Conceptual Physics Course Package
We will be beginning a project during the 2024-25 school year in which we create a package of materials to support teachers teaching a Conceptual Physics course. The downloadable package will include slide decks, think sheets, labs, quizzes, and tests. Answer keys will be provided. This will be a for-sale item that is offered to teachers. We hope to have the project completed before the start of the 2025-26 school year.
In creating our Lesson Plans and Learning Outcomes for this course we have referenced several of the items that we intend to place in the package. We have used red text wherever we have made such a reference. These items will only be available by purchase of the course package.
Objectives for Light Waves and Color
Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs
The list below displays sample learning objectives for the unit on Light Waves and Color. The various activities from the Lesson Plans have been organized by objective. This format of organizing The Physics Classroom's activities may be more useful to some teachers than the Lesson Plan format. It is worth noting that the activities identified below only include those activities included on the Lesson Plans and in the Pre-Built Task Tracker courses. Additional activities are referenced on the Teacher Notes page.
1. Wave Nature of Light
Describe the evidence for the wave nature of light and the limitations of the wave model in explaining phenomenon such as the photoelectric effect.
Reading:
Video:
Science Reasoning Center Activity:
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
2. Polarization
Compare and contrast polarized and unpolarized light, describe the effect of a Polaroid filter on light, and discuss the various means by which unpolarized light can become polarized.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Polarization
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Minds On Physics:
3. Light Intensity
Predict the effect of the power of the light source and the distance from the light source upon the intensity of light on a surface some distance away.
Video:
Labs:
Lab 1: Diluted by Distance
Science Reasoning Activity:
Concept Builders:
4. Electromagnetic Spectrum and Visible Light Spectrum
Identify the patterns associated with wavelength, frequency, and energy/photon for the various regions of the electromagnetic and visible light spectra.
Reading:
Video:
Science Reasoning Activity:
Minds On Physics:
Mission LC1 on Electromagnetic and Visible Light Spectrum
5. Color Addition
Describe the mechanisms by which the eye perceives color, identify the three primary colors of light, and discuss how primary colors of light can mix in varying intensities to produce the
millions of colors the eye can perceive.
Reading:
Video:
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
6. Color Subtraction
Use the incident-absorbed-reflected model to explain and predict the color appearance of objects when the incident colors of light and the imparted pigments are known.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 2: Taking Away From RGB
Think Sheets:
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
7. Filters
Use the incident-absorbed-transmitted model to explain and predict the color appearance of objects when the viewed through a specific colored filter.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 4: Filtering Away
Think Sheets:
Incident-Absorbed-Transmitted Model
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
Also Available ...
Physics teachers may find the following
for-sale tools to be useful supplements to our Lesson Plan and Pacing Guide section:
- Task Tracker Subscription (annual purchase)
A subscription allows teachers to set up classes, add students, customize online assignments, view student progress/scores, and export student scores. Task Tracker accounts allow your students to begin assignments in class or at school and to finish them at home. View our Seat and Cost Calculator for pricing details.
- The Solutions Guide
We publish a free curriculum with >200 ready-to-use Think Sheets for developing physics concepts. The Solutions Guide is a download containing the source documents, PDFs of source documents, and answers/solutions in MS Word and PDF format. An expanded license agreement is included with the purchase. (Cost: $25 download)
- Teacher Presentation Pack
This is a large collection of downloadable content packed with nearly 190 Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks, the corresponding Lesson Notes (as PDF and fully-modifiable MS Word format), about 170 animations (in .gif, .png, and .mp4 file formats), a countless number of ready-to-use images (including the original source documents that would allow for easy modification of those images), and a license that allows teachers to modify and use all the content with their classes on password-protected sites (such as course management systems). (Cost: $40 download)
- Question Bank
We distribute a Question Bank that includes more than 9300 questions neatly organized according to topic. The Question Bank is the perfect tool for busy teachers or new teachers. Even if you don't use the website with your classes, the Question Bank will assist you in quickly putting together quizzes, tests and other documents with high-quality questions that target student's conceptions of physics principles. And if you do use The Physics Classroom website, the Question Bank is the perfect complement to the materials found at the website. (Cost: $25 download)