Science Course breakdown tables

SPH 3U University Physics

Unit 1 Kinematics
Big Ideas /
  • investigate, in qualitative and quantitative terms, uniform and non-uniform linear motion, and solve related problems;
  • demonstrate an understanding of uniform and non-uniform linear motion, in one and two dimensions.
  • analyse technologies that apply concepts related to kinematics, and assess the technologies’ social and environmental impact;

Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Motion Terms
  • Vectors vs. scalars
  • Analyse graphs (converting from one to another)
  • UM
  • UA
  • Projectile motion
/
  • Activity contrasting UM and UA
  • Solving UA and UM problems
  • Investigation involving UA in one dimension
  • Motion in 2 dimensions
  • Projectile problem using components – both through and inquiry and word problems
/
  • analyse, on the basis of research, a technology that applies concepts related to kinematics
  • assess the impact on society and the environment of a technology that applies concepts related to kinematics

Unit 2 Forces
Big Ideas /
  • analyse and propose improvements to technologies that apply concepts related to dynamics and Newton’s laws, and assess the technologies’ social and environmental impact;
  • investigate, in qualitative and quantitative terms, net force, acceleration, and mass, and solve related problems;
  • demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between changes in velocity and unbalanced forces in one dimension.

Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Terms
  • Specific forces – gravity, normal, friction
  • Galileo and Newton’s contributions
  • Gravity and gravitational field strength
/
  • Net force through acceleration and free-body diagram inquiry
  • Net force, acceleration and free-body diagram problems
/
  • analyse, with reference to Newton’s laws, a technology that applies these laws
  • evaluate the impact on society and the environment of technologies that use the principles of force

Unit 3 Electricity and Magnetism
Big Ideas /
  • analyse the social, economic, and environmental impact of electrical energy production and technologies related to electromagnetism, and propose ways to improve the sustainability of electrical energy production;
  • investigate, in qualitative and quantitative terms, magnetic fields and electric circuits, and solve related problems;
  • demonstrate an understanding of the properties of magnetic fields, the principles of current and electron flow, and the operation of selected technologies that use these properties and principles to produce and transmit electrical energy.

Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • AC vs DC
  • Charge flow conventions
  • Circuit terms
  • Transformers and AC
  • Magnetic fields
/
  • Circuit problems
  • Coil problems
  • LH/RH rules
  • Construction of speaker and motor
  • Resistivity problems
/
  • analyse the social and economic impact of technologies related to electromagnetism
  • analyse the efficiency and the environmental impact of one type of electrical energy production

Unit 4 Waves and Sound
Big Ideas / · analyze the impact that mechanical waves and sound can have on society and the environment, and investigate how the properties of mechanical waves and sound in nature affect the integrity of man-made structures;
· investigate, in qualitative and quantitative terms, mechanical waves and sound, including the principles underlying their production, and solve
related problems;
· demonstrate an understanding of the nature of mechanical waves and sound, including their production, characteristics, underlying phenomena
and principles, and physical characteristics including velocity, wavelength and frequency.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Types of waves
  • Properties of sound (pitch, etc.)
  • Sound spectrum
  • Musical instruments
  • Standing waves
  • Doppler effect
  • Resonance
/
  • Wave Equation with velocity equation
  • Speed of sound - temperature, mach #
  • Principle of Superposition
  • Air Columns – open and closed
/
  • analyze, on the basis of research, a topic relating to how mechanical waves or sound affect society (for better and/or for worse)
  • noise, environmental phenomena, etc.

Unit 5 Energy and Society
Big Ideas /
  • analyse technologies that apply principles of and concepts related to energy transformations, and assess the technologies’ social and environmental impact;
  • investigate energy transformations and the law of conservation of energy, and solve related problems;
  • demonstrate an understanding of work, efficiency, power, gravitational potential energy, kineticenergy, nuclear energy, and thermal energy and its transfer (heat).

Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • types of energies
  • Heat and cooling curves
  • Heat transfer – conduction, convection and radiation
  • Isotopes and half-life
/
  • Energy transformation
  • W=FΔd=ΔE
  • P=W/t
  • Energy efficiency
  • Mass energy equivalence
  • Heat Problems
/
  • Analyse a technology based on energy transformations
  • Assess how technologies related to nuclear, thermal, or geothermal energy affect society and the environment