Blowin' in the Wind

With the wind whipping this morning, I hope that my dogs are firmly secured to the ground at their daycare. Last time we had high winds, I had to go pick them up in Kittery…

Honors Physics suffered through their first exam this morning and everyone seemed to make it out alive. For all exams, the procedure will be the same – you get the exam and a formula sheet. Make sure I get both back when the exam is over. Tomorrow, we begin an examination of vector analysis (graphical and mathematical). We will use vector operations often in this course and it starts with two-dimensional motion.
Physics reviewed for their chapter 1-2 exam and went over the last set of homework questions for Chapter 2. Have your calculator with you tomorrow! I will provide the formula sheet and a list of metric prefixes with their multipliers. Make sure I get all of them back when you have finished the exam – paper doesn’t grow on trees, you know…

Physical Science B went over yesterday’s exam for the first piece of class. Make sure that as we go through test papers that you correct your work, notify me of any mistakes that I may have made and ask me to work or go over more thoroughly any item for which you need additional help. The grades a bit on the low side, but that is not unusual for the first exam. You don’t know what to expect or how to tailor your personal study style to the material. Consider carefully how long you studied, how you studied and how you might alter that regimen for the next exam. Also, consider how you use your class time. When we are going over homework or discussing things in class, are you paying attention or are you chatting with a neighbor. Especially for physics, reading the book is not sufficient for success. You have to practice, discuss, think and use every skill in your bag to attack the material. If your performance on the next exam is also a tad lackluster, see me for help. Also, don’t forget to ask for extra help whenever you are having trouble with the material. The remainder of the period was devoted to starting our study of motion. Motion, frame of reference, distance, displacement, speed and velocity were defined and the concept of scalars and vectors was introduced. This is going to be a graph-heavy chapter, so keep those skills at your fingertips. There will also be a variety of formulas introduced in this chapter. For the exam, you will have those formulas provided for you, but you need to recognize the variables in each and know when to apply each formula to a problem.

Physical Science E conducted a lab investigation of velocity and how it is impacted by travel time and angle of incline. I threw in a bit extra for the graphing, as this chapter emphasizes graphing motion and the MCAS expects you to be able to make and interpret graphs of objects in motion. Again, never underestimate the importance of slope! As you write your lab synopsis, reflect on the idea of acceleration (in the next section of text) and how you interpret that idea. Acceleration, also, is a product of force – how might changing the angle of inclination affect how the force of gravity impact the cart’s motion? Tomorrow, you will get your exams back and we will go over the test items. Then, it’s a review of the lab and a leap into the concept of motion.

Homework

Honors Physics: Read pgs. 84-91 and complete Practice 3A
Physical Science B: None
Physical Science E: Complete lab write up
Physics F and G: Study for exam