Foundation Science

Preview of the Physics Course

Sample Learning Experiences

View sample learning experiences [pdf]: Teacher Guide and Student Book

Physics at a Glance

The two semesters of Foundation Science: Physics are designed to be the equivalent of a full year introductory course in physics at the introductory high school level. Throughout the two semesters, the most pivotal topics are forces and energy. By building a strong foundation in describing the interactions that arise from forces and the different ways in which energy is transformed and transferred, students will be able to go on to develop a strong conceptual understanding of many topics in physics. Throughout both semesters, students also study examples of technology that are related to physics. They learn the basics principles that make possible wheels, waterwheels, circuits, capacitors, generators, motors, sonar, lenses, heat engines, and air conditioning systems. Every effort has been made to align content to national standards.

Short overviews and tables that describe outlines for the first and second semesters of Foundation Science: Physics follow.

First Semester (Physics 1)

The first semester of Foundation Science: Physics is an introduction to the main concepts of physics, which are the measurement of motion, forces, Newton’s Laws, energy, electricity, waves, and heat.

Learning Experience	Science Concepts	Learning Activities
Course Introduction
1. What Is This Thing Called "Physics"?	Introduction to motion, force, and energy	Students design a Rube Goldberg machine and analyze and ask questions about the principles of physics involved in their machine.
Unit 1: Motion and the Laws of Motion
2. A Perfect Race: Measuring Changes in Motion	Speed, velocity, acceleration	Students design an investigation to determine their own velocity. They work with data to calculate, graph, and compare velocity and acceleration.
3. Physics on the Playground: Diagramming Forces	Types of forces, force interactions, Newton's Third Law	Students observe a variety of forces and diagram the forces acting on children using playground equipment. Students propose force-measuring devices that could be built in a physics playground.
4. Battle on Heartbreak Hill: Controlling Changes in Motion	Newton's First Law, Newton's Second Law	Students determine force and acceleration of a cart on a ramp and see if the variables are related. They use what they learn to describe strategies that will help the wheelchair racers reach faster speeds going up and down hills.
Unit 2: Energy and Energy Transformations
5. The Car of the Future: Describing Energy Transformations	Energy as the ability to do work, forms of energy, energy transformations	Students analyze energy forms and transformations in an automobile and design and build their own devices to do work. They analyze the energy transformations in a gas-powered car and in a hybrid car and create an ad for the hybrid car.
6. As the Paddlewheel Turns: Measuring Energy	Calculating work, potential and kinetic energy	Students design and execute their own experiment to know the relationship among mass, height, and gravitational potential energy.
Unit 3: Energy Transfer
7. The Big Blackout: Monitoring Electric Circuits	Electric circuits, electric fields, Ohm’s Law, power, energy transfer in circuits	Students analyze energy transfer in circuits and then apply their understanding to energy transfer in the electric grid.
8. The Ride to End All Rides: Describing Waves	Waves as energy transfer, wave types, wave measurements, wave interactions	Students observe how waves are generated, create different types of waves, learn how waves are measured, and describe wave interactions. Students apply their knowledge to predict how ocean waves act.
9. The Hotshots: Identifying Transfers of Heat	Heat, thermal equilibrium, internal energy, temperature, heat capacity, heat flow equation, conduction, radiation, convection	Students investigate heat flow, heat capacity, and different types of heat transfer in the lab, and then use this knowledge to analyze a fire situation.
Course Conclusion
10. Build It and They Will Learn	Applying the principles of motion, force, and energy	Students redesign and build their Rube Goldberg machines using criteria based on the principles of physics they have been exploring.

Second Semester (Physics 2)

In the second semester of Foundation Science: Physics, students are given an opportunity to further apply and deepen their understanding of the concepts introduced in the first semester. Students study the topics of gravity, projectile motion, momentum, induction (electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic), sound, light, and thermodynamics.

Learning Experience	Science Concepts	Learning Activities
Course Introduction
1. Introduction: Exploring Technology	Interdependence of science and technology	Students read about and present information about a technology’s operation and uses, and identify its underlying science concepts.
Unit 1: Motion in One and Two Dimensions
2. The Plunge of His Life: Investigating Free Fall	Free fall, Newton’s law of gravitation, weight as a measure of gravitational force, Newton’s second law, Hooke’s law, free-body diagrams	Students analyze the motion of and the forces on a bungee jumper and use what they learn to describe methods for providing the right bungee cord for each jumper.
3. Game Hunters of Prehistory: Describing Projectile Motion	Motion in two dimensions, free fall, Newton’s first law, vectors	Students analyze projectile motion and break it down into vertical and horizontal components. They investigate how launch angle affects the range of a projectile.
4. Seven in the Corner Pocket: Investigating Momentum	Momentum, impulse, momentum-impulse theorem, law of conservation of momentum, one- and two-dimensional motion, vectors	Students investigate the variables that affect collisions and then create their own "Hollywood" pool shot. They describe each part of their shot using concepts of momentum.
Unit 2: Electricity and Magnetism
5. Storm Chasers: Feeling the Force of Electricity	Positive and negative charges, electric forces, electric fields, electrical charging by induction, triboelectric series	Students observe electrical attraction and repulsion and reproduce lightning on a small scale in the classroom. Students describe the movement and buildup of electric charge.
6. Protection in Space: Understanding Electromagnetism	Magnets, magnetic forces, magnetic fields, electromagnets, electromagnetic induction	Students explore magnets and magnetic fields, investigate how electricity and magnetism are related, and make an electromagnet. Students use what they learn to propose a way to create a magnetic field around a spaceship.
Unit 3: Sound and Light
7. Do You See What I Hear?: Making Pictures with Sound	Sound waves, frequency, wave speed, resonance, reflection, sonar, Doppler shift, sonograms	Students explore how sound waves travel in different materials, and use what they learn to explain how undersea objects are located with sonar techniques.
8. It's Not Magic, It's Physics: Illusions with Light	Light as a wave, reflection, refraction, absorption, transmission, color, filters, optical illusions	Students investigate properties of light and color, and use what they learn to explain how the Pepper's Ghost optical illusion is created.
Unit 4: Thermodynamics
9. Under the Hood: Thermodynamics of Internal Combustion Engines	Heat engine, internal energy, heat, work, first law of thermodynamics, second law of thermodynamics, ideal gas law, internal combustion engine, Otto cycle, efficiency, pressure-volume diagrams	Students explore how the laws of thermodynamics govern the operation of heat engines and use what they learn to describe the heat flow and work done during the Otto cycle of an internal combustion car engine.
Course Conclusion
10. The Final Challenge: Explaining Technology	Interdependence of science and technology	Students again present information about a technology, and this time explain one of its underlying science concepts in depth.

Outline subject to change.

EDC: Center for Science Education