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.

Be sure to read past the Cool Science of the Week for your assignments. 🙂

Cool Science of the Week
We’ve had an abnormally cold, drizzly, snowy, frosty, cloudy April. (YES!) Does this mean “global warming” is a hoax? The answer is that even though localized weather may be unseasonably cold, global climate is a different matter. The graph below from NASA shows greenhouse gas levels over the last 400,000 years – amazing! (Really look at that graph and take it in.) Rising ocean levels, acidification of our water supply, and extreme weather are among the consequences scientists say we’ll face due to climate change. In the Midwest, NASA predicts “Extreme heat, heavy downpours and flooding will affect infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation, air and water quality, and more. Climate change will also exacerbate a range of risks to the Great Lakes [water supply.]” Geologists and environmental experts are considering renaming our current epoch the “antrhopocene” (anthro meaning human), calling this an era during which humans are the main cause of changes to Earth and its species.

This Week in Physics
With the exception of first period, everyone will take a quiz over eletrostatics goal set 2 on Monday. Also for Monday please take notes on PODCAST 3: Electric Fields. We will go over this, do assignment 3, perform an awesome experiment, and take a quiz over goal set 3 by the end of the week. If announced, please take notes on PODCAST 4: Electric Potential Energy, Electric Potential, and Potential Difference. Expect our unit test next week. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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

Cool Science of the Week
People pity Pluto. It used to be a planet, and now it’s considered a dwarf planet instead. Do you know the reason? It’s because in the region of Pluto’s orbit are many other objects approximately the size of Pluto. Moreover Pluto is smaller than many moons in our solar system, including our own moon! Despite Pluto’s demotion, there is still considerable evidence to suggest that we are a nine-planet solar system, although we haven’t found the ninth planet. Why do we think it’s there, then? Because of EXACTLY what we talked about in unit 6: Universal Gravitation! There are gravitational effects in the outer solar system that suggest a large body exists beyond Neptune’s orbit. Scientists are searching for Planet Nine, which is likely about ten-times the mass of Earth, right now! 

Image from Scientific American

This Week in Physics
Our SLO is Wednesday, so please be sure to review units 1-6. For Thursday please take notes on PODCAST 2: Electric Force (Coulomb’s Law) if your class did not already do so. We will complete assignment 2 and will hopefully be able to quiz over goal set 2 by Friday or next Monday.

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

Cool Science of the Week
We’ve discussed satellites and the relationship between tangential velocity and the gravitational force that creates the centripetal force. What happens when a satellite’s tangential velocity slows so that the centripetal force it requires is less than the gravitational force it’s experiencing? It falls back to Earth, and this is precisely what will happen with the Chinese space station, Tiangong, sometime during spring break somewhere between 43 degrees north latitude and 43 degrees south latitude. (Yes, we are in that range, but only at the high northern end withour 41.5 degree latitude.) Not to worry: Most of the school bus-sized space station will burn up due to friction upon reentry, and the chances of being hit by what’s left are infinitesimally small. Why is this happening? China lost control of Tiangong in 2016, so it cannot force a controlled landing. This is one of the risks of our space station/satellite age, and it gives you the chance to ponder risk versus benefit, one of the most important questions in science and technology! Definitely check out this link, which drives home home the understanding of just how much “stuff” we’ve put in orbit around our planet. Fun fact: The Chinese space station featured in the movie Gravity is a future version of Tiangong, since Gravity is set in the near future. Chinese scientists even got some ideas from seeing the movie! Fun link: How to track the space station’s spectacular reentry

Image from Cleveland.com

This Week in Physics
First and foremost, remember that we have the SLO on Wednesday, April 18, which is the week after we return. It’s in your best interest to start studying early. It covers units 1-6, and we will spend some class time reviewing. This will impact the rate at which we are able to move through our new unit. Ideally this week we will complete assignment 1 from unit 7 and take a quiz over goal set 1. If we are lucky we will take notes on PODCAST 2: Electric Force (Coulomb’s Law) and begin to move through that material. I’ll make announcements in class in regard to due dates.