Today was our first day back from break.

AP Physics 1: Problems

Students worked on some conservation of energy problems. I had to do some prodding to remind students to start with an LOL diagram, but they got into the swing of things fairly quickly.

Physics: Work

Students sketched force vs. distance graphs for raising a cart to the same height using different ramps in order to introduce the idea of work. Results were a little messier than usual, but I think I didn’t introduce the lab as clearly as usual and my students weren’t as focused as usual thanks to it being the first day back from break. But, we were still able to get the ideas we needed.

Chemistry Essentials: Gas Laws

Students made some observations with capped syringes to get a conceptual understanding of gas laws. After a hot glue fail last tri, I glued the caps on with super glue, and the lab worked very nicely. It was really tough for a lot of students to connect their observations to particle diagrams, so I think it would have been worth spending a little more time before the lab revisiting what particle diagrams show.