Welcome to General Physics

"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."    — Albert Einstein.

 

Mr. Keeney

 

Contact Information:

 

School phone – (814) 274 – 8500

 

Email –

 

Course homepage:  https://coudersportschools.com/curriculumcorner/keeney3.html

 

Course Overview:

Prerequisites:

          Physics is offered to students at the 11th and 12th grade level who have demonstrated above average achievement in previous science classes (above a 80% average).  Physics may be taken concurrently with Pre-Calculus, though it is recommended that it be taken after Pre-Calculus.  Previous math classes must also show grades of 80% or above. 

 

Learning Materials:

 

 

What is taught:         

            General Physics is a college prep course that introduces students to the basic physical laws of the universe.   The course is designed in the context of the Pa State Science Standards, and as such explores how things move, how forces work, what energy is, and how energy is used.  Specific topics include motion, forces, Newton’s Laws, momentum, gravitation, energy, sound, electricity, magnetism, light, and finally stars, galaxies and the universe.  A more detailed list of topics and chapters is available upon request.  Emphasis will be placed on different ideas may be used in practical situations that students will encounter in their chosen fields.


 

 

How it will be assessed:          

            Students will be formatively assessed through the use of pre tests that may be performance based or more traditional, graded practice, quizzes, and summative tests at the end of units.  Students will be exposed to many application-oriented activities throughout the course meant to improve mastery and retention and to show the relevance of material learned during the course.  As with all courses, the overall course grade may be calculated by using the following formula:

        

               (1st Quarter Grade + 2nd Quarter Grade + 3rd Quarter Grade + 4th Quarter Grade + (Mid Term + Final)/2) / 5  = Final Grade

 

Course Graded Activities:

Students are expected to:

 

As a measure of students being active in their learning, some exploratory exercises will be graded, and scored based on completeness and/or quality. It is understood that when topics are introduced, the student and teacher will be working together to acquire knowledge and skills.

 

Practice may be guided or independent, and may take on either classwork or homework assignments. A minimum expectation is that all assigned exercises are attempted in good faith, and at least 70% be correct. Exercises that are not correct provide a rich source of material for learning to move to mastery of a topic. 

 

Labs will be an important part of our course, and will require a variety of products to be prepared, usually demonstrating mastery of one or many parts of the Scientific Method.  Labs will vary in value from 10 – 50 points and average 1 per week.  Demonstrations and other types of hands-on practice may be included as well.

 

Mastery will be shown via quizzes and tests. One type of quiz will come directly from student homework problems and be open notebook. (usually 15 pts – weekly).  Other quizzes may be given during the course and will mostly be pre announced.  (10 – 20 pts). 

 

Tests (50 – 100 pts, 1 or 2 per quarter) are major, full period assessments, and will be modeled after the types of questions faced on the AP Exam.  Students wishing to repeat a test may do so by performing further practice that will be ungraded or writing detailed explanations as to how to do the problems that they did incorrectly and then taking another form of the test again.   Make ups must be taken within 2 weeks of getting back the test.  Test scores will be averaged to provide a single test grade.

 

 

 

 

Administrative Notes:

 

Excused absences allow for some extra time to hand in work, in accordance with the school’s policies. Late homework, and class work will not be accepted, unless because of excused absences. Quizzes and tests must be taken when the student returns to school, though if there was an excused absence, the test or quiz may be postponed the number of days equal to the absence by arrangement. The test or quiz may be different than that given originally. Extenuating circumstances will be taken into account.

 

You are expected to be on time, ready to learn. Unexcused absences or tardinesses will cause you to miss entire grades for assignments, which could hurt your grade one or several letter grades!

 

I am available for extra help by arrangement. I am extremely willing to help you be successful in any way possible, but you must ask for help outside the classroom. Avoid falling behind and feeling overwhelmed – I am here to help but can only help if I know you need it. I can make myself available before or after school as needed.

 

 

 

 

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