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.
Learning Outcomes for Momentum and Collisions
Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs
The list below displays sample learning objectives for the unit on Momentum and Collisions. 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. Momentum
Define momentum and identify its units; relate the quantity of momentum to the variables that affect it and identify the direction of the momentum vector.
Reading:
Video:
Concept Builders:
2. Impulse-Momentum Change Relationship
Describe what an impulse is and relate it to the amount of momentum change that it causes; use the impulse-momentum change relationship to analyze physical scenarios and to predict the effect that a variable change would have upon the outcome.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 1 - Marshmallow Shooters
Lab 2: Balloon Toss Lab
Science Reasoning Center:
Think Sheets:
Impulse and Momentum Change
Impulse-Momentum Change Applications
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
3. Action-Reaction and Momentum Conservation
Use Newton's third law and second law to compare the force, the collision time, the impulse, the momentum change, and the velocity change of the two objects involved in a collision or explosion; explain and use the law of momentum conservation.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Momentum Conservation in Collisions
Minds On Physics:
4. Momentum Conservation and Explosions
Analyze an explosion situation involving two objects to show that momentum is conserved and conduct an analysis to predict the post-explosion speed of one of the objects.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 3 - Explosion Analysis
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Think Sheets:
Action-Reaction and Explosions
Red Cart vs. Blue Cart
Momentum Conservation and Explosions
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
5. Momentum Conservation and Collisions
Conduct a momentum analysis of a collision to show that system momentum is conserved and to use such a momentum analysis to predict an unknown post-collision velocity.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 4 - The Cart and the Brick
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Think Sheets:
Collision Analysis
Concept Builders:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
6. Momentum Conservation and Proportional Reasoning
Use proportional reasoning skills to predict the post-collision velocity of an hit-and-stick collision when the mas ratios of the colliding object and the initial speed are known (one object initially at rest).
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Collisions and Proportional Reasoning
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
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)