Survey Answers

Remember the student info sheet I gave you on the first day of class?  I asked you the following questions:

• What do you like about yourself?
• What would make this a good class for you?

Well, here are some of the answers you wrote down!

What do you like about yourself?

• me
• personality x2
• well rounded
• have friends
• can sleep anywhere
• enthusiastic x2
• always happy
• don’t know
• like sports
• eager to learn
• creative
• hard work, understanding
• optimistic
• nothing
• ambition
• imagination
• active
• friendly most of the time
• careful

It's great to see you guys like so many things about yourselves.  I give you this list to encourage you to find things you like in each other.  Together we can make the class into a welcoming, safe environment for everyone.

What would make this a good class for you?

• take notes x4
• visuals x2
• labs, hands on activities x2
• practice and formative quizzes x2
• posted notes
• no memorizing
• after school help
• real life examples
• fun x3
• understandable
• learning concepts
• good mark

A lot of things on this list I have control over as a teacher.  I assure you I will try my best to make this a good class for all of you.  There are some things on here that are not up to me though.  For example, "good marks," depends on what YOU do.  To make this a good class, we all need to work together.  Make sure you come see me and let me know if you are ever have any concerns about the class.  I am always open to hearing your suggestions to make this class a great experience for all of you.

Sept. 5 – Scientific Notation, Precision, Accuracy and Significant Digits

Today we looked at this amazing zooming animation:

• http://htwins.net/scale2/

It's clear from this app that there are incredibly huge numbers and incredibly small numbers in physics.  We want to be able to write them all down without worrying about all the zeroes, so we use scientific notation as a short cut.  You'll find those notes at the end of yesterday's powerpoint:

• Review 1 PowerPoint

Here are the notes and worksheets from today:

• Review 2 PowerPoint
• Significant Digits worksheet
• Trig Review worksheet

If you understand Significant Digits, you will never have to ask me, "How many digits should I round my answer to?"

Also, here are the solutions to yesterday's homework:

• Unit Conversions solutions

Sept. 4 - Unit Conversions

Today we discussed important topics that will be useful for the rest of the term and any other physics class you take in the future.

MKS Units

We discussed the most basic things that can be measured, distance, time and mass.  The standard units that are used in physics are meters, kilograms and seconds.  I discussed where they came from and how to change from one set of units to another.

• Review 1 PowerPoint
• Unit Conversion worksheet

Practice those unit conversions!  On this worksheet, you should show every step.  As you become more familiar with it, you will eventually be able to do them without writing down any of the steps at all.

Welcome to Physics!

Welcome to your first physics class!

Course Materials

Today I gave you an idea of what to expect in this class.  Here are the handouts for general course information.  The "paper work":

• Course Outline

• Marks Breakdown

• Student Information Sheet

Then we have this handout with more details about what to expect for the first unit:

• Unit Outline

What is Physics

Then we took a step back to look at the bigger picture.  What is physics?  Who does physics?  Why do we do physics?

Finally, we talked about some expectations of what would make this an ideal class for everyone.  Here are the notes we came up with:

What to you is an ideal class?

These are the answers that WE came up with together as a class (both morning and afternoon class), so I hope we can all work together to make this an ideal class for everyone.

What does and ideal class look like?

• everybody works well together.
• raising hands for questions.
• eyes on the teacher, paying attention.
• should look interesting, lots of visuals.

What does it sound like?

• encouraging and constructive feed back.
• talking about the subject at appropriate times.
• scientific vocabulary.
• collaborations.
• no ringing of phones.

What does it feel like?

• comfortable learning environment.
• feels safe.
• welcoming
• fun, exciting (demonstrations, games, activities)

I'm looking forward to a great semester with all of you!  If you have any questions or concerns with the course, feel free to send me an email or come talk to me.