General Goals & Policy Practices
526 Honors Physics

Mr. Greenman
Physics Matters

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General Goals

Instructional Values

Course Methodology

General Grading Rubric

Grading Policy

Late Assignment Policy

Behavior Expectations

Extra Credit Policy

Specific Objectives

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General Goals

• Find the study of physics interesting and enjoyable.

• Become aware that ideas can be generated by experimenting, collaborating, taking intellectual risks and expending time & effort.

• Use the “Scientific Method” to question and learn about your environment.

• Become familiar with a body of knowledge called 20th century physics.

• Are aware that physical principles are “open-ended”; that is, you do not view theories and ideas in science as dogmatic principles, which are set down once and then are forever unalterable. Rather, that you see scientific principles as they are; a scientist's best attempt at understanding nature; limited in scope; and constantly being reformulated, discarded or revolutionized as new genius and/or information becomes available.

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We Value ...

• Individual Prediction (individual intellectual engagement).

• Collaboration (social intellectual engagement).

• Learning from Nature - “Nature Speaks” (nature is the authority – we help students learn how to “listen” and “dialog” clearly with nature.

• Socratic Dialog (honoring our own intellect and the intellect of others – intellectual debating.

• Passion (emotional engagement).

• Clarity of Oral and Written Presentation
  

• Content and Skills Embedded in the Discipline.

We ask you to think about these values and how they are demonstrated in this course.   It is expected that you adhere to these values while engaged in this course.

Methodology

The laboratory exercises will serve as the main in-class activity. The laboratory will be the area into which new ideas will be paraded and then examined. The laboratory exercises will be supplemented with class discussions. These discussions will be of three types:

• To collect, examine and discuss, in an open forum, all the data from a particular experiment.

• To summarize major concepts that have been introduced through experimentation.

• To practice, usually in small groups, solving problems using the ideas uncovered during the laboratory experience.

• Student performance will be based on a variety of different kinds of evidence collected through teacher/district specified assessment tools (e.g. projects, papers, homework, quizzes, tests, journals, laboratory reports, anecdotal records, etc.).

• The “proficient” level represents a high level of mastery.

• All students will be immersed in academically challenging studies.

• All students correctly placed will have an opportunity to meet with success.

Grading Policy

This is a honors & weighted course. It is a rigorous & demanding curriculum, and you are therefore expected to devote more time and effort to do well in this class. Your grade in Honors Physics is based on a point system. Homework, lab reports, projects, and tests will be used to assess your progress. The exact proportion each will count will vary, however the approximate weight for each is shown below. You can access your grades from any internet terminal.  Just go to the science department WEB page (www.marblehead.com/schools/mhs/science), click into Mr. Greenman's WEB site, and follow the prompts. You will know exactly how you are doing at all times during the term. No grade surprises here!

Late Assignment Policy

• All assignments are expected to be handed in when due. You may not hand in an assignment once it has been returned graded to the class.  If the assignment has not yet been returned: Assignments handed in one day late lose 15%; two days late lose 30%; three days late lose 50%; more than three days late receive a grade of 0.  Excused absences (see school rules) will not be counted against you as far a "lateness of an assignment" is concerned.

• If you are absent on the day an assignment is given.  It is up to the student to get all class notes and be aware of all assignment due dates.  Assignment due dates are posted on the front wall and available on the class WEB page.  

No time extension will be given for assignments unless special arrangements are made with the teacher prior to the assignment due date.

• If you are absent on the day of a laboratory. It is up to the student to get all class notes and to make an appointment to make-up any missed laboratory work. All data must be taken and the laboratory write up must be submitted within one week after the student returns to school.

No time extension will be given unless special arrangements are made with the teacher on the day the student returns to class. 

• Your responsibilities to your laboratory partner: A laboratory report may be submitted with one other person in your lab group (as long as your previous physics term grade is a B- or better). A word of caution on submitting a lab report with a partner: If you are present in class the day a laboratory report is due (even though your lab partner is absent), the lab report will be late for you if not submitted. However the lab report will not be late for the absent partner if (s)he has an excused absence. The lab report will be due for him/her the day (s)he returns to class following the excused absence.

Behavior Expectations

You are expected to behave in a mature manner in the classroom and laboratory. There is a good deal of expensive and, if not properly used, potentially dangerous equipment in the course. You must show consideration for the equipment, other students, and the instructor(s) in charge of the laboratory. Specifically, all students are expected to:

• report to class on time;
• do not bring food or drink into the classroom (the one exception to this rule is water);
• cell phones and head phones are not permitted to be used in class;
  
• pay attention in class and do not interfere with your own learning or that of others;
• seriously participate in classroom discussions and small group discussions;
• follow directions;
• do your own work.

Consequences for not meeting these expectations will include but not be limited to: after school detention with the classroom teacher; teacher-parent communications; and disciplinary action taken by the main office.

Extra Credit Information

You may receive up to 2 points on your final average by doing any combination of the activities listed below. However all extra credit assignments must be handed in 5 days prior to the end of the term, and no more than 1 extra credit can be handed in within a M-F week.

• Article Reviews: You may hand in up to 4 diverse article reviews per term. You may receive up to 1/2 point on your average per review. Each of your articles should have some relationship to the field of physics (if you are not sure an article is appropriate, ask your teacher). You are encouraged to choose articles that can be found in magazines and newspapers ( e.g., Discover, Boston Globe, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Science Digest, Scientific America, Science News, etc. ).

Each review should be approximately 1-2 pages in length, and must be taken from sources dated not earlier than the year in which you start this course. These reports must be typed and double spaced. All reviews must contain a restatement, in your own words, of the information as well as your personal reaction, opinion and/or judgment of the article.

A bibliography must accompany all Article Reviews, and a photo copy of the article must also be included.

• Challenge Problems: Each chapter has several problems that will, in most cases, challenge even the best student. After a quiz for a particular unit is completed, you may ask to try a challenge problem. Partial credit is given on these problems, and you may receive up to 1/2 point on your average per problem.
  

• Science Seminars: This option is opened to those students that are excited by a specific area in physics and who would like to share that excitement with their fellow students. You may receive up to 2 points on your average.

The “Science Seminar” is a forum in which students present their own research. All students, faculty and parents are invited to attend a “Science Seminar”. You prepare a “Science Seminar” report in the same manner as you would prepare for writing a major research project. The major difference between a written research report and a seminar report is that the seminar report is presented orally during the “Science Seminar”. Your grade will be based on your oral presentation and your note cards.

Specific Objectives

Term 1

• Given a graph of position versus time, the student will be able to sketch a graph of velocity versus time.

• Given a graph of velocity versus time, the student will be able to sketch a graph of acceleration versus time.

• Given a graph of velocity versus time, the student will be able to determine the displacement of an object.

• Given a graph of acceleration versus time, the student will be able to determine the change in velocity of an object.

• Given any of the graphs (i.e., distance versus time or velocity versus time or acceleration versus time), the student will be able to “tell a story” about the object that resulted in the given graph.

• Given a story about the motion of an object, the student will be able to sketch the distance, velocity and acceleration graphs for the motion of the object in the story.

• The student will be able to use the five (5) kinematics equations to solve one-dimension problems involving constant acceleration. Including problems with either one object moving or two objects moving.

• The student will be able to take a set of data and by the means of “graphical analysis”, determine the underlying algebraic equation governing the data.

• The student will be able to determine the force acting on an object by measuring the kinematical changes that the object undergoes.

• The student will be able to determine the kinematical changes that an object will undergo when a known force acts on the object.

• The student will be able to analyze situations where a body slides along a flat rough surface or is pulled or pushed across a rough flat surface.

• The student will be able to relate the acceleration of an object moving in circular motion to the radius of the circle and to the speed of the object.

• The student will be able to find the net force acting on an object when individual forces act in more then one direction.

• The student will be able to solve 2-dimensional kinematics problems using the x and y component vectors applied to Newton's 2nd Law and the five kinematic equations.