October marks the beginning of the last four weeks of first quarter. Stay strong!

This Week in AP Physics
This week we will accelerate through the study of force and Newton’s laws by digging our grip into the topics of friction, terminal velocity, and Newton’s third law. Homework 3 will be due on Wednesday or Thursday, as announced, and homework 4 will likely be due on Friday or early the following week. We’ve also got one more lab to move through, the Friction and Vector Analysis of Forces experiment. This is a lot to force into one week, and I don’t want you to experience too much tension, so expect some of it to be pushed into the following week, when we will also have our unit test. (Your lab report for the modified Atwood apparatus experiment is due by the end of this week.)

This Week in Physics
We will complete our study of one-dimensional motion by exploring free fall . This will include doing assignment 4 together in class and running some simulations. Once we are done, we will take the unit 1 test and will then start unit 2 on two-dimensional motion. When announced, please take notes on unit 2’s VIDEO 1: Introduction to Vector Operations.

Cool Science of the Week
Baby sloths make the CUTEST sounds. Like, seriously. They’re basically squeak toys. Check out this sweet video from the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, which focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation and research of sloths as well as conserving their rainforest habitat.

“Obsessed!!!”
~Mrs. Burgess

The end of this week marks the interim of first quarter. Please check PowerSchool to make sure your grade is where you want it to be as you strive for excellence! 

This Week in AP Physics
We will continue to work our way through our unit on mass, force, and Newton’s laws. If you did not turn it in on Friday, your Inertial Mass vs Gravitational Mass lab is due on Monday. Homework 1 will be due Tuesday. We have covered all topics for that homework, so feel free to start this weekend. As the week progresses we will dive deeper into tension, Newton’s second law, and friction, resulting in our ability to do homework 2 when assigned. It’s a long one, and we have touched on some of the topics. Feel free to work ahead to the extent that you can if you know you have a busy week ahead. We’ll round out the week with some deliciously interesting practice problems in class and will perform a classic Newton’s Second Law experiment for which you will get to write a formal lab report. Hooray! Expect a test at the end of the following week or (more likely) during the first half of the week after that. (This may feel like a lot, but it will pace itself out nicely, especially if you get a chance to work ahead.)

This Week in Physics
We will enter the final phase of unit 1. First and third periods, goal set 3 is due on Monday, and we will have a quiz over goal set 3 on Monday, as well. Third period: Notes from video 4 are due at the start of class on Monday. First period, yours are due for Tuesday. (Eleventh period angels, if you’re behind on any of that, this weeknd is your chance to catch up.) We’ll move through lots of practice on the kinematic equations and free fall and will segue into assignment 4 as the week progresses. Expect a test early the following week (but not that Monday, because I would never give you a test on the Monday after homecoming weekend.)

Cool Science of the Week
Hey, did you hear that the BROWNS WON??? I don’t know about you, but I loved seeing the spiral on the ball of Baker Mayfield’s amazing passes. Why do quarterbacks put spin on the ball? Physics, of course! 
FUN FACT: The photographer who took the picture below is a friend of your teacher’s family!

Photo credit: Ken Blaze, USA TODAY Sports

This Week in AP Physics
We will complete our projectile experiment in class on Monday and will also begin Newtonian Mechanics unit 3 on mass, force, and Newton’s laws. We’ll focus first on the study of force, mass, and gravity, and our studies will include practice problems and an experiment on Inertial Mass vs Gravitational Mass. Homework 1 will be due during this week. By the end of the week we will begin exploring Newton’s laws of motion. This is a longer unit, so we will not be testing until the week after next.

This Week in Physics
We will continue to explore acceleration, which was covered in VIDEO 3: Acceleration, which you should have already taken notes from. We will do more hands-on activities and will complete assignment 2 together in class, followed by a quiz over goal set 3 when announced. When assigned, please take notes on the final lecture for this unit, VIDEO 4: Kinematics and Free Fall. 

Cool Science of the Week
As we sadly watch the trauma unfold in the Carolinas this weekend due to Hurricane Florence, you might be interested in a very mesmerizing and informative website that allows you to watch wind currents over the continental U.S. in real time. Check it out!

The above image is an archival one of October 30, 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, which you may remember having a major impact here in Avon Lake, causing power outages for many days as the winds came over Lake Erie.

Please be careful to read the assignments for the class you’re in (AP or regular.)

This Week in AP Physics
On Monday homework 1 from unit 2 is due. During the week we will finish unit 2 by completing notes, doing a second problem packet in class, completing homework 2 from unit 2 at home (due Wednesday), and running a projectile experiment in class. Test the following week! Woot!

This Week in Physics
On Monday we will (continue to) work on Assignment Fun 1 together in class. (It is not homework for the weekend.) When we are done with that you will do goal set 2 for homework (as announced, likely due Tuesday) followed by a quiz over goal sets 1 & 2. When announced please take notes over VIDEO 3: Acceleration. We will do various activities about acceleration in class followed by another assignment.

Cool Science of the Week
Bruce the vegetarian shark may be more real than we thought! Scientists have recently discovered that bonnethead sharks eat sea grass in addition to preying on critters, making them the first species of shark to be reclassified as omnivores instead of carnivores. Baby shark!

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!)

Senior exams begin this week! Congratulations to our seniors! Junior exams are the following week. The exams cover units 4-8. Both schedules are below. The following assignments are for juniors only: For Monday be sure to have completed notes on unit 8 podcast 2. By Tuesday or Wednesday (as announced in your class period) be sure to compete notes on unit 8 podcast 3. Unfortunately due to our snow week and other bumps in the road, there will be no time for in-class exam review. 

Have a safe, happy prom weekend to those of you going and a great weekend to all!

Remember to read past the Cool Science of the Week to find your assignments.

Cool Science of the Week
What to do with dry, barren land? What to do with thousands of gorgeous trees dug up far away to make way for construction? Check out what Kanha Shantivanam ashram in India is doing to transport the trees and replant them to rehabilitate both the trees and the land! The land you see below was completely barren until a few years ago, and groundwater has risen hundreds of feet! Ideas!!!

This Week in Physics
Cedar Point week is finally upon us! Yay! We will spend three of the days this week working on this project (including our trip on Thursday) leaving us with just two days to continue to pursue our glorious mastery of electric circuits. In addition, seniors should take note of the senior exam schedule for next week, and juniors should note the junior exam schedule for the week after next. Your exams cover units 4-8. There will be no in-class review, so please begin studying at home.

Please read past the Cool Science of the Week to find your assignments.

Cool Science of the Week
Last week we discovered that meteorites from a planet, Theia, that was destroyed early in the life of our solar system have landed on Earth. It turns out that Theia was destroyed when it crashed into another planet, partially melting the planet and spewing gobs of both the planet and itself into space. Some of the bits in space congealed over time due to gravity to make one awesome moon that is, in fact, visible from Earth without a telescope. Why is it so easily seen from Earth? Because the planet that was hit (plus the bits of Theia that got mixed in) IS Earth, and the aforementioned moon is OUR moon. Hence, not only do we occasionally get meteorites from Theia’s destroyed remnants that soar through space, but some of Theia’s mass stayed behind here on Earth and the moon, mixing in imperceptibly over time. You’ve been walking around on another planet your whole life and never knew it!

This Week in Physics
State testing schedules are now behind us, so hopefully we can move at a more normal pace. On Monday we will finish assignment 4 and goal set 4. This is due Tuesday regardless of whether you are taking the AP Psychology test on Monday. Our unit 7 test will take place on the date decided upon by your class. We will then begin unit 8 with podcasts due as announced. Remember that your Electric Fields Lab is due as announced in your class period (3rd: Tuesday, 8th: Friday, 11th: Tuesday.) Details on the lab report are in last week’s blog entry.

This week we begin the last month of the school year! Hard to believe…
Be sure to read past the Cool Science of the Week to find your assignments for the week.

Cool Science of the Week
Diamond meteorites! Diamond meteorites from a planet that was destroyed in our early solar system when it collided with… ahem… another planet! Basically our early solar system was a chaotic mess of objects large and small that often collided and obliterated each other. Occasionally we find meteoritic remnants of these planets, and the meteorites of one particular planet, called Theia, have diamonds in them. The diamonds are only nano-sized, meaning on the magnitude of billionths of a meter, but it’s still cool that we have diamond-filled meteorites occasionally raining down on us. Next week: Could there be more parts of Theia on Earth than just the meteorites? Cliffhanger!

This Week in Physics
OST testing has reduced what we were able to accomplish last week, so we need to tie up some loose ends. We will finish assignment 3 and then take a quiz over goal set 3 as announced. When announced please take notes on PODCAST 4: Electric Potential Energy, Electric Potential, and Potential Difference. We will do assignment 4 and will take the unit test on electrostatics by the end of the week. LAB REPORT: We will discuss our results from the Electric Fields Lab. The lab report will be due on the date announced in your class. You must share your Google document with me at my @alstudent.org address. You must then upload your document to TurnItIn.com by 3:00 p.m. on the due date. The class ID is 16214937, and the password to join the class is Tesla.