AP Physics I Syllabus—Deer Park High School South Campus
About the Course
The AP Physics I course will meet for 52 minutes every day. Lab work is integral to the understanding of the concepts in this course. The AP Physics I course has been designed by the College Board as a course equivalent to the algebra based college-level physics class. At the end of the course, students will take the AP Physics I Exam, which will test their knowledge of both the concepts taught in the classroom and the implementation of the correct formulas.
Evaluation
Students will receive grades on homework, quizzes, laboratory work, projects, and exams. These will be broken into major and minor grades. Homework, quizzes, and most lab work typically will be part of their minor grades. Projects, exams, and some lab work will count as part of their major grades. The final grade will be calculated with the major grade average counting 70% and the minor grade average counting 30%.
Rules/Supplies
All students need to arrive in class, on time, with their IDs properly displayed. Also, students must be respectful of their classmates’ property. The only supplies needed are a spiral notebook, paper, calculator, and pencil.
Retesting
If a student fails a test, he/she may retest for a maximum grade of 70. There is a limit to the number of retests a student may take per grading period.
Extra Credit
Extra points may be earned by completing optional projects and assignments. Although these points may be accumulated without limit, you may only use 6 points (on final average) per grading period.
Topics Covered
- Kinematics (Big Idea 3)
- One Dimensional Motion (including graphing position, velocity, and acceleration)
- Vectors/Scalars
- Two Dimensional Motion
- Dynamics (Big Ideas 1, 2, 3, and 4)
- Newton’s Laws of Motion and Forces
- Universal Law of Gravitation and Circular Motion (Big Ideas 1, 2, 3, and 4)
- Simple Harmonic Motion (Big Ideas 3 and 5)
- Simple Pendulums
- Mass-Spring Oscillators
- Momentum (Big Idea 3, 4, and 5)
- Impulse and Momentum
- The Law of Conservation of Momentum
- Energy (Big Idea 3, 4, and 5)
- Work
- Energy
- Conservation of Energy
- Power
- Rotation (Big Idea 3, 4, and 5)
- Rotational Kinematics
- Rotational Energy
- Torque and Rotational Dynamics
- Angular Momentum
- Conservation of Angular Momentum
- Electrostatics (Big Idea 1, 3, and 5)
- Electric Charge
- The Law of Conservation of Electric Charge
- Electrostatic Forces
- Circuits (Big Idea 1 and 5)
- Ohm’s Law
- Kirchhoff’s Law
- Simple Circuits
- Mechanical Waves and Sound (Big Idea 6)
Laboratory Activities
At least twenty-five percent of the course will be lab work. Some labs make take several days in class to finish and students will most likely have to do some work outside of class as well.
Students are expected to keep a lab notebook where they will maintain a record of their laboratory work. Lab reports will consist of the following components:
- Title
- Objective/Problem
- Design—If the lab has no set procedure, what is to be done? Why?
- Data: All data gathered goes here.
- Calculations/Graphs: Calculations and appropriate graphs/sketches are displayed here.
- Conclusion: Data Analysis and a final summative learned statement are presented. In addition, error analysis and an evaluation of the lab procedure will go here.
Every major unit will have at least one inquiry based lab. These labs will make up no less than half of the lab work. Lab work will engage students in all seven of the science practices.
Outside the Classroom Lab Experience
In addition to labs, students will be required to do one exercise outside of the laboratory experience. There will be a few of these throughout the year, and they are typically small group projects.
Other Important Skills
- Interpreting graphs: Each student will be familiar with the “Graphical Analysis” software program. You will be able to graph functions, scatter plots, and all students will be able to analyze and interpret lines of best fit. All students will also be able to explain the meaning of slope, area under a curve, and units for any scatter plot. Mastering all of the aforementioned skills will exceed the expectations in the AP Physics classroom, and will also be very helpful in your pursuit of calculus greatness.
- Sharing: No student is an island! Remember this. We are a team working toward a common goal. You might get tired of the phrases, “Explain,” “Elaborate,” and “Justify.” Your final answer is only a small piece of the puzzle, as the justification and thought processes that allow you to generate that answer are crucial. They are crucial for the instructor in grading, but more importantly for your classmates in analyzing your thought processes. Justifying and explaining how you achieved your goal, an upper-tiered Bloom’s Taxonomy process, will help you retain that concept in the long run.
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