended Roosevelt Senior High School (what a coincidence!) and later enrolled at MIT to study theoretical physics. While at MIT, she advocated for the recruitment and retainment of black students, and was a co-founder of the Black Students' Union. She earned her Bachelor's degree in 1968 and her PhD in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics in 1973, becoming the first black women to earn a Bachelor's degree and the first to earn a PhD from MIT in any field. Dr. Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1976, where she researched the optical and electronic properties of two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional systems. In 1995, she was appointed by President Clinton to serve as chairperson of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, becoming the first woman and the first African American to hold that position. Dr. Jackson became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1999 - the first woman and first African American to hold this position (notice a pattern?) - and served in that role for 23 years, helping to raise over $1 billion in donations for philanthropic causes. She was also the Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board under President Obama from 2014–2017. Dr. Jackson is married to Dr. Morris Washington, a physics professor at RPI, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically African American sorority. What an incredible career!

Here's the plan for this week as we begin to wrap up projectile motion:

• Mon. 2/26

  • Unit 7 Quiz #3

  • work on lab write-up

  • HW: finish "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab write-up

• Tue. 2/27

  • ACT – NO SCHOOL FOR SENIORS (Good luck, Juniors!)

• Wed. 2/28

  • review Quiz #3 & study for test

  • DUE: "Get the Roadrunner!" Deployment Lab write-up

• Thu. 2/29

  • Unit 7 Test A: Projectile Motion

• Fri. 3/1

  • review Unit 7 Test A

  • intro to Unit 8: Momentum Transfer Model

The momentum unit has lots of lab activities involving carts colliding with each other, so those should be a lot of fun! As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week, and good luck to the Juniors taking the ACT on Tuesday!

Week 25: Tuesday, February 20th – Friday, February 23rd

Welcome back from your extended weekend! Another Black physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Edward Alexander Bouchet (1852-1918). Dr. Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut where he attended one of only three schools that admitted Black children. Based on his academic prowess, he was later accepted into Hopkins Grammar School, a private institution that prepared young men to attend Yale, and he graduated first in his class at Hopkins. He became the first Black student to graduate from Yale in 1874, and was the first Black student to ever be nominated for the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 1876, Bouchet successfully completed his dissertation on geometric optics and became the first Black person to ever earn a Ph.D. from an American university as well as only the sixth American of any race to earn a Ph.D. in physics. Unfortunately, despite his accomplishments, Bouchet was unable to obtain a college or university position due to institutional racism, so he moved to Philadelphia to teach at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in its new science program for the next 26 years where he influenced countless Black students. He left in 1902 when the all-white board fired all of the teachers and held a variety of positions in education over the next 14 years, including as principal of Lincoln High School of Gallipolis, Ohio. Illness forced him to retire in 1916 and he passed away in 1918; he never married or had children.

Here's the plan for this week and our last activities in Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 2/19

  • Presidents' Day – NO SCHOOL

• Tue. 2/20

  • LOLOL diagrams in two dimensions

  • ballistics demonstrations

• Wed. 2/21

  • Unit 7 Practice #2

• Thu. 2/22

  • Unit 7 Quiz #2

  • start Deployment Lab - Get the Roadrunner!

• Fri. 2/23

  • finish Deployment Lab

Enjoy your abbreviated week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 24: Monday, February 12th – Thursday, February 15th

Hello again! Another Black physicist I'd like to tell you about is Valerie Thomas (b. 1943). Ms. Thomas earned her degree in physics with honors from Morgan State University and was hired by NASA as a data analyst in 1964. While at NASA, she developed software to analyze real-time data from satellites and oversaw the creation of the Landsat program, the longest-running acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. She also pioneered the use of satellite technology to automate the prediction of crop yields around the world. In 1977, she began research on ways in which light and concave mirrors could be used to transmit 3-D illusions of an object, which led her to invent and patent the "illusion transmitter", a technology still being used by NASA today. Ms. Thomas retired in 1995 and has received many awards, including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal.

Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work in Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 2/12

  • Projectile Motion PhET

• Tue. 2/13

  • Logger Pro video analysis of projectile motion

• Wed. 2/14

  • Horizontal projectiles & marble activity

• Thu. 2/15

  • EARLY RELEASE DAY

  • review vertical & horizontal projectile motion

• Fri. 2/16

  • Teacher PD Day – NO SCHOOL

Enjoy your looong weekend, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 23: Monday, February 5th – Friday, February 9th

Happy Black History Month! Before I list this week's activities, I'd like to tell you about Warren Elliot Henry (1909-2001), who was a Black physicist who studied magnetism and superconductivity. He was valedictorian of his class at the Tuskegee Institute, earned his Masters degree in organic chemistry at Atlanta University, and received a PhD in Physical Chemistry and Physics from the University of Chicago. Some of his work included inventing a metal dewar for liquid helium and a magnetic moment lift for moving samples in and out of a magnetic field. He also established that uranium is a semiconductor and performed experiments on magnetic susceptibility. Dr. Henry earned many awards throughout his life, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Community from the prestigious National Science Foundation. Pretty impressive, to say the least!

Here's the plan for this week as we start Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

• Mon. 2/5

  • Unit 6 Test B: Energy Transfer

• Tue. 2/6

  • class whiteboarding on vertical projectiles

  • Unit 7 Practice #1: Vertical projectiles

• Wed. 2/7

  • Unit 7 Quiz #1: Vertical projectiles

• Thu. 2/8

  • review quiz

  • Projectile Motion PhET

• Fri. 2/9

  • Logger Pro video analysis of projectile motion

This is our last full week of school for a while, because next week we'll only have three and a half school days before having a four-and-a-half day weekend, and then we'll have other interruptions like the ACT. I hope you have a great week, and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Week 22: Monday, January 29th – Friday, February 2nd

Welcome to the end of January! This month has really flown by, although I'm sure that having Winter Break, MLK Jr. Day and three calamity days all helped with that. Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 6:

• Mon. 1/29

  • "Power of a Person" activity

  • Qualitative Energy Storage & Conservation with Bar Graphs

  • DUE: Energy Transfer Stations Lab

• Tue. 1/30

  • Unit 6 Practice #4: Energy Transfer and Power

  • Unit 6 Quiz #2: Energy Calculations

• Wed. 1/31

  • Unit 6 Test A: Energy Transfer

• Thu. 2/1

  • review test

  • Reviewing Energy WS

• Fri. 2/2

  • Unit 6 Test B: Energy Transfer

With any luck, we'll be able to get through a full week without any interruptions as we move into February and one month closer to the end of the school year. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 21: Monday, January 22nd – Friday, January 26th

Hello again! Last week was certainly an interesting series of events. I hope you took advantage of your bonus three-day weekend and got some rest and relaxation! This week, we're going to continue our work on Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

• Mon. 1/22

  • Unit 6 Practice #3: Quantitative LOL Diagrams

• Tue. 1/23

  • Energy Transfer Stations Lab

• Wed. 1/24

  • "Power of a Person" activity

  • Unit 6 Practice #4: Energy Transfer and Power

• Thu. 1/25

  • Unit 6 Quiz #2: Energy Calculations

  • Reviewing Energy WS

• Fri. 1/26

  • Unit 6 Test A: Energy Transfer

The weather this week looks to be much warmer and rainy, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get through all five days without any interruptions. Next week, we'll move on to Unit 7: Projectile Motion. Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 20: Tuesday, January 16th – Friday, January 19th

I hope you enjoyed your three day weekend! This week, we're going to expand our understanding of energy by introducing some equations related to it. Here's the plan:

• Mon. 1/15

  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - NO SCHOOL

• Tue. 1/16

  • Unit 6 Practice #2: LOL Diagrams

• Wed. 1/17 – Snow day!

  • Unit 6 Quiz #1: Qualitative Energy Diagrams

  • intro to energy equations

• Thu. 1/18

  • Unit 6 Quiz #1: Qualitative Energy Diagrams

  • intro to energy equations

• Fri. 1/19 – Snow day!

  • Unit 6 Practice #3

I hope you have a great abbreviated week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 19: Monday, January 8th – Friday, January 12th

Happy New Year, and welcome back from Winter Break! I hope you were able to take some time to rest, relax and recharge before we get right back into the thick of things. Here's the plan for our first school week of 2024 as we start Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

• Mon. 1/8

  • Spring Constant Lab redux

• Tue. 1/9

  • Types of energy

  • start Energy Stations Lab

• Wed. 1/10

  • finish Energy Stations Lab

  • DUE: Spring Constant Lab redux

• Thu. 1/11

  • Pie charts

  • Practice #1

  • DUE: Energy Stations Lab

• Fri. 1/12

  • LOL diagrams

Once we learn how to make LOL diagrams, they'll help us understand energy and how it transfers and transforms, which will make this unit pretty easy. I hope you have a great first week back! Let me know if you have any questions.

Week 18: Monday, December 18th – Friday, December 22nd

We finally made it to the end of 1st Semester! Your exam will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 9:15am in Room 211, so just come to class (on time!) like you usually would after 1st period. The 1st Semester Exam will include questions from all five units so far and will look a lot like your tests. Here's the schedule for the week:

• Mon. 12/18

  • 1st Semester Exam prep

  • HW: work 1st Semester Review packet

• Tue. 12/19

  • 1st Semester Exam prep

  • HW: complete 1st Semester Review packet

• Wed. 12/20

  • 1st Semester Exam @9:15–10:45am

In case you didn't get it last week, the entire exam schedule is available here. I hope all of your exams go smoothly and you have a restful Winter Break. I'll see you in 2024!

Week 17: Monday, December 11th – Friday, December 15th

Welcome back! Here's the plan for the last full week of 1st Semester as we wrap up Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces:

• Mon. 12/11

  • Unit 5 Practice #4

  • DUE: Friction Lab report

• Tue. 12/12

  • Unit 5 Quiz #2

• Wed. 12/13

  • Unit 5 Test A

  • DUE: Unit 5 Practice #4

• Thu. 12/14

  • review test

• Fri. 12/15

  • Unit 5 Test B

  • start 1st Semester Exam prep

Your 1st Semester Exam will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 9:15am and will cover Units 1 through 5. We'll have time in class on Monday and Tuesday to study and prepare for the exam. The entire exam schedule is available here. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Have a great week!

Week 16: Monday, December 4th – Friday, December 8th

Hello again, and welcome to the first week of December! We're going to continue our work on Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces, so here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 12/4

• Coffee Filter Drop Activity

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #2

Tue. 12/5

• finish Coffee Filter Drop Activity

Wed. 12/6

• Unit 5 Practice #3

• DUE: Coffee Filter Drop Activity

Thu. 12/7

• Friction Lab

Fri. 12/8

• finish Friction Lab and work on lab report

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #3

Next week, we'll do one more lab, take one more quiz, and then we'll have our Unit 5 Test, which will be the final test of the semester. After that, we can start preparing for the 1st Semester Exam. As always, let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Week 15: Monday, November 27th – Friday, December 1st

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving Break and are fully recharged. We have three weeks to get through Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces before we take our 1st Semester Exam, which should be plenty of time. Here's the plan for the last week of November:

Mon. 11/27

• review Unit 4 Test B

• introduction to unbalanced forces

Tue. 11/28

• Modified Atwood Machine class demo & whiteboarding

Wed. 11/29

• Unit 5 Practice #1

Thu. 11/30

• Unit 5 Practice #2

Fri. 12/1

• Unit 5 Quiz #1: Modified Atwood's Machine

• DUE: Unit 5 Practice #1

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

PS: Make sure you plug in your Chromebook to charge overnight!

Week 14: Monday, November 13th – Friday, November 17th

We finally made it to Thanksgiving Break! Here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 11/13

• Unit 4 Quiz #2: Velocity vs. Time Graphs

• review quiz & study for test with extra practice

Tue. 11/14

• Unit 4 Test A: Uniform Acceleration

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #4

Wed. 11/15

• review test A

Thu. 11/16

• Unit 4 Test B: Uniform Acceleration

Fri. 11/17

• review test B + something fun?! 🦃

I hope you have a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving Break! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Week 13: Monday, November 6th – Friday, November 10th

Hello again! Here's the plan for the first full week of November as we begin to wrap up Unit 4: Uniform Acceleration:

Mon. 11/6

• UAPM Deployment Lab

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #2

Tue. 11/7

• Unit 4 Quiz #1: Stacks of Graphs

• DUE: PhysQuiz.net Acceleration #1 & #2 (linked on Google Classroom)

Wed. 11/8

• Unit 4 Practice #3

• DUE: UAPM Deployment Lab

Thu. 11/9

• practice quantitative problems (aka "math")

Fri. 11/10

• Unit 4 Practice #4

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #3

We should be able to take our Unit 4 Quiz #2 and Unit 4 Tests A & B next week, right before we go on Thanksgiving Break. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 12: Monday, October 30th – Friday, November 3rd

It's the last week of October, and it's finally starting to feel like Fall! I hope you got out and enjoyed the last bits of nice weather. Here's the plan for this week as we begin our work acceleration:

Mon. 10/30

• begin Unit 4: Uniformly Accelerated Particle Model (UAPM)

• Changing Velocity Lab

Tue. 10/31 🎃

• "Dropping the Ball" demo

Wed. 11/1

• Unit 4 Practice #1

• DUE: Changing Velocity Lab

Thu. 11/2

• Unit 4 Practice #2

Fri. 11/3

• start Volleyball Lab

• DUE: Unit 4 Practice #1

I hope you enjoy the labs and activities in this new unit! Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 11: Monday, October 23rd – Friday, October 27th

Welcome to 2nd Quarter – we're already 1/4 done with the year! Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 3: Balanced Forces:

Mon. 10/23

• BEGIN 2nd QUARTER

• finish Unit 3 Practice #4

Tue. 10/24

• Unit 3 Formative Quiz 2

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #4

Wed. 10/25

• Unit 3 Test A: Balanced Forces

Thu. 10/26

• review Unit 3 Test A

Fri. 10/27

• Unit 3 Test B: Balanced Forces

Next week, we'll start Unit 4: Uniform Acceleration. Have a great week, and get out and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!

Week 10: Monday, October 16th – Friday, October 20th

Welcome back from your 3-day weekend! Here's the plan as we wrap up 1st Quarter:

Mon. 10/16

• review Unit 3 Formative Quiz 1

• finish Balanced Forces Stations Activity

• start Unit 3 Practice #3

• DUE: Balanced Forces Stations Activity

Tue. 10/17

• finish Unit 3 Practice #3

• Newton's Second Law practice quiz on PhysQuiz.net

Wed. 10/18

• Spring Constant Lab

• DUE: Unit 3 Practice #3

Thu. 10/19

• Newton's Third Law demos

• DUE: Newton's Second Law practice quiz on PhysQuiz.net

Fri. 10/20

• END OF 1st QUARTER

• Unit 3 Practice #4

• DUE: Spring Constant Lab

Remember, because it's the end of 1st Quarter, Friday is the last day to turn in any work from Units 1, 2 or 3 for credit. Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 9: Monday, October 9th – Thursday, October 12th

I hope you had a great weekend! This should be a fun week of labs and hands-on activities as we continue to explore the balanced forces model. Here's the plan for our abbreviated week:

Mon. 10/9

• start Little "g" Lab

• Parent-Teacher Conferences 5-8pm - sign up here!

Tue. 10/10

• work on Little "g" Lab write-up

• DUE: Practice Problems #2 - Force Diagrams and Component Forces

Wed. 10/11

• Unit 3 Formative Quiz 1

• start Balanced Forces Stations Activity

• DUE: Little "g" Lab write-up

Thu. 10/12

• EARLY RELEASE DAY

• finish Balanced Forces Stations Activity

Fri. 10/13

• Teacher PD Day – NO SCHOOL

Enjoy your 3-and-a-half-day weekend! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 8: Monday, October 2nd – Friday, October 6th

Welcome to October! Last week, we wrapped up Unit 2 on constant velocity, so now we're going to move on to Unit 3 so we can try to define, identify and measure various forces. Here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 10/2

• start Unit 3: Balanced Forces Particle Model

• Common types of forces

• start Hover Disc Activity

Tue. 10/3

• finish Hover Disc Activity

Wed. 10/4

• Practice Problems #1 - Force Diagrams

• DUE: Hover Disc Activity

Thu. 10/5

• Free body diagrams and component forces

Fri. 10/6

• Practice Problems #2 - Force Diagrams and Component Forces

• DUE: Practice Problems #1 - Force Diagrams

We have some fun hands-on activities planned for this week, so I hope you enjoy them! Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 7: Monday, September 25th – Friday, September 29th

Hi there! Here's what we're doing for the first week of autumn 🍂 as we wrap up Unit 2: Constant Velocity:

Mon. 9/25

• Unit 2 Formative Quiz 2

• finish Unit 2 Practice #3: Position vs. Time Graphs and Velocity vs. Time Graphs

Tue. 9/26

• start Unit 2 Review

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #3: Position vs. Time Graphs and Velocity vs. Time Graphs

Wed. 9/27

• Unit 2 Test A: Constant Velocity

• DUE: Unit 2 Review

Thu. 9/28

• review Unit 2 Test A

Fri. 9/29

• Unit 2 Test B: Constant Velocity

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 6: Monday, September 18th – Friday, September 22nd

Hello again! This week, we're going to wrap up motion maps and graphs so we can move on to determining the average velocity of an object. Here's what we're doing for the last week of summer:

Mon. 9/18

• finish Unit 2 Practice #1: Motion Maps and Position vs. Time Graphs

• Motion Graphs practice quizzes on PhysQuiz.net

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #1: Motion Maps and Position vs. Time Graphs

Tue. 9/19

• Unit 2 Formative Quiz 1

• start Unit 2 Practice #2

Wed. 9/20

• whiteboard Unit 2 Practice #2

Thu. 9/21

• start Unit 2 Practice #3

Fri. 9/22

• finish Unit 2 Practice #3

• DUE: Unit 2 Practice #2

Next week, we'll take our Unit 2 Tests A & B on motion maps and graphing constant velocity. As always, let me know if you have any questions. It looks like the weather is going to be great, so get out and enjoy it while it lasts!

Week 5: Monday, September 11th – Friday, September 15th

Welcome back! I hope you had fun with all the Homecoming festivities this past weekend. This week, we're going to continue our work on graphing constant velocity. Here's the plan for the first full week we've have in a while:

Mon. 9/11

• buggy collisions!

• start Buggies Lab report

Tue. 9/12

• finish Buggies Lab report

Wed. 9/13

• start Motion Detector Lab

• DUE: Buggies Lab report

Thu. 9/14

• finish Motion Detector Lab

Fri. 9/15

• start Practice #2: Motion Graphs

• DUE: Motion Detector Lab

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 4: Tuesday, September 5th – Friday, September 8th

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! We're wrapping up Unit 1 this week and moving on to Unit 2: Constant Velocity. Here's the plan for this hot, hot week:

Mon. 9/4

• Labor Day – NO SCHOOL

Tue. 9/5

• Unit 1 Test B - Scientific Measurements

Wed. 9/6

• start Unit 2: Constant Velocity

• start Buggies Lab

Thu. 9/7

• finish Buggies Lab

Fri. 9/8

• whiteboard and discuss lab results

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything at all. Stay cool!

Week 3: Monday, August 28th – Friday, September 1st

I hope you enjoyed your unexpected 3-day weekend! Here's what we're doing in class for the last week of August:

Mon. 8/28

• dimensional analysis (a.k.a. unit conversions)

• DUE: Spaghetti Bridge Lab Report

Tue. 8/29

• SI Conversions practice quiz on PhysQuiz.net

• complete Unit 1 review packet

Wed. 8/30

• Unit 1 Test A - Scientific Measurements

Thu. 8/31

• review Test A

Fri. 9/1

• Unit 1 Test B - Scientific Measurements

Keep up the great work, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 2: Monday, August 21st – Friday, August 25th

Welcome to the first full week of the 2023-2024 school year! Now that we've had a few days to get to know each other and practice taking and interpreting data, we can get to work! Here's what we're doing in class this week:

• finish Bouncing Ball Lab

• complete Spaghetti Bridge Lab

I hope you had a great first week and that you were able to get some rest this weekend before we attempt to go to school for five full days without strange bell schedules or burning birds. Let me know you have any questions!