Enjoy a day off on Monday for Labor Day, a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Except in extreme circumstances I do not give homework over three-day weekends, so please relax, refuel, and have fun!

This Week in AP Physics
On Tuesday we will begin unit 2 by taking some swell notes and doing some sample problems. Unlike with summer work, you do not need to print anything from our website; I will have all copies for you. On Wednesday we will take our unit 1 test, which, like all of our tests, will consist of a timed multiple choice section and a timed free response section. You will have access to the AP Physics 1 equation sheet during the test. Please be sure to bring a scientific calculator. I recommend going to our unit 1 page and exploring the “helpful websites” linked from there to help you study. By Thursday please hand in your formal lab report for the Acceleration due to Gravity experiment, being sure to use the Lab Report Writing Guide and Lab Report Rubric to guide your writing. You do not need to upload to TurnItIn.com. On Thursday and Friday we will continue to take notes and do practice problems from unit 2.

This Week in Physics
During this week we will complete our Analysis of Uniform Motion experiment and will unpack what we learned from it in order to prepare ourselves to explore our new set of learning goals, goal set 2. When assigned after your class completes the experiment, please take notes at home on VIDEO 2: Interpreting Graphs of Position vs Time. We will go over this in class and will then do practice problems (“Assignment Fun 1”) together in class. (Remember that when a video is assigned there may be an open-note video pop quiz, so please be prepared.)

Cool Science of the Week
I love it when art and science collide, because so often people think that the two are diametrical opposites of each other. Learn how chemists are working to preserve plastic artwork and cultural treasures that have begun deteriorating, such as the ones below. (Below left is the first artificial heart (1969), and right is “Woman Eating” by sculptor Duane Hanson (1971). Both contain multiple types of plastic.)

Welcome to the new school year! Be sure to sign up for your class Remind accounts using the instructions shown below. IF YOU ARE A STUDENT FROM LAST YEAR, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO UNSUBSCRIBE USING THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL (unless you want to keep reliving these gorgeous physics memories.) Read on for your class assignments for the coming week.

This week in AP Physics (For non-AP Physics read below.)
For Monday please finish as homework the problem packet we began in class on Friday. As the week progresses we will do as homework the problems assigned in the Lesson Plan with Objectives and Homework Assignment listed as “Homework 2” and “Homework 3” at the end of the document. We will determine the due dates for these as the week progresses, but if you’re feeling inspired you can begin now. (We’ve covered all of the topics.) Also this week we will do two experiments: Lab 1 – Uniform vs. Accelerated Motion and Lab 2 – Acceleration due to Gravity. Expect the unit 1 test early next week.

This Week in Physics
For Monday please take notes only on video 1 from unit 1. It is always possible that there will be an open-note quiz over assigned video lectures, so be sure to write everything down that is shown on the screen. Also I recommend jotting down questions you want to ask so that you remember them when we skim through this material in class. We will be diving into some sample problems and our Analysis of Uniform Motion lab in class, so to be prepared you will need to come to class on Monday having already taken notes on this lecture. After our lab and only when announced, please take notes on video 2 from unit 1.

REMIND
AP Physics: Remind AP Physics Join Codes
Physics: Remind Physics Join Codes

Cool Science of the Week
In some of my classes this week we discussed the dimensions of the universe and string theory. This video does a nice job of simplifying the incredibly not simple concept of strings and the standard model. (Cool Science of the Week is not required viewing, but it’s AWESOME!)