physics academic library
​Physics is intended to expose students to the design and order in the world that God has created. In preceding years, students should have developed a basic understanding of the macroscopic and microscopic world of forces, motion, waves, light, and electricity. The physics course will expand upon that prior knowledge and further develop both.

​The curriculum will also seek to teach the symbolic and mathematical world of formulas and symbols used in physics. The major concepts covered are kinematics, forces and motion, work and energy, sound and light waves, electricity and magnetism, and nuclear physics. 

​Students at this level should show development in their ability and understanding of scientific inquiry. The units contain experiments and projects that seek to develop a deeper conceptual meaning for the student and actively engage the student. The continued exposure of science concepts and scientific inquiry will serve to improve the student’s skill and understanding. Physics should be preceded by Algebra I and II courses and Geometry. 
SMART SCIENCE VIRTUAL LABS
Students in this honor's level Physics course will follow the labs in Smart Science online labs. Labs will be completed as shown in the Physics Academic Library of assignments. 

The lab experience from Smart Science will ensure a standard base of quality and evaluation for the lab work from all students.  Before starting the first lab, students should review the accompanying video for the procedures to complete a lab online in Smart Science.  No equipment of supplies to be purchased.  Students at this level are expected to show a clear understanding of the lab and conclusions supported by the scientific data.
PHYSICS ONLINE
UNIT 1 - KINEMATICS
UNIT 2 - DYNAMICS
  1. Course Overview
  2. Introduction to the Language of Physics
  3. Quiz 1: Measurements
  4. Scalars and Vectors
  5. Quiz 2: Scalars and Vectors
  6. Speed and Velocity
  7. Experiment: Smart Science Defining Speed
  8. Tutorial for Making a Scatter Plot Using an Electronic Spreadsheet Program  (In this project you will be designing a scatter plot (a type of line graph) based on information given to you in a data table. You must organize the data into a graph and make it clear and understandable. The advantage of using the Microsoft© Excel© application over paper and pencil is that you will have a neat and professional graph that may be saved electronically and shared with your instructor. Before starting the project view the tutorial.)
  9. Quiz 3: Speed and Velocity
  10. Acceleration and Acceleration Due to Gravity
  11. Experiment: Smart Science Lab - Gravity and Speed During free fall (Replaces Determining Reaction Time)
  12. Quiz 4: Acceleration and Acceleration Due to Gravity
  13. Vectors
  14. Projectiles
  15. Quiz 5: Review
  16. Special Project: Smart Science Lab - Acceleration (Observe and measure acceleration)​
  17. Review Game
  18. Test
  19. Alternate Test
  20. Reference
  1. Newton's First and Second Laws
  2. Report: Isaac Newton (Newton stated that if he had made any strides in science, he had done so by standing on the shoulders of a giant named Galileo Galilei. This statement was modest, coming from a man who made discoveries in so many different areas of physics. Prepare a report on the life of Sir Isaac Newton, his accomplishments, discoveries, books written, and honors received.)
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Gravity
  5. Quiz 2
  6. Uniform Circular Motion
  7. Project: Ignitia Virtual Lab: Circular Motion
  8. Quiz 3
  9. Newton's Third Law and Conservation of Momentum
  10. Project: Ignitia Virtual Lab - Conservation of Momentum 
  11. Quiz 4
  12. Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
  13. Report: Solar System  (The development of a model for our earth-sun-planet system spanned more than two thousand years. Briefly outline the chronological development of the theory and dates of the men who proposed the models of the system. Also prepare an 800-word detailed report of the life and times of Johannes Kepler and the steps taken that led him to each of his planetary laws of motion.)
  14. Experiment: Smart Science Lab - Collision and Force (Replaces Kepler's Law)
  15. Quiz 5
  16. Special Project: Smart Science Lab - Inelastic Collisions, Mass
  17. Review Game
  18. Test
  19. Alternate Test
  20. Reference
UNIT 3 - WORK AND ENERGY
UNIT 4 - INTRODUCTION TO WAVES
  1. Work, Kinetic, and Potential Energy
  2. Report:  Nuclear Energy (Arguments for and against nuclear energy are frequently in the headlines. Research both sides of the question and present an unbiased report of 500 words on the pros and cons of nuclear power plants. Your sources may include science and environmental textbooks, magazine and newspaper articles, and literature distributed by activist organizations. Your report must be balanced and objective.)
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Conservation of Energy
  5. Power and Efficiency
  6. Project: Ignitia Virtual Labs – Simple Machines 
  7. Quiz 2
  8. Experiment: Smart Science Labs - Brownian Motion Random Walk
  9. Heat Energy
  10. Latent Heat
  11. Laws of Thermodynamics
  12. Quiz 3
  13. Review Game
  14. Special Project: Smart Science Lab - Brownian Motion Temperature (Note the effect of temperature on Brownian motion)
  15. Test
  16. Alternate Test
  17. Reference
  1. Characteristics of Waves
  2. Experiment: Smart Science - Depth and Speed (Determine the effect of depth on speed - Replaces experiment Pulses)
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Wave Phenomena
  5. Experiment: Smart Science Lab - Wave length and speed (Measure both wave length and speed- Replaces Ignitia experiment Waves)
  6. Quiz 2
  7. Sound Waves
  8. Project: Ignitia Virtual Lab – Sound ( This virtual lab is a component of the Ignitia curriculum and completed with this Ignitia assignment.)
  9. Project: Ignitia Virtual Lab – Doppler Effect  (This virtual lab is a component of the Ignitia curriculum and completed with this Ignitia assignment.)
  10. Quiz 3
  11. Special Project: Smart Science Lab - Diffraction (Measure the Effect of Frequency and gap width)
  12. Review Game
  13. Test
  14. Alternate Test
  15. Reference
UNIT 5 - LIGHT
UNIT 6 - SEMESTER REVIEW AND EXAM
  1. Speed of Light: Historical Calculations
  2. Properties of Light
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Mirrors
  5. Lenses
  6. Quiz 2
  7. Light Phenomena and Models of Light
  8. Project: Ignitia Virtual Lab - Light
  9. Experiment: Smart Science Lab - Electromagnetic Spectrum (Replaces Ignitia experiment Light Observations)
  10. Quiz 3
  11. Review Game
  12. Special Project: Smart Science Lab – Light Reflection 
  13. Test
  14. Alternate Test
  15. Reference
  1. Review
  2. Exam
  3. Alternate Exam—Form A
  4. Alternate Exam—Form B
UNIT 7 - STATIC ELECTRICITY
UNIT 8 - ELECTRIC CURRENTS
  1. Electric Charges
  2. Coulomb's Law
  3. The Transfer of Charges
  4. Quiz 1
  5. Electric Fields
  6. Quiz 2
  7. Electric Potential
  8. Potential and Energy
  9. Quiz 3
  10. Review Game
  11. Special Project: Smart Science Lab – Basic Electrostatics
  12. Test
  13. Alternate Test
  14. Reference
  1. Sources of EMF
  2. Project: Research and Report (The men on this list contributed to the development of electrical theory. Write a 600-word report integrating their contributions in a historical perspective. The report should be 600 words and double-spaced. Charles Coulomb, Andre Ampere, Alessandro Volta, Georg Ohm.)
  3. Fluid Flow
  4. Quiz 1
  5. Resistance
  6. Quiz 2
  7. Ohm's Law
  8. Circuits
  9. Project: Smart Science Labs - Electrical Circuits (Replaces Ignitia project Circuits)
  10. Quiz 3​
  11. Special Project: Smart Science Labs – Ohm’s Law [Measure current voltage data for different resistors (virtual) and current resistance data for different voltages (wet)]
  12. Review Game
  13. Test
  14. Alternate Test
  15. Reference
UNIT 9 - MAGNETISM
UNIT 10 - ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS
  1. Fields and Forces
  2. Forces
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Electromagnetism
  5. Experiment: Smart Science - Magnet Drop (Replaces experiment Ignitia Magnetic Fields)
  6. Electromagnetic Induction
  7. Quiz 2
  8. Electron Beams
  9. Quiz 3
  10. Review Game
  11. Special Project: Smart Science Labs – Magnetic Force (How magnetic force changes with distance.)
  12. Test
  13. Alternate Test
  14. Reference
  1. Quantum Theory
  2. X-Rays, Matter Waves, and the Uncertainty Principle
  3. Quiz 1
  4. Early Atomic Models
  5. Report: Early Atomic Physics (Research and describe the impact of early atomic theorists on the development of society, economics and technology. Some of the men involved in the development of early atomic physics worked in the same laboratory. Look up the following men: Ernest Rutherford, J. J. Thomson, and Neils Bohr. Type a double-spaced 750-word report on the men and their contributions to atomic theory.)
  6. Bohr Model
  7. Nuclear Theory
  8. Quiz 2
  9. Nuclear Reactions
  10. Fusion and Applications of Nuclear Energy
  11. Quiz 3
  12. Special Project: Smart Science Labs
    1. ​Radioactive Decay
    2. ​Atomic Structure
  13. Review Game
  14. Test
  15. Alternate Test
  16. Reference
UNIT 11 - REVIEW
UNIT 12- SEMESTER REVIEW AND EXAM
  1. Mechanics
  2. Dynamics
  3. Energy
  4. Quiz 1
  5. Wave Motion
  6. Light and Sound
  7. Quiz 2
  8. Electricity and Magnetism
  9. Fields and Forces
  10. Circuits
  11. Quiz 3
  12. Modern Physics
  13. The Bohr Atom
  14. Duality
  15. Nuclear Energy
  16. Quiz 4
  17. ​Review Game
  18. Test
  19. Alternate Test
  20. Reference
  1. Review
  2. Exam
  3. Alternate Exam—Form A
  4. Alternate Exam—Form B
UNIT 13 - FINAL EXAM
  1. Exam
  2. Alternate Exam—Form A
  3. Alternate Exam—Form B