11th+Physics

Jeremy Goodreau jgoodreau@chinquapin.org 972-345-5784 // You may email me at any time. I will take calls/texts for homework help from 7 - 9:30 Monday through Thursday and weekend afternoons from 1-6, excluding when the Cowboys are playing. //  Boundless, //Boundless Physics//, 2013
 * // Physics //**
 * Text: **

I graduated from Rice University in May 2011, with a degree in Kinesiology and History. History was an academic hobby of mine, but Kinesiology was a passion. Over the coming year I hope to share this passion for the science with you. I tend to approach this class with a nerdy enthusiasm that many of you will find weird and curious. Over time, I hope some of that seemingly unnecessary giddiness about subatomic particles and properties of matter rubs off on you. I get bored easily and have a tendency to be constantly moving and finding ways to occupy myself. I enjoy pushing myself and others around me to try new things and to work and play harder. I am passionate about several things including sports and cooking, but I absolutely hate hearing food (especially gum) being chewed and when people are late. As this is a very interesting (engaging) science class (no food or drink) I know I will not have to worry about either. To me, walking into a movie late while the person sitting next to me is chewing gum loudly is the absolute worst situation imaginable.
 * About Me: **

This course is designed to develop the skills and background needed by students who plan to take a college level physics course. Therefore, the topics covered parallel those studies: motion, forces, energy, matter, thermodynamics, waves, optics, electricity, and magnetism. It is my goal that we have a very productive and enjoyable year. In order to do so, we need to establish the policies and procedures by which we will operate. The course will be centered around a series of projects that will require you to use the knowledge gained during that unit to create and evaluate a system to accomplish some task. The projects will all be multi-day tests of your mastery of the concepts you will be learning.
 * The Class: **

For the course we will constantly be working towards a couple big goals- **__we will all conduct the process of science__**. While I realize that some of you may have no desire to become engineers or lab researchers, you will all have the opportunity to experience the process of scientific inquiry and exploration. The projects and labs we will conduct in class this year will develop the skills necessary for you to conduct your own scientific inquiry. More importantly, scientific process skills are applicable to many aspects of life, and are generally good problem solving skills. The main way we will assess this goal is through your performance on labs and projects. Secondly, **__we will develop an understanding of physical systems and their histories of discovery.__** The physical world is full of moving systems and parts, and an understanding of their working helps us better understand both the animate and inanimate world around us. To do this, we must also have a strong understanding of the history of Physics, so we can use or adapt methods of experimentation and exploration. We will know we have achieved these understandings through labs and tests. Academically, over the course of the year, you should expect to master a wide range of themes, concepts, skills, and content that will align closely to those fostered in an introductory physics class in college. Along these lines, we have identified 5 questions that we will be constantly coming back to throughout the entire course. They are-
 * Goals: **

What is the process of scientific discovery? How does it affect our society, life, and technology? How does energy flow through the world? What are the physical properties of matter? How do the properties of matter relate to each other? How do objects interact?

These themes will be constantly referenced and included over the course of the semester. It is my final goal that all students will be able to thoroughly answer each of these questions.

You will quickly find out that I expect a lot out of you. To put this concisely I have come up with three overarching expectations for you-
 * Expectations: **

Main Idea: 1.

2.

3.

A final note- I fully believe that, while this is my class, the ultimate responsibility for your education lies with you. The saying, //“My class, my rules. Your education your responsibility”// succinctly describes this. I will set the classroom rules and procedures, but what happens in the classroom largely depends on you. The more responsible you are, the more I can trust you to take on more freedom in my class. Over the years, I have found that my students are the ones that set the tone in the class. The more I can trust a class to motivate themselves and to be responsible students, the more relaxed I become. In other words, the more adult you guys are as a collective, the more enjoyable this class will be. We will learn more and have a lot more fun doing it.

Over the course of the year, several procedures will be implemented in the class for a variety of routines. Everyone is expected to follow all procedures. Any disruption will result in a loss of valuable class time, and that is unacceptable. Disruptions and misbehaviors cost everyone in the class an opportunity to learn. __Therefore disruptions will often result in the entire class having more work to do at home.__ You are expected to be on time for class. By the time the bell rings, you are expected to be silently working on the Warm Up with everything you will need for the day out. __Failure to be in your seat and working with all of your supplies out when the bell rings will result in a tardy. Per the handbook, 5 tardies results in a Friday.__ If you know you will be absent, you are required to talk to me to discuss missed assignments and due dates before you leave. If you are unexpectedly absent, simply talk to me about it as soon as you can. If you are absent for an extended period, it really helps both me and //__YOU__// if you can find a way to email or call while you are away. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any work that is copied or paraphrased without citation will be given a zero, and will result in disciplinary action. I regularly compare students' work to check for this.
 * Rules and Procedures: **

__There are two different grading systems in this class!__ At the end of the first semester, I stop giving any points for homework. For each semester, grades will be determined using the following scales.
 * Assignments and Grading: **

Lab/Quiz Tests and Projects Triweekly Participation ||  25 % 15 %     50 %      10 %   ||   0%      20%      70%      10%   ||
 * || ** 1st Semester **  ||  ** 2nd Semester **  ||
 * Homework

A few notes about assignments- If you are responsible with your homework and in class assignments, as well as active in class, you should expect to have no trouble passing. I view in class assignments and homework as benchmarks that are there for your feedback, not punitive assessments. We will be using an online system for our HW, Quizzes, and Tests. For HW, the website offers you multiple attempts and gives you instant feedback on whether the answer was correct or not. I also provide the solutions and correct work at the due date for all HW assignments. Homework is generally due at 10 pm the night it was assigned, and I expect you to come to class with questions on any problems you didn’t understand. No incomplete **__or inadequate__** work will ever be accepted; it will be considered late. There will be a 25% deduction per day that work is turned in late. Extra credit will never be accepted late. You can count on at least one lab or quiz per week. These are designed to give you benchmarks for the larger tests and projects. Generally, the quizzes are 20-30 minute problem sets that check in on your knowledge mastery and retention from the HWs. The labs will walk you through processes that you will need to have mastered to be successful on the lab. The tests will be a fix of multiple choice, conceptual physics problems, and short answer problems that you work out. They will focus on material from that unit, but may require material from earlier units to be worked into the answer. For the projects, the format and goals will vary, but you will have plenty of time to prepare. Participation will also be factored into your grade. Showing up, finishing all assignments, and answering questions when called on will earn 8/10 points. For full credit, you are expected to engage the material on your own and come to class with questions. Failure to complete a major assignment will result in a maximum grade of a 59 for the quarter. Failure to complete two major assignments will result in a maximum grade of a 59 for the semester. Finally, semester grades will be calculated as 40% for each of the marking periods and 20% for the Exam.

The course will be divided into 8 approximately 4-week units. The general structure for these units will be-
 * Schedule: **


 * General Content || General Content || General Content || General Content || Quiz and Lab ||
 * General Content || General Content || General Content || Lab ||  ||
 * General Content || General Content || Quiz || Project Workday || Project ||
 * Project wrap-up || Catch Up || Review || Test ||  ||

Below is a tentative schedule of what we will cover and when we will cover it. Exact dates are subject to change, but we will stick very close to this schedule.

Newtons Laws of Motion || Note Taking Collecting and analyzing data Lab equipment and safety || Egg-Drop || Motion in two dimensions Energy || Collecting and analyzing data Creating and analyzing graphs || Trebuchets || Impulse and Momentum || Creating and Analyzing Graphs Providing Evidence || Rocket Wars || Circular Motion Rotational Momentum || Providing Evidence Evaluating Evidence || Centrifuges || Scientific Writing || Rockets || Circuits || Providing Evidence Evaluating Evidence || Circuits ||
 * **// Unit //** ||  **// Topic //**  ||  **// Skills //**  ||  **// Project //**  ||
 * 1  || Motion in one dimension
 * 2  || Vectors
 * || End 1st Quarter ||  ||   ||
 * 3  || Energy
 * 4  || Gravity
 * || End 2nd Quarter ||  ||   ||
 * 5  || Thermodynamics || Lab Equipment and Safety
 * 6  || Fluids || Scientific Writing || Tankers ||
 * || End 3rd Quarter ||  ||   ||
 * 7  || Electric Forces and Fields
 * 8  || Magnetism and Electromagnetism || Evaluating Evidence || Magnet Guns ||
 * || End 4th Quarter ||  ||   ||