Learning Environment & Situational Factors to Consider

General Education Physics Class at Woodinville High School

Energy, Work, and Power Unit

1. Specific Context of the Teaching/Learning Situation

How many students are in the class?
30 students on average.
Is the course primary, secondary, undergraduate, or graduate level?
This is a high school course available to 9th through 12th grades.
How long and frequent are the class meetings?
Students meet for:
• 50 minutes per day (regular schedule), 3 days per week.
• 80 minutes per day (block schedule), 1 day per week.
How will the course be delivered: live, online, blended, flipped or in a classroom or lab?
The class is a blended model utilizing access to online and in-class resources.
What physical elements of the learning environment will affect the class?
• 34 chairs with 11 long tables to accommodate up to 4 students at each.
• Folding room partition that can be closed to separate the room into two learning
areas.
• Four large whiteboards across walls.
• One sink with water faucet.
• Teacher workstation.
• Two long wall-mounted desk surfaces.
• Shelves and cabinets for storage.
What technology, networking and access issues will affect the class?
• 33 Chromebook laptops.
• 30 iPads.
• Digital projector with smartboard.
• Wi-Fi access with highspeed internet.

2. General Context of the Learning Situation

What learning expectations are placed on this course or curriculum by: the school, district,
university, college and/or department? the profession? society?
• The state of Washington has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards
(NGSS) for the learning goals of students in science course, including physics
• Washington currently has no state-wide science test, but is developing the
Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science for roll out within a few years
• Northshore School District has no formalized curriculum for its science classes. PLC
teams in each department are responsible for designing course work.
• Within our PLC, the science department has unpacked the NGSS into a set of
knowledge and process learning outcomes for our science classes.

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
3. Nature of the Subject
Is this subject primarily theoretical, practical, or a combination?
High school physics is a practical science in that it simulates real-world situations.
Students learn of some theoretical models at the end of the year.
Is the subject primarily convergent or divergent?
Physics involves input measurements in order to arrive at a solution for which there is
normally only one answer, so it is convergent in that regard. It is divergent, though, in
the number of ways in which a correct answer can be arrived at. In this particular unit
the speed of an object can be calculated using the concepts of kinetic or potential
energy.
Are there important changes or controversies occurring within the field?
The subjects taught in general physics have been settled for decades and there
is little new knowledge being developed. Modern physics is touched upon in a
single unit and in there is found controversies such as the origins of the universe,
theoretical models of quantum mechanics and special relativity.

4. Characteristics of the Learners

What is the life situation of the learners (e.g., socio-economic, cultural, personal, family,
professional goals)?
Students at Woodville High School are on average from households ranking higher in
socio-economic measurements than the average households for the school district and
state as a whole. Many parents work in the vibrant tech industry in the Seattle area. It
has a fairly homogenous student body with very low levels of ELL learners and those on
reduced lunch plans.
Parents tend to be knowledgeable of services available to students and actively seek
them out. As a result, there are more students on 504 plans than the national average.
Parents are active in monitoring academic progress and urge their children to take AP
courses at a higher rate than other schools in the district.
Students tend to have a greater sense of requirements for college entry and tend to
seek out activities in and out of school to burnish their academic and extra-curricular
resumes.
What prior knowledge, experiences, and initial feelings do students usually have about this
subject?
Physics is not a required course in order to graduate in Washington. Most students who
enter the class understand that a significant portion involves math and come better
prepared in basic algebra skills and do not often struggle with math in general. Because
it is not a requirement, incoming students often have positive feelings about the class,
expecting to learn a subject that will be of practical use in their future careers (a
significant number expect to major in technical/engineering subjects in college).
Students usually come into the class with a positive mindset about it.

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 What are their learning goals and expectations?
A majority of the students who take general physics are tinkerers and explorers
at heart. Their primary goal coming into the class (outside of an A grade) is to
learn the rules in which the world operates. They look forward to building
racecars from a mousetrap, or make a trebuchet, wire a shoebox with lightbulbs
and parallel circuits. In a nutshell, they want to be able to explain the things they
see in life, books, and movies to others.

5. Characteristics of the Teacher

What beliefs and values does the teacher have about teaching and learning?
I believe a teacher acts as a guide to the learner, assisting them by providing rich
learning experiences and asking probing questions that force the learner to examine a
problem from a variety of points of view. As a constructivist, I believe the learner gains
understanding through a process of interaction with the subject.
What is his/her attitude toward:
the subject?
Physics has been a passion of mine since high school. I have always been fascinated
with miniatures and simulations. Physics is just a continuation of this as it is capable of
explaining how real objects like solar systems or airplanes operate. There is a power in
that which has always attracted me.
students?
I worked for nearly 15 years out of education and nearly 12 within in. I have found
working with young students to be far more rewarding that working with adults in an
office environment. Partly, this was due to my dislike of the typical 9 to 5 office job, but
mostly due to my love for how ready students are to do something new. I find students
to be much more open to the new experiences I can provide than my colleagues in
industry who just wanted to do the same things over and over again.
What level of knowledge or familiarity does s/he have with this subject?
I have strong familiarity with physics and in teaching it. I graduated with a B.A. in
physics and have been teaching it for twelve years. During this time, I have continued
with professional development in the subject including taking part of the AP Physics I
and II institute and work in physics modeling in the classroom.
What are his/her strengths in teaching?
My particular strength in teaching is my ability to lead students from the
beginning of a problem to the end without giving away answers. I have a
particular skill in guiding students through Socratic questioning – allowing them
to arrive at a solution through their own reasoning spurred on by continued
questioning of their conclusions.

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals
Energy, Work, and Power Unit

A year (or more) after this course is over, I want and hope that students will appreciate the
power of math (the language of physics) to simulate and predict the mechanisms of the natural
world.

My Big Harry Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the course is for students to build a device, a
trebuchet, from which they are able to illustrate the way in energy, mass, and velocity are
related within a system and how they can be applied to explain a number of other physical
phenomena.

Foundational Knowledge
• What key information (e.g., facts, terms, formulae, concepts, principles, relationships,
etc.) is/are important for students to understand and remember in the future?
• Vocabulary - energy, work, Joules, mechanical energy, kinetic energy, potential energy,
friction, heat energy, sound energy, light energy, deformation, gravitational potential
energy, kinetic energy, energy transformation, energy transfer, closed system, open
system, conservation of energy, force, power, rate.
• Formulae Concepts, Principles, and Relationships:
• Kinetic energy: KE = 1⁄2 mv2
• Gravitational potential energy: GPE = mgh
• Mechanical energy: ME = KE + PE.
• Work: W = ΔKE.
• Mechanical energy: ME = KE + PE.
• Power: P = W/t.
• Energy and Work are measured in Joules.
• Power is measured in Watts.
• GPE is directly proportional to height.
• KE is exponentially related to velocity.
• Mechanical energy does not include thermal energy.
• Total mechanical energy for a closed system remains constant.
• Total mechanical energy for an open system can change however the total amount
of energy in the universe remains constant.

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 • That a force must cause displacement in the direction of the force in order for work
to be done.
• Work is the transfer energy from one object to another or the transformation of
energy from one type to another.
• The change in total mechanical energy of a system is equal to the total work done
on the system by an outside force.
• Power is the rate at which work is done (or energy is used).
• Mechanical energy IS conserved in elastic collisions.
• Mechanical energy IS NOT conserved in inelastic collisions.
• What key ideas (or perspectives) are important for students to understand in this
course?
• Where does the "lost" mechanical energy in an inelastic collision go?
• What are instances when, according to the physics definition, no work is done?
• How are work and kinetic energy related?
• Explain the difference in terms of work and power of a 60 watt light bulb vs. a 100
watt light bulb.
• Why does the first hill of a roller coaster need to be the tallest?
• Which has more PE, a book 2 m above a table or the same book 3 m above the
table? How can a motorcycle and a car have the same amount of KE?
• What is one factor that will increase or decrease the kinetic energy the most?
• Where does the "lost" mechanical energy in an open system go?

Application Goals
• What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn?
• Critical thinking, in which students analyze and evaluate
• Given a system of objects, students will analyze the components and
information provided to develop a set of givens and unknows.
• Students will analyze givens and unknown in order to determine
appropriate formulae to arrive at a solution.
• Students will analyze power rating of various devices and the information
provided in utility bills to evaluate the impact of household appliances.
• Creative thinking, in which students imagine and create
• Students will research the properties of and design a working trebuchet.
• Students will build a trebuchet with the goal of throwing an object in the
most efficient manner.
• Practical thinking, in which students solve problems and make decisions
• Students will test and revise their trebuchet to improve performance.
• Students will apply their knowledge of energy, work, and power to make
decisions to increase a roller-coaster’s “thrill” quotient.
• What important skills do students need to gain?

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 • Using scientific method to investigate relationships:
• GPE and KE in roller coasters, pendulums and projectiles.
• Which variable (mass or velocity) has the greatest effect on the amount of KE of
an object.
• Investigate that increasing the amount of work done on an object also increases
the objects energy.
• Investigate instances where simple machines make work easier for the user.
• Interpret the relationship between area under the work vs. time curve and
power.
• Research skills:
• The development of different types of roller coasters and explain how KE and
GPE were used in the design of these rides.
• Aspects of trebuchet design that effect how far an object can be thrown.
• Mathematics skills:
• Calculate the amount of energy lost as heat due to friction/resistance in open
systems or in the use of simple machines.
• Calculate work and the change in kinetic energy.
• Calculate power, work or energy, time interval given any 2 of the 3.
• Demonstrate that the total mechanical energy in a closed system remains
constant.
• Demonstrate that more work done equals more energy transferred or converted.
• Project management skills as noted in the next section.
• Do students need to learn how to manage complex projects?
• Students will build a model trebuchet over a period of three weeks. They will
need to research design options, build it, and then make revisions to improve
performance based on the energy efficiency formula which will be used to
evaluate the final products. Students will need to manage their time, resources,
and work-load with their team members.

Integration Goals
• What connections (similarities and interactions) should students recognize and make…:
• Among ideas within this course?
• Energy is conserved in the same manner as momentum is.
• Energy is necessary for a force to be applied.
• Difference energies require different formulas and variable, but produce results in
the same unit.
• Energy is the basis for everything in the universe (physical or non-physical).
• Among the information, ideas, and perspectives in this course and those in other
courses or areas?
• Energy is the one concept that is carried through all sciences (Biology, Chemistry,
and Physics).
• Mathematics is the language of physics.
• Physics is an important component in engineering.

• Among material in this course and the students' own personal, social, and/or work life?
• Energy, work, and power explain a number of real-world scenarios that students
encounter in their lives.
Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Human Dimensions Goals
• What could or should students learn about themselves?
• The limits of their own knowledge and the need to seek out assistance when necessary.
• Students have the ability to manage complex tasks.
• Students will learn that energy affects all aspects of their lives.
• What could or should students learn about understanding others and/or interacting with
them?
• Working with others requires understanding the needs and goals of others.
• Breaking down a project to manageable pieces and delegating them requires consensus.

Caring Goals
• What changes/values do you hope students will adopt?
Feelings? I hope students will feel more confident in their problem-solving abilities.
Interests? I hope students will develop a deeper interest in physics because of the
hands on experience the will have.
Values? I hope students will learn to value the efforts of others while working on
a project. I also hope they will learn to value the importance of problem-
solving skills.

"Learning-How-to-Learn" Goals
• What would you like for students to learn about:
• how to be good students in a course like this?
• Breaking down problems into manageable chunks.
• Actively looking for connections between current and previous topics.
• how to learn about this particular subject?
• Use of the GUESS method in order to organize information in a way to make
analysis and evaluation easier.
• how to become a self-directed learner of this subject, i.e., having a learning agenda
of what they need/want to learn, and a plan for learning it?
• Use the learning objectives provided at the beginning of class as a guide-map
during the class to see what you know and still need to learn.

Worksheet questions adopted from: L. Dee Fink, (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated
Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass