Tag: ap physics (Page 2 of 3)

Choosing your AP Physics 1 textbook

June 24, 2019 / dina

One of the first questions new teachers ask is, “Which AP Physics 1 textbook should I use?” Sometimes, as a teacher, you have a choice to purchase a certain book, and sometimes you are locked into using a book adopted by your school district. I was fortunate enough to be a part of my school district’s textbook adoption process. This means I have spent a lot of time analyzing some of the book available.

Please note that the opinions I am sharing are from my personal use and my students’ use of the textbooks. These opinions do not represent my school district, school, or College Board. I am sharing what I have learned as an AP Physics 1 teacher.

The three AP Physics 1 textbooks I have in my personal collection are:

College Physics: Explore and Apply – Ekina, 2nd edition
College Physics: A Strategic Approach – Knight, 3rd edition
College Physics – Serway & Vuille, 10th edition

My personal copies of the top 3 AP Physics 1 textbooks — My copies of the three AP Physics 1 textbooks we are analyzing. These are a small selection of my Physics library!

The first thing you may notice is a big gap in the age of these titles. For example, Ekina and Knight are relatively new books, written specifically for and since the AP Physics 1 course was designed. Serway and Vuille have been around for much longer, with this textbook being the most popular for the old AP Physics B course.

However, when I started teaching AP Physics 1, my school only had Serway and Vuille. While this book may have been an excellent choice for AP Physics B, here are a few reasons I am not the biggest fan of it for AP Physics 1 and 2.

Why I moved away from Serway and Vuille as my AP Physics 1 textbook

AP Physics 1 and 2 are courses that demand in-depth analysis, writing, and concept development. While there are definitely some classic Physics problem-solving skills needed, the focus of these courses is deep evaluation and synthesis. Here are the AP science practices to demonstrate the types of skills students need.

Serway and Vuille does not always foster those skills. The content of the book is great for a more classical Physics course. However, the AP Physics 1 textbook should focus on the skills needed for the AP Physics 1 exam. S&V frequently has long blocks of texts, a focus on equations, and pure calculation problems. While there are conceptual problems at the end of the chapters, they are not of the rigor and higher level thinking required by the AP Physics 1 exam.

Taking a look at Knight

I was fortunate that my school let me purchase new books that first year. I immediately purchased a class set of Knight (College Physics: A Strategic Approach). My class did not have enough books for students to take them home. This was a disadvantage, but I don’t require my students to use the textbook at home a ton anyway. Here is why I immediately gravitated towards Knight:

Every example includes pictorial and graphical analysis
The same thorough problem-solving strategy is used the entire book
The number of pictures, graphics, vector diagrams, energy bar charts, etc. on each and every page to deepen understanding
Clear and concise end-of-chapter summaries with strategies, concepts, and applications
The alignment of the problems with the AP Physics 1 exam

I highly recommend this AP Physics 1 textbook. All of these features, plus the general user friendliness, make this an excellent choice for students.

After three years of my courses using this textbook, however, my school district changed to Ekina (College Physics: Explore and Apply). I have only used this book for one year, but let’s take a look at how this book compares to Knight.

Thoughts after one year of Ekina

Ekina is generally a comparable book to Knight. Their intentional approach and redesign to align with the AP Physics 1 course definitely makes these books stand out against their competitors. Flipping through the pages of Ekina shows the focus on multiple representations, rather than blocks of text.

Additionally, I like the problem sets at the end of the chapters. There is a good mix of multiple-choice, conceptual questions, and problems.

I prefer Ekina’s order of instruction to Knights. For instance, this textbook influenced my decision to move 1D forces before projectile motion and momentum before energy. These changes seemed to aid students’ understanding of 2D motion and energy. (I outlined some of my pacing changes here!)

However, Ekina falls short on the end of chapter summaries, as well as the solved examples sometimes. Maybe this is just my preference for Knight showing, but I really like Knight’s problem-solving strategies better.

All in all, Ekina is another great choice for your AP Physics 1 textbook. I will revisit my thoughts on this book after another year of using it in my courses. I am excited to have enough books this school year for students to have a home copy. This means I will be using and analyzing it more in the coming months.

Final thoughts on my AP Physics 1 textbook

Ultimately, the best book depends on how you use it. You can make whatever resources you have available work for your class – a textbook does not make or break it. However, a good textbook can be a valuable resource for students and teachers.

I need a textbook with excellent problem solving strategies to aid students, great visuals to help with multiple representations, and problem sets that model the AP Physics 1 exam. All of those requirements are met by Knight, and are mostly met by Ekina. Your program will have a valuable tool if you are able to get one of those books.

I hope this reflection helps you decide on the best AP Physics 1 textbook for your needs!

AP Physics 1 Pacing: Reflection and Revision

December 23, 2018 / dina

I shared my pacing in AP Physics 1 last May, based off of my 2015-2016 school year plans. I made this guide after two years of teaching AP Physics 1, and needless to say, it’s changed quite a bit.

Though it hasn’t changed drastically, I took a good look back at it this summer and tried to find areas in need of improvement. Here is my basic order of instruction:

Physics Skills
Kinematics in 1D
Forces in 1D
Forces and Motion in 2D
Momentum
Energy
Rotation
Waves
Electricity

I am going to focus on semester one, and reflect on semester two in a couple of weeks as I plan for the coming months. Here is my revised AP Physics 1 pacing for the first semester!

Unit 1: Physics Skills – 6 days

I still begin my year with Physics Skills, which includes some introductory mathematics, graphing skills, and laboratory skills. However, I begin basic motion definitions and introduce motion graphs during this unit. These additions make Physics Skills bleed more seamlessly into Kinematics.

Proportional reasoning is an essential skill to focus on early in the year.

Unit 2: Kinematics in One Dimension – 15 days

This includes constant velocity motion and uniformly accelerated motion in one dimension. I begin kinematics earlier than I used to, and try to infuse some of the graphical analysis skills and laboratory skills necessary for AP Physics 1 during this unit. I also specifically focus on the Qualitative/Quantitative translation FRQs as our first type of FRQ.

Unit 3: Forces – 15 days

In this unit, we focus on types of forces and basic usage of Newton’s Laws. This was a major change for me – moved forces up to before 2D kinematics (projectiles, motion on inclined planes). This gives students more of a conceptual basis of forces before we get into more complex problems. I also introduce vectors and vector operations at the end here as a precursor to 2D motion. I specifically focus on the experimental design FRQs.

2017 FRQ #2 is a great experimental design question to use in this unit.

This new layout for the first quarter gives me on average 4 full days for review and/or a full multiple choice + FRQ mini AP test.

Unit 4: Forces and Motion in 2D – 15 days

Two dimensions is a dense unit, and possibly somewhere that I need improving. I include 2D forces, projectiles, circular motion, and gravitation. My circular motion treatment is a little light, as I know we will get back to it in the rotation unit. Holding off with projectiles until after the first quarter lessens their scariness and gives them a better explanation once we understand forces. I also specifically focus on the experimental design FRQs.

Unit 5: Momentum – 10 days

This is another big change for me – momentum before energy. When I did energy here, we would usually not finish or rush to finish before Thanksgiving Break, and then somehow forget energy existed afterwards. I moved momentum up, knowing that if I took out in-depth collision analysis and moved that to the energy unit, we could easily finish momentum before break. I also like that this is heavy on the vectors, which we are jumping off from in forces. This unit includes impulse, momentum, conservation of momentum, and a basic knowledge of collisions. We also focus on short answer FRQs, especially the paragraph length response.

A sample collision lab using PhET simulations — The Collisions Lab from PhET is a great way to introduce collisions and conservation of momentum!

Unit 6: Energy – 15 days

Finally, we are closing out the first semester. We round out semester one with energy transfer, conservation of energy, and energy in collisions. This switch lets us take energy into the home stretch, and use it as a good spiral of every topic already covered.

AP Physics 1 Pacing – tl;dr version

I changed my order to do kinematics and forces in 1D before doing both in 2D. I did momentum before energy. I liked it, would recommend.

5 Tips for New AP Physics Teachers

June 2, 2017 / dinacav

So you just found out you are teaching AP Physics for the first time? Or maybe you are a veteran teacher that needs some new resources? We have all been there. Beginning to teach a new subject can be difficult, especially if it is an AP course. Here are my tips for new AP Physics teachers.

What to do before the school year begins

1. Attend an AP Summer Institute

I attended the APSI at the University of South Florida the summer before I began teaching AP, and it was the single most valuable thing I did to prepare. The presenter gave us a wealth of resources, performed sample labs, and really delved in-depth into the expectations for the course and national exam. Hopefully, your school will pay for your attendance, because it is expensive. However, even if you have to pay out of pocket I would still recommend attending. The resources and knowledge you gain are far worth it – this is the number one thing all AP Physics teachers should do!

2. Join Pretty Good Physics

The previous AP teacher at my school told be about this site, and then I learned about it again at the APSI. It is a great place to find resources, share resources, and get ideas for your course.

There is a general wiki that has labs, activities, and various problem sets. This site is publicly view-able. There is also a secure site in which you must prove you are a teacher – secure includes test questions, FRQs, practice national exams, and so much more. I recommend joining both wikis.

Resources for AP Physics teachers during the school year

3. TIPERs are your best friend

TIPERs, or Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research, are a life saver. I find that these exercises tend to be pretty close to what students encounter on the national exam, and they are also just great problems. My students get an FRQ every week, and many times that FRQ is actually a TIPER. There are so many to choose from.

TIPERs are a great resource for AP Physics teachers

One type of exercise is a ranking task, in which students analyze six or so different scenarios and have to organize them based on most velocity, most kinetic energy, etc. The national exam has included these types of questions, as evident by 2017 AP Physics 1 FRQ #1.

You can find the book on Amazon, but I recommend getting an electronic version.

Here is an article on College Board’s website on using TIPERs and similar ranking tasks in your classroom. They also included this sample ranking task on projectiles.

4. Use the released practice exams

The released exams are my exams. Make sure you get access to the AP Audit website and secure documents. These documents can be used for in-class use, but may not be posted online or provided for students to take home. This makes they excellent test questions – they are secure and have actually been on the national.

The first thing my students said to me after the national was that it was not any harder than what we did in class. Sure, it was hard, but they were adequately prepared. Released exams are your best resource for preparing your students.

5. Do all the labs

Seriously, all of them. Okay, maybe not all, but at least 1-2 a week. 25% of your class should be time spent in laboratory experiences. This may sound like a lot and you may say that you don’t have time, but it is absolutely necessary. I teach in a school with 50 minute class periods. It is possible.

It is important to vary between the types of labs students perform. You can do inquiry-based labs, traditional step-by-step labs, design challenges, virtual labs, create models, whatever – the point is that students need their hands on things for Physics to make sense. I posted about how I use labs in my AP Physics course to help with the experimental design FRQ – check it out here!

Data tracking for AP Physics

May 25, 2017 / dinacav

I previously shared that I started doing Multiple Choice Mondays and FRQ Fridays every week going into the AP exam. Here is a sample score tracking sheet my students used to track their progress. It was helpful and motivating for them to see their progress over time.

Score Tracker

AP Physics Pass Rate Reflections

May 22, 2017 / dinacav

How much does your AP Physics pass rate matter as a teacher? I started teaching AP Physics 1 two years ago. I was scared. The national pass rate was appallingly bad and I was afraid to push a course that no one could pass on my students.

*Here is some data from the 2016 AP Physics 1 exam courtesy of Total Registration*

I feel very different after teaching it and getting through two National Exams.

What does the national AP Physics pass rate tell us?

I firmly believe that the national pass rate does not accurately reflect the course. If you look at the numbers, many many more students took AP Physics 1 than the old B exam. Schools seemed to have pushed AP Physics on too many unprepared students. Additionally, I have heard tales of freshmen taking it, of schools completely abolishing all Physics but AP, and offering 1 and 2 in the same year. I think all of these things artificially deflate the AP Physics pass rate.

What’s the big difference in the newer course? Less rote memorization and plug-and-chug. More analysis and critical thinking. These are important skills that I hope my students take away from the course. I always say that Physics teaches you how to think. For instance, I’d rather my students remember how to think than recite a definition. I posted here about how I rethought my classroom to make it more student-centered – these types of strategies are definitely important to adjust our teaching to include inquiry and critical thinking.

My hypothesis is that the national pass rate will slowly rise to 50% or so as teachers learn the test and students are able to more adequately prepare. Also, it will take time for teachers and students to adjust to the new exam format. , This exam has almost no calculations and hopefully will create change overall in how Physics is taught. Physics education as a whole seems to be moving towards conceptual understanding, inquiry, and a more hands-on approach. Only time will tell. My biggest fear is that students will see the pass rate and not take the class. They’d be missing out on an amazing adventure.