Physics Honors Section CW

VHS Catalog 12-13

Course Title:	Physics Honors Section CW: An Introduction
Course Code:	aptwphcs
MA NCES Code:	03151
Discipline:	Science - Physics
Grade Level:	07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12
Level:	Honors, Pre-AP
Offering:	Repeated Semester (Fall: 25 Seats; Spring: 25 Seats; )
Duration:	15 weeks
Prerequisites:	Algebra (geometry helpful but not necessary), All materials are available in the course or online; however, students who wish to have a supplementary book should have access to any standard school physics text
Additional Requirements:
Accredited by:	Certified by NCAA for initial-eligibility (VHS School Code: 221356); Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools; Northwest Accreditation Commission
Course Requires a Media Kit to be Shipped to Students: No
Course Requires a Media Kit to be Purchased by Course Sponsor (see additional details below): No
Description: Note: This course is intended to teach and reinforce crucial academic skills to help students strengthen their background in the subject area prior to taking an advanced level course. Students who have already taken the Virtual High School course "Integrated Mechanical Physics with Logical Reasoning" should not take this course. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * So you plan to go to college and study physics, math, or engineering? DO THIS FIRST! This course will teach you HOW to figure out problems and how to judge whether or not your answers are reasonable. Save yourself a lot of time and trouble! This course will serve as an introduction to mechanical physics and the reasoning and problem-solving approaches utilized in physics, math and engineering disciplines. Emphasis will be placed on problem-solving approaches and on developing the student's ability to grasp the 'overall picture' of a problems in order to estimate and evaluate reasonable outcomes. This course may be appropriate for Gifted and Talented middle school students that meet all course prerequisites.

MediaKit Contents:

Syllabus:
Week 01: Start Here / Introduction to Physics
Week 02: Motion in a Straight Line
Week 03: Free Fall and Motion Problems
Week 04: Two Dimensional Motion
Week 05: Newton’s Laws of Motion
Week 06: Work and Energy
Week 07: Conservation of Energy
Week 08: Mid Term Exam
Week 09: Impulse and Momentum
Week 10: Universal Gravitation
Week 11: Circular Motion
Week 12: Rotational Motion
Week 13: Density, Pressure, and States of Matter
Week 14: Review and Problem Solving
Week 15: Final Exam

Course Objectives:
1. Describe the physical environment using appropriate units and terms.
2. Correctly apply math operations to problem solutions.
3. Develop a conceptual understanding in Physics, specifically in understanding the motion of objects in one, two, and three dimensions.
4. Define displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration.
5. Utilize vectors in the analysis of two-dimensional motion.
6. Apply Newton’s Laws in understanding the motion of objects.
7. Apply the Universal Law of Gravitation.
8. Define work and energy, and identify different types of energy and their transfers.
9. Apply conservation of energy principles to problem solving.
10. Define impulse and momentum.
11. Apply conservation of momentum principles to problem solving.
12. Identify types of forces and their influences.
13. Describe forces using vector analysis and determine the net force.
14. Practice observation skills, reasoning skills, communication skills and problem solving strategies.

This catalog description was last modified on 05/23/2012