This Week in AP Physics
We will add finishing touches to our Acceleration due to Gravity experiment on Monday. The lab report for this is due the following Monday, September 23 with an upload due to TurnItIn.com by that Tuesday at 3:00pm. To begin our study of two-dimensional motion we will examine vector operations. Guided Reading number 1 is due on Monday. In addition by Tuesday, please watch and take notes on podcasts 2-6 from this webpage. We will solve practice problems in class and then quickly move onto an examination of projectile motion. Guided Reading number 2 will be due as announced. Toward the end of the week/beginning of next week we will do another experiment with our Projectile Motion Lab. Expect the test over this unit (unit 2) toward the end of the following week.

This Week in Physics
For Monday please take notes on Podcast 6 – Acceleration Signs vs. Velocity Signs. We will complete assignment 3 in class followed by a quiz the next day. Third period, you also have a quiz on Monday over Podcast 5 – Introduction to Acceleration (covered in assignment 3.) For Tuesday or Wednesday (as announced) please take notes on Podcast 7 – Introduction to Kinematic Equations and Podcast 8 – Kinematic Equations Sample Problem. We will spend some time developing and solving multiple problems involving motion by using these equations. Then we will do assignment 4 in class followed by a quiz. We are nearing the completion of this unit, so plan for a unit 1 test the following week. Final note: Your lab report for the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab is due on Tuesday, September 17 at the start of class. Please hand in one hard copy per writing team. In addition, you must upload one copy of your team’s report to TurnItIn.com. If you already have an account, you can add the class using the class ID 6936831 and the password Tesla. If you don’t already have a TurnItIn.com account, you can use this class ID to create your account. The upload is due by 3:00 on Wednesday, September 18.

This Week in Astronomy
On Monday we will complete our examination of the north declination sky including the celestial north pole. On Tuesday we will do a very cool virtual lab using the Stellarium program. Note that this is free software that you can use to help you study and to help you have fun. 🙂 Following the lab we will have a quiz over the celestial north pole, the north declination sky, and the celestial equator. Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars will support your studies. We will follow up by examining the phenomenon of seasonal constellations toward the end of the week. Anticipate a unit 1 test early the following week.

Cool Science of the Week
You’ve never seen camouflage like this! Check out the amazing camo abilities of cephalopods such as the octopus featured in this video. You’ve never seen anything like it (most likely)!