Conceptual Physics Course Package
We will be beginning a project during the 2024-25 school year in which we create a package of materials to support teachers teaching a Conceptual Physics course. The downloadable package will include slide decks, think sheets, labs, quizzes, and tests. Answer keys will be provided. This will be a for-sale item that is offered to teachers. We hope to have the project completed before the start of the 2025-26 school year.
In creating our Lesson Plans and Learning Outcomes for this course we have referenced several of the items that we intend to place in the package. We have used red text wherever we have made such a reference. These items will only be available by purchase of the course package.
Learning Outcomes for 1D Kinematics
Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs
The list below displays sample learning objectives for the unit on 1D Kinematics. The various activities from the Lesson Plans have been organized by objective. This format of organizing The Physics Classroom's activities may be more useful to some teachers than the Lesson Plan format. It is worth noting that the activities identified below only include those activities included on the Lesson Plans and in the Pre-Built Task Tracker courses. Additional activities are referenced on the Teacher Notes page.
1. The Language of Kinematics
Define and distinguish between the concepts of distance and displacement, speed and velocity, instantaneous velocity and average velocity, and positive and negative acceleration.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 1 - Physics 500
Think Sheets:
Distance vs. Displacement
Speed vs. Velocity
Acceleration
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
2. Describing Motion with Dot Diagrams and Data Tables
Recognize examples of the motion of objects moving with constant speed and the motion of objects moving with an accelerated motion and to relate such contrasting motions to their respective dot diagrams and numerical descriptions.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Diagrams and Data Tables
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Minds On Physics:
3. Position-Time Graphs
Construct and interpret position-time graphs for stationary, constant speed, and accelerating objects and use such graphs to analyze the motion of objects and to solve problems.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 2 – Position-Time Graphs Lab (requires motion detectors)
Think Sheets:
Position-Time Graphs
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
Mission KG1 on Basics of Position-Time Graphs
Mission KG2 on Shape and Slope of Position-Time Graphs
Mission KG3 on Matching Motion and Shape on a Position-Time Graph
4. Velocity-Time Graphs
Construct and interpret velocity-time graphs for stationary, constant speed, and accelerating objects and use such graphs to analyze the motion of objects and to solve problems.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 3 - Velocity-Time Graphs (requires motion detectors)
Think Sheets:
Velocity-Time Graphs
Slope and Area of Velocity-Time Graphs
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Minds On Physics:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
5. Integrating Various Kinematic Representations
To translate information represented in one form (e.g., a position-time graph or a position-time table) to a different form (e.g., a velocity-time graph or a dot diagram).
Reading:
Think Sheets:
Oil Drop Diagrams and Graphs
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
Also Available ...
Physics teachers may find the following
for-sale tools to be useful supplements to our Lesson Plan and Pacing Guide section:
- Task Tracker Subscription (annual purchase)
A subscription allows teachers to set up classes, add students, customize online assignments, view student progress/scores, and export student scores. Task Tracker accounts allow your students to begin assignments in class or at school and to finish them at home. View our Seat and Cost Calculator for pricing details.
- The Solutions Guide
We publish a free curriculum with >200 ready-to-use Think Sheets for developing physics concepts. The Solutions Guide is a download containing the source documents, PDFs of source documents, and answers/solutions in MS Word and PDF format. An expanded license agreement is included with the purchase. (Cost: $25 download)
- Teacher Presentation Pack
This is a large collection of downloadable content packed with nearly 190 Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks, the corresponding Lesson Notes (as PDF and fully-modifiable MS Word format), about 170 animations (in .gif, .png, and .mp4 file formats), a countless number of ready-to-use images (including the original source documents that would allow for easy modification of those images), and a license that allows teachers to modify and use all the content with their classes on password-protected sites (such as course management systems). (Cost: $40 download)
- Question Bank
We distribute a Question Bank that includes more than 9300 questions neatly organized according to topic. The Question Bank is the perfect tool for busy teachers or new teachers. Even if you don't use the website with your classes, the Question Bank will assist you in quickly putting together quizzes, tests and other documents with high-quality questions that target student's conceptions of physics principles. And if you do use The Physics Classroom website, the Question Bank is the perfect complement to the materials found at the website. (Cost: $25 download)