AP Physics: Model Summaries

Today and Monday are dedicated to review for final exams. One of the problems on yesterday’s assessment is from last year’s AP Physics exam, so I gave students a copy of the scoring guide for that problem and some time to see how they measured up against the College Board criteria. Students responded positively and said it helped them understand what the graders are looking for.

Afterward, I assigned each group one of the four major models we’ve covered so far (constant acceleration, forces, momentum transfer, and energy transfer), then had them whiteboard a summary of that model. Once groups finished, we did a gallery walk so students could have a chance to review other models. Students said this helped remind them of tools they’d forgotten about. I think on Monday, I’ll come up with some problems for them to practice picking appropriate tools.