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 Work and Energy
Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs
The list below displays sample learning objectives for the unit on Work and Energy. 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. Work
Define work, identify the units of work, describe the variables that affect the amount of work, and identify situations in which work is and is not done on an object; calculate the work done on an object.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 1 - It's All Uphill
Think Sheets:
Work
Minds On Physics:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
2. Kinetic, Potential, and Mechanical Energy
Define kinetic energy (KE) and potential energy (PE), identify the variables that affect the amount of KE and PE and the manner in which the variables do affect KE and PE; relate KE and PE to the total mechanical energy (TME) and calculate the amounts of KE, PE, and TME when give sufficient information.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 2 - Push the Plow
Think Sheets:
KE and PE
Energy
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
3. Conservative and Non-Conservative Forces
Distinguish between work done by conservative forces and non-conservative forces and their effect upon the total mechanical energy of the system and the flow of energy between system and surroundings.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Mechanical Energy Conservation
Work-Energy Transformations
Minds On Physics:
Mission WE5 on Conservative and Non-Conservative Forces
4. Work-Energy Bar Charts
Construct a work-energy bar chart for a physical situation to describe how the various forms of energy and the total system energy changes or remains constant over the course of a motion.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Bar Chart Illustrations
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
5. Energy Analysis (Non-Conservative Forces NOT doing Work)
Analyze situations - both conceptually and mathematically - in which non-conservative forces are NOT doing net work in order to describe how the various forms of energy of the system change and remain constant over the course of a motion.
Reading:
Video:
Labs:
Lab 3 - Energy on an Incline
Think Sheets:
Mechanical Energy Conservation
Energy Analysis
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
6. Energy Analysis (Non-Conservative Forces doing Net Work)
Analyze situations - both conceptually and mathematically - in which non-conservative forces are doing net work in order to describe the energy changes that occur within the system and between the system and the surroundings.
Reading:
Video:
Think Sheets:
Work-Energy Transformations
Energy Analysis
Physics Interactives with Concept Checkers:
Concept Builders:
Minds On Physics:
CalcPad Problem Sets:
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)