HAPPY THANKSGIVING! This blog entry covers the week of Thanksgiving and the week after, since we only see each other for TWO DAYS next week!

These Weeks in AP Physics
We will continue to strive for excellence as we complete our investigation of linear momentum. We will study the role of kinetic energy in different types of collisions by taking some AWESOME and INSPIRING notes, doing our last homework of the unit, doing some EXCITING practice problems, and conducting a RAD experiment! Then we’ll take our momentum unit test. Woot! Next up: circular and rotational motion #thankful!

These Weeks in Physics
For Monday, please complete goal set 1 from unit 3. We will take a quiz over this goal set on Monday. Please take notes on Video 2: Friction by the date announced right here for your class period: 3rd and 11th periods due Monday, 1st period due Tuesday. We will go over this topic, do assignment 2, do a spectacular experiment, and when announced take a quiz over goal set 2. Following that, if announced, please take notes on Video 3: Elastic Force. It will be fabulous! #thankful!

Cool Science of these Weeks
Meet the Balloonatics! This is the team of people who engineer the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and believe it or not, they use PHYSICS…some of the same physics we’ve been learning, in fact! Here’s a short video from Science Friday that shows you how it’s done! Below the video I’ve included the science of cranberries, which I think is really cool.

The science of CRANBERRIES! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE to make homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Did you know that cranberries are grown in BOGS? They’re grown on vines like strawberries, but they thrive if those vines are planted in wetlands. That’s cool. Also, 60% of our cranberries come from Wisconsin, while 25% come from Massachusetts, and if you have the chance to head out to those states, you can go to a cranberry farm (like we go to blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry farms here.) Here’s a little more information and a couple of awesome pictures.

This week is the third week of second quarter, and it’s almost Thanksgiving! Yay!

This Week in AP Physics
We will explore the law of conservation of linear momentum in systems this week by taking some enlightening and exciting notes, doing some intellectually stimulating practice problems, completing a mind-blowing experiment, and doing a very fulfilling homework 2. None of this is hyperbole. That last sentence was not glib. These are not the droids you’re looking for. By the end of the week we will explore the role of energy in collisions. Woot!

This Week in Physics
For Monday please take notes on unit 3 video 1, Net External Force, Weight, and Normal Force. We will do assignment 1 together in class and will take a quiz over goal set 1 as announced. When assigned please take notes on video 2, Friction.

Cool Science of the Week
In September researchers announced an incredible breakthrough treatment for paralyzed victims of spinal cord injuries. The treatment involves implanting a stimulator directly into the spinal cord to prompt the spinal cord to “relearn” how to move limbs. The man walking below is “paralyzed.” At long last, there is some real hope!Photo credit: NBC News

Mark your calendars for May 21! Our field trip to Cedar Point is approved for that day. While it’s not mandatory, if you’d like to go, you can toss it with confidence on your calendar now.

This Week in AP Physics
Problem packet 3 is due on Monday, when we will tie up loose ends from unit 4 on energy. The unit test will be Tuesday. This week we will also begin our unit on linear momentum. There are three topics in this unit, and we should work through the first topic, first homework, and first lab throughout the week. Woot!

This Week in Physics
This week we will take a quiz over horizontally-launched projectiles, complete goal set 2, do an experiment on projectiles, explore projectiles launched at an angle, and take our unit 2 test. YEAH! Here’s one more optional practice problem for your enjoyment. The solution is on page 2, so scroll for it. (Please see below for what is due for your particular class on Monday/Tuesday, as the schedules differ based on lab period.) By the end of the week we’ll begin talking about forces on our path toward Newton’s laws. If assigned, please take notes on unit 3’s video 1 on net external force, weight, and normal force.
Period 1: Goal set 2 is due on Monday, and we will take the quiz on Monday. The lab is Tuesday.
Period 3: Assignment 3 and goal set 2 are due on Monday. We will do the lab on Monday. The quiz is Tuesday.
Period 11: We will do the lab on Monday. Goal set 2 and the quiz are for Tuesday.

Cool Science of the Week
In these post-Halloween, candy-heavy days it’s fun to think about all of the critters we unintentionally live with. A new study is asking people to seek out and photograph the spiders and insects who keep us company. Grab that phone and take some snaps!

Image credit: The New York Times

Welcome to the first week of the second quarter! Woot! Remember that there is no school for students on Monday, making this a short week for us. 🙁

This Week in AP Physics
This week we will complete our unit 4 study of energy. We will complete notes and do practice problems on Tuesday, and homework 2 will be due on Wednesday. (You probably can figure out most of homework 2 already, so if you’d like to get started, don’t hold back!) Throughout the rest of the week we will cover the topic of power and will do another set of practice problems. If this weren’t a short week we’d certainly be ready to test by Friday, but there is the possibility that we will test this unit at the start of the week of November 5. Our next move will be our unit on momentum!

This Week in Physics
We will continue to practice the math associated with projectile motion, as discussed in videos 3 and 4, which you’ve already taken notes from. In class we’ll do practice sets, assignments 3 and 4, and a lab. This will spill into the week of November 5. Expect the unit test sometime that week. Then we’ll force our way into unit 3 on Newton’s laws!

Cool Science of the Week
I’d love for you to have awesome jobs that make you happy in the future. Here’s a field that is in high demand, and it involves physics! Quantum computing involves using quantum mechanics to create quantum computers that function at levels inconceivable by today’s standards. The New York Times reported this week that there are not enough Americans qualified in this field, so many companies are offering visas for people to come here to do the work. That’s the definition of a job that’s high in demand. Maybe it will interest you!
 

This is the final week of first quarter. If you have late work to turn in for half credit, it is due by 3:00 on Monday, October 22.

This Week in AP Physics
We will explore the work-energy theorem with a lab, practice problems, and homework 1 from unit 4. The homework won’t be due until Wednesday or, more likely, Thursday, but it is quite long, and by Monday you’ll have enough information under your belts to get started on it. The lab will result in a formal lab report that will be due the following week. By the end of the week we’ll begin the law of conservation of mechanical energy. It is likely we’ll take our unit 4 test by the end of the week of October 29 or the very beginning of the following week.

This Week in Physics
We will begin the week with vector resolution. All classes: Both assignment 2 and the six extra problems in our Vector Resolution Practice  are DUE on Monday if you have not already finished them. If you’ve been absent or are still struggling, unit 2’s video 2 will guide you to finishing these assignments on time. We’ll go over these and do a smidge more practice if needed so that we’re ready for a goal set 1 vector resolution AND vector addition quiz on Tuesday. Also by the start of class on Tuesday please take notes on unit 2 video 3 on the concepts related to projectile motion. For Wednesday or Thursday, as assigned, please take notes on unit 2 video 4, which is the final lecture for this unit. We’ll spend the remainder of the week practicing analyzing projectile motion.

Spooky Science of the Week
Why does monster movie music scare us? Or why do screams make us shudder? And what’s it like to unwrap a 3000-year-old mummy? Most important, how can I make bloody-broken glass cupcakes? Ask Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday radio show! NPR (public radio) has a weekly show called Science Friday that plays every Friday from 2:00-4:00 on our local NPR station (90.3 FM.) It’s a great show with lots of cool stories about science news. And, yes, in months other than October they cover LOTS of fantastic science stories that are not at all spooky!

The music from the movie classic Psycho typifies sounds that alarm our species.

October 26 is the end of first quarter, so please keep checking PowerSchool to make sure you are making the most of your opportunities.

This Week in AP Physics
We will take our unit 3 test on Tuesday. We will also begin unit 4 on the topic of energy. The vast majority of our work in this three-phase unit will be in phase 1, which covers internal energy, work, and the work-energy theorem. We will do a problem packet, homework 1, and an experiment, which will result in a formal lab report, as announced. This will certainly spill into next week. We will not take the unit 4 test until second quarter.

This Week in Physics
On Monday in class we will finish assignment 1 from unit 2 followed by a quiz, likely on Tuesday, as announced. For Tuesday please take notes on unit 2 video 2 on vector resolution. We will practice this skill in class and will then complete assignment 2 together in class followed by a quiz, as announced. Weather permitting we will head outside for a “vector treasure hunt” later in the week. If announced, please take notes on unit 2 video 3, which is a conceptual introduction to projectile motion.

“Cool” Science of the Week
As many of you know, Hurricane Michael is the latest major storm to pummel our United States coastlines. What is unusual about Michael is that it went from a tropical storm to an almost category 5 hurricane over a very short time and distance, giving residents little time to evacuate. How could such a rare event happen? Climate science has the answer. Also check out the wind map again. It’s always interesting during a hurricane.

This is a three-day week for students due to parent-teacher conferences. That means there are just two-and-a-half weeks until the close of the first quarter grading period. Please be sure to stay on top of PowerSchool so you can feel awesome on October 26 when you see your grade! Yeah!

This Week in AP Physics
It’s all downhill on Monday as we complete our Friction and Vector Analysis of Forces experiment and then do a very short (only four page) packet of tremendously great problems to solve. We will also continue our unit notes so that on Tuesday and Wednesday we can do our final packet for the unit and homework 4, which will be due on Wednesday. We would have had the unit 3 test on Thursday, but the short week means it will be Monday or Tuesday of the following week, depending on your preference, noting that if we delay the test until Tuesday we’ll likely begin the unit 4 on that Monday.

This Week in Physics
For Monday please take notes on the first video from unit 2, Introduction to Vector Operations. We will practice vector addition in class and will then do assignment 1 together. Next, when assigned, please take notes on the second video from unit 2, Vector Resolution. We’ll practice vector resolution in class and will then do assignment 2 together AND go outside for a treasure hunt! By the end of the week expect a quiz over goal set 1 as announced.

Cool Science of the Week
This week the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to a woman for the first time in fifty-five years, and for only the third time in its 117-year history. (Canadian physicist Donna Strickland shares the 2018 Prize with two male physicists for work in laser physics.) The Nobel Committee has even awarded the Prize to men when women did the work, such as was the case in 1974 when astrophysicist Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars but saw the Prize go to the man who was her adviser. Prize or no Prize, there are plenty of women doing groundbreaking work in physics. To my women students, consider yourself invited to the party!

Women Nobel Prize in Physics recipients Marie Curie (1903), and Donna Strickland (2018), Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963)

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.