AP Physics: Circuit Basics

Students used the PhET circuit construction kit to start exploring basic circuit properties and develop Ohm’s Law. It was a lot of fun to listen to students as they discovered new features in the simulation and discussed details they noticed.

Physics: Cart Catching

To introduce momentum, we borrowed the idea of “chalk-smashing ability” used to introduce energy in the PUM curriculum and had students play with how they could make it harder to catch a cart on a dynamics track. I got excited when a couple of groups took advantage of the plunger carts to see how catching the plunger end felt different than catching the other end, which will be a great lead-in to impulse.

Chemistry Essentials: Chemical Changes

Students did several different chemical reactions to identify signs of chemical changes. There were lots of good observations during the lab.