And Away We Go...

First day of school – more exciting than Opening Day at Fenway Park. Pretty much goes the same way for each class: syllabus, textbook, lab and homework protocols, MCAS information (as appropriate). Glad to see familiar faces and siblings of familiar faces – all people who know what they are getting themselves into. And it will be a whirlwind year. With the significantly reduced lab experience due to the new schedule, there is extra time to march through the material and hit some topics that we normally don’t get to in previous years. I’m not sure if this is a fair trade, but we’ll try and make the best of it.

People tend to freak out a bit after the first day when they hear about the nature of a physics course and the mathematics requirements necessary for a successful physics experience. While I can’t downplay your anxiety, I can assure you that you all have the necessary math skills. The trick is learning how to use those skills in a meaningful way and that is what we work on in class and why we have the homework protocol that we do. Also, I can generally stay afterschool any day with a day’s notice, so feel free to ask when you need help (and don’t wait until the day before the exam!).

This week is an abbreviated one, but an important one in that we focus on the fundamentals of doing science. We’ll review the scientific method, the metric system, scientific notation and significant figures. After this, everyone is going to move into one-dimensional motion. Freshmen, keep an eye on those curriculum frameworks as a guide to where we are going in the course.

Today’s homework is as follows:
Honors Physics: 1A, 1.2
Honors Physical Science: 1.1
Physics: Read Making Cents of Math lab or complete lab write-up