Physics of the Mundane Schedule

PHYSICS OF THE MUNDANE CALENDAR

Every two weeks you will be given a schedule of events to come, including labs, assignments, and readings. Below is an overview of topics you should expect to see, although this schedule is subject to change, especially as some activities are weather dependent. (Be prepared to go outside on any given class day!)

	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
Week I: 8/30	"Why are you here?" Fun with bubbles.	Biggest and smallest.	Very big: Sizing up the solar system
Week II: 9/6	LABOR DAY	Very small: In search of the atom.	Debriefing and discussion. The purpose of science. Response paper due!
Week III: 9/13	Madness of stirring hot chocolate. Lab notebooks due!	Environmental physics I (Weather permitting)	Learning volumes: Graphical analysis
Week IV: 9/20	The runaway bowling ball: Analysis of motion	Motion, the easy way.	Debriefing and discussion. The methods of science. Response paper due!
Week V: 9/27	Dropping stuff (in the spirit of Galileo and Letterman).	The story of Galileo vs. Aristotle..	(The ups and downs of) Elevator physics.
Week VI: 10/4	A brief history of forces and intro to Newton’s laboratory.	Countdown: Rocketry preparation.	Debriefing and discussion. The nature of laws and theory. Response paper due!
Week VII: 10/11	Go for launch: Rocketry. (Weather permitting) Lab notebooks due!	Environmental physics II (Weather permitting)	FALL BREAK
Week VIII: 10/18	Conservation of energy: Bouncy (and not so bouncy) balls.	What is energy?	Debriefing and discussion. Contexts for unraveling and discovering. Response paper due!
Week IX: 10/25	Conservation of energy: Rolling objects.	Slinkies and yo-yo’s as nature really intended them: Harmonic motion.	Mad bicyclists. (Weather permitting)
Week X: 11/1	The magic and mystery of Orbitz™ and other gooey stuff.	The Cartesian diver.	Debriefing and discussion. Normal science vs. revolutionary science. Response paper due!
Week XI: 11/8	Hot, cold, and all the in-betweens: A background discussion. Lab notebooks due!	Don’t put your tongue on that! Investigating hot, cold, and the in-betweens.	A candle in the water.
Week XII: 11/15	Making waves: The music of physics.	Smoothing out the ripples: Waves debriefed	Debriefing and discussion. Science vs. other ways-of-knowing. Response paper due!
Week XIII: 11/22	Getting a charge out of physics: Intro to electricity.	Charge in motion: How to light a light bulb	Thanksgiving Holiday
Week XIV: 11/29	The dance of induction.	Review of electricity and magnetism: A DC motor	Seeing the Light: Fun with optics
Week XV: 12/6	Return of the bubbles . . .	What if you were Einstein? Thinking about time, light, and your twin sister.	Debriefing and discussion. Science education: Why and how? Response paper and lab notebooks due!