AP Physics: Assumptions
Some of my students are losing track of the tools they have for problems involving forces, so we started by whiteboarding as many different representations for a simple force problem as we could and then making a list of what we have in our forces toolkit. From there, students worked on some TIPERs problems. I had students answer each problem using a CER, but turned it into a CAER by asking them to state and justify key assumptions before diving into the evidence. We had some good conversation about what makes something an assumption rather than evidence or a claim. We will definitely need to revisit this as the year goes on, but I liked hearing my students start by articulating what they had to just agree is true before digging into the rest of the problem.

Earth Science: Moon Landscapes

Students looked at a topographic map of an area of the Moon. They made some good observations and inferences about the craters formed, but students have had limited exposure to topographic maps so far and, as a result, had trouble connecting the map to what the would physically see. Next time, I think I’ll start by having them look at an actual image of the Moon, then transition to a topographic map of the same area.