Tag: pacing

Setting Up Your High School Astronomy Curriculum

December 8, 2021 / dina

I’ve had a lifelong passion for Astronomy. I was extremely fortunate that in my third year teaching, I was able to petition my school to add an Astronomy course to our curriculum offerings. The challenge, though, was setting up a high school Astronomy curriculum from scratch. I previously wrote about my top resources for teaching Astronomy, but let’s take a look at the basics. What should you teach in a high school Astronomy course?

Well, that might depend on your district/state standards. My state does have standards for Astronomy, but they are mostly Physics or general science standards. However, this meant I had a lot of flexibility in what to teach and how to organize my course.

My school is a daily 50 minute period. We marketed Astronomy to primarily seniors, so I had approximately 8 weeks of instruction in quarters 1-3 and 6 weeks in quarter 4.

Quarter 1 – Observational Astronomy

I begin my high school Astronomy curriculum with some basics of Astronomy and focusing on what we can observe in the night sky. As my state standards are based on Physics standards, we hit a lot of the motion and Kepler’s/Newton’s laws standards here in the first quarter. For instance, I invested in some simple Galileoscopes to have students practice building a telescope and use them outside. Also, check out my lesson plan and activity on the Moon phases I use in this unit.

Image of an assembled and unassembled telescope called a Galileoscope. — Galileoscopes are easy to use and assemble, as well as affordable, refracting telescopes. Image courtesy of Galileoscope.

We typically spend 1-2 days practicing using the telescopes in the daytime and recording what we can observe just around the school courtyard. Since this is in the fall/winter and sunrise isn’t usually until after school starts, we also typically have at least a week of before-school observations. As a result, the timing is perfect to usually observe some major known constellations and the Orion Nebula, Pleiades, and other easy-to-find celestial objects.

The Night Sky
- Celestial sphere, constellations, orbital motion, moon phases, eclipses

History of Astronomy
- Ancient astronomy, Copernicus and Galileo, Brahe and Kepler, Newton

Light and Telescopes
- Early telescopes, light and electromagnetic spectrum, practice using telescopes, space telescopes

Quarter 2 – The Solar System

Here we focus on all aspects of the solar system, starting with the solar system as a whole, then Earth, then each group of planets. I try to focus on comparative planetology – comparing the planets and their properties to each other, rather than memorizing facts about each planet.

Image of a data sheet to be filled out about each planet. — Here is a sample data sheet I have used to help students organize their notes about each planet.

For the Jovian planets, I also like to include some information about the major moons. We typically discuss the Galilean moons, along with Titan, Enceladus, and Triton (sorry, Uranus).

The Solar System and Earth
- Layout of the solar system, solar nebular theory, Earth as a planet, Earth’s interior and atmosphere

Terrestrial Planets
- Moon and Mercury: comparisons, surfaces, atmospheres; Venus: greenhouse effect, volcanism, atmosphere, interior; Mars: atmosphere, interior, volcanism, missions and rovers

Jovian Planets
- Jupiter and Saturn: comparisons, atmospheres, interiors, missions, major moons; Uranus and Saturn: comparisons, atmospheres, interiors, missions, major moons

Beyond Planets
- asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, Oort Cloud, major asteroids and dwarf planets

Quarter 3 – Stars

Stars are definitely my favorite topic, and it is also usually a big hit with students. We spend a lot of time on the different life cycles. First, we look at the Sun and its properties as a star. In the low mass stars section, we focus on stars that end as white dwarfs. I typically spend the most time in the high mass stars section, as nuclear fusion, supernovae, and black holes tend to be high-interest areas.

Image of questions gathered from students about black holes. I try to dedicate ample time in my Astronomy curriculum to high-interest topics. — Real questions from students about black holes. I always try to dedicate 2-3 days to a black holes research project as its a high-interest topic.

We usually wrap up this quarter with galaxies, though time-dependent I have moved it to quarter 4.

The Sun as a Star
- Sun surface, interior, properties, sunspots

Low Mass Stars
- Red dwarf and Sun-like main sequence stars, Sun-like star life cycle

High Mass Stars
- High mass main sequence, supernovae, black holes

Galaxies
- Galaxy types, galaxy classification, Milky Way galaxy properties

Quarter 4 – Cosmology and Spaceflight

Cosmology is the outlier here, but it fits where it fits, especially as we have just studied galaxies. We focus on the history of Cosmology and how the model of the Universe has changed over time.

Image of a sample assignment on the origin of the Universe. — Sample from an assignment on the origin of the Universe. Students read an excerpt from Stephen Hawking’s “Origin of the Universe” speech to gather their evidence.

As I am based in Florida, we have A LOT of state standards related to the space program. As a result, I decided to end the year with this as we wind down the year by building bottle rockets. The history of human spaceflight is a topic I am very passionate about and it’s a little less rigorous, so it’s a great way to send off the year. We focus on the different eras of the US Space Program and the major achievements of each.

Cosmology
- Expansion of the Universe, Big Bang, eras of the early Universe, Universe models

Rocketry
- Principles of rocketry, aerodynamics, Newton’s laws revisited, building a rocket

Human Spaceflight
- Early spaceflight, projects Mercury and Gemini, project Apollo, Space Shuttle and beyond

Building your high school Astronomy curriculum

I hope this breakdown is helpful as you build your own high school Astronomy curriculum. Depending on your state and standards you may have different focus areas, but these are the major topics any Astronomy course should address.

Don’t forget to check out my tips and resources for teaching Astronomy, as well as my ideas for teaching a more engaging Astronomy course. Good luck and ad astra!

Setting Up Your AP Physics 1 Curriculum – Revised for 2021

December 2, 2021 / dina

One of the most common questions I get about teaching AP Physics comes from new teachers: “Where do I start?!” Setting up your AP Physics 1 curriculum can be a challenge. Let’s take a look at the major content areas in AP Physics 1 and how to organize them into a curriculum plan for your course.

Hopefully, this guide will help you figure out how College Board organizes their course. In addition, I’ll show you how that translates into real timing and order of instruction in a classroom.

AP Physics 1 official units

College Board breaks AP Physics 1 down into seven units. These are, including their approximate weight on the AP exam:

Kinematics (12-18%)
Dynamics (16-20%)
Circular Motion and Gravitation (6-8%)
Energy (20-28%)
Momentum (12-18%)
Simple Harmonic Motion (4-6%)
Torque and Rotational Motion (12-18%)

Previously, AP Physics 1 also included waves and electricity, but as of the 2021 Course and Exam Description, these have been removed from the course to streamline the AP Physics 1 curriculum to only include mechanics.

Also, note that a lot of these topics overlap with each other. Though circular motion and gravitation is only 6-8% of the national exam, you could absolutely see a free-response question on gravitation that also includes parts on energy, momentum, etc. This would make gravitation technically jump up in percentage. I don’t interpret these numbers as hard and fast cut-offs for each topic, but more of a general guide.

Image of 2018 FRQ #5 from the AP Physics 1 National Exam. Copyright College Board. — Many questions, especially the free-response questions, encompass multiple units. This question from the 2018 National Exam incorporated simple harmonic motion, energy, and momentum.

AP Physics 1 curriculum in the classroom

Like most teachers, I tend to have a preferred way of doing things. These unit breakdowns are a little newer to the AP Physics curriculum, so I created my own order of topics. My order of instruction looks more like this:

One dimensional kinematics
One dimensional forces
Dynamics (including two dimensional kinematics and forces)
Circular motion and gravitation
Momentum
Energy
Torque and rotational motion
Simple harmonic motion

This is updated from my previous order of instruction to reflect the 2021 changes. I may move simple harmonic motion to before rotational motion now that the AP Physics 1 curriculum does not include waves. We’ll see after testing it out with students.

I like breaking kinematics and dynamics up into 1D and 2D sections as it eases students into the course with simpler topics. That way, we can also work on how the course is set up, types of FRQs, etc. as we work on the first two units. Then by the time we get to 2D motion, which is typically much more difficult for students, they have a grasp on the course and how questions are structured.

Image titled "Know Your National" explaining the types of questions on the AP Physics 1 National Exam. — Focusing on 1D motion in the first two units helps students also have time to learn the ropes of the course before the content amps up in difficulty. We practice the different types of FRQs in the first couple of months of the year.

Also, I also got into doing momentum before energy as that’s what my textbook did and I decided to try it out. It worked well so I stuck with it! I think momentum and energy *can* be taught in either order, so it is up to your preference.

Timing and pacing your course

My school operates on a daily 50 minute class period. I typically have about 30 weeks of instruction time (taking out 3 weeks for after AP exams and 3 weeks for each quarters’ exam week), or around 8 weeks in quarters 1-3 and 6 weeks in quarter 4. My approximate time breakdown looks like this:

Course introduction and skills – 1 week
- Graphing, math skills, laboratory skills

One dimensional kinematics – 3 weeks
- Motion terms, constant velocity, uniform acceleration, motion graphs

One dimensional forces – 3 weeks
- Force terms, free-body diagrams, Newton’s laws

Dynamics – 4 weeks
- Vectors, forces in two dimensions, dynamic systems, kinematics in two dimensions, projectile motion

Circulation motion and gravitation – 2 weeks
- Circular motion, law of gravitation, gravitational fields

Momentum – 3 weeks
- Momentum, impulse, conservation of momentum, collisions

Energy – 4 weeks
- Mechanical work and power, energy and energy transfer, conservation of energy, collisions extension to energy

Rotational motion – 4 weeks
- Rotational kinematics, torque, rotational dynamics, rotational kinetic energy, conservation of angular momentum

Simple harmonic motion – 2 weeks
- period of simple harmonic oscillations, energy in simple harmonic motion

AP exam review – 4 weeks
- 1-2 class period to review each unit, exam review module, labs to reinforce tying units together, full length practice exam

Removing waves and electricity gives a lot more breathing room in the AP Physics 1 curriculum. Before their removal, I still did 4 weeks of review. It definitely gave me less time on energy and momentum. I LOVE having that extra time for those two very important topics!

Some teachers give more or less (or no!) time for review at the end. However, I feel very strongly about having four entire weeks for review. As I work within a 50 minute period, it takes me four class periods to do a full-length practice exam. I previously wrote a bit about how I structure this review, but typically in weeks two and three, we take two days to do half of the full-length exam. This gives us an entire week right before the national exam to dig deep into their exam scores and make last-minute strategy adjustments.

Putting it all together

In conclusion, I hope this breakdown was helpful to you as you work on setting up or adjusting your AP Physics 1 curriculum. If you are a returning AP Physics 1 teacher, I know that revising your course after the unit removals is both a blessing and a curse. I certainly appreciate the extra time to focus on mechanics and save waves and electricity for AP Physics 2!

Pacing for AP Physics 1: A Basic Timeline for 2021 and Beyond

May 30, 2021 / dinacav

How should you break up your year teaching AP Physics 1? If you are a new or a veteran AP Physics 1 teacher, you may need some guidance on how long to spend on each unit. As I update this in 2021, we are now looking at a refreshed course that has eliminated circuits and waves. In two years, we may have to take a look at this again as College Board plans another refresh. For now, here is my planning and pacing guide for AP Physics 1. It gives an idea of how long I spent on each unit, the order I did units, and the actual units I broke the course into.

Although I have adjusted this over the years, I started by using College Board’s published pacing guide as a reference. It’s definitely difficult to get down the pacing for AP Physics 1 – I will post how I’ve modified it next year (see my revised AP Physics 1 curriculum plan here)

Official units and percentage breakdown of pacing for AP Physics 1 from College Board. — I teach in a slightly different order than College Board recommends in the Course and Exam Description.

Unit 1: Physics Skills – 5 days

Graphing
Laboratory skills

Unit 2: Kinematics – 15 days

Constant velocity
Uniform acceleration
Projectile Motion

Unit 3: Forces – 15 days

Interactions: forces
Newton’s Laws

Unit 4: Forces and Motion in Two Dimensions – 20 days

Applying Newton’s Laws
Circular Motion
Gravitation
Kepler’s Laws

Unit 5: Momentum – 15 days

Impulse and momentum
Conservation of momentum

Unit 6: Energy – 20 days

Energy and energy transfer
Conservation of energy

Unit 7: Rotational Motion – 20 days

Rotational kinematics
Torque
Rotational dynamics
Rotational kinetic energy
Conservation of angular momentum

Unit 8: Simple Harmonic Motion – 10 days

Simple harmonic motion
Mass-spring systems
Simple pendulums

AP Exam Review – About 4 weeks of practice/review time

Hopefully, this pacing for AP Physics 1 is helpful to you. Although it’s not perfect, it gives a realistic idea of how long each unit takes. Note that I teach in a 50 minute period, traditional school year, so these dates would need to be adjusted for block schedule or semester schools. With the removal of electricity and waves from the AP Physics 1 curriculum, I really love having more time for targeted AP review at the end of the year. In 2023, we may be adding fluids over from AP Physics 2, so another revision will need to take place soon. Where will I fit that in and find the time? Only time will tell!

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.