High School Conceptual Physics Course

How do fundamental forces and energy transformations shape the motion and interactions of everything from atoms to galaxies?

Resources for Science Learning

Arizona Physical Science Standards - High School (PDF)

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Get ready for some exciting discoveries! This quarter, we are exploring the captivating world of motion and forces, from the simple push and pull to the complex paths of projectiles. We're diving into concepts like speed, friction, and air resistance, and uncovering how forces determine an object's movement, including balanced and unbalanced forces. Students will learn to calculate net forces, predict motion, and even explore the intricacies of projectile motion, understanding how factors like launch angle and air resistance impact trajectory. We're also venturing into the realm of rotational motion, examining torque, lever arms, and rotational equilibrium, and using proportional reasoning to understand how these concepts apply to everyday situations. Through hands-on investigations, students are learning to predict and explain motion, mastering essential physics vocabulary, and developing a deeper understanding of how the world around them works. 

Get ready to explore the amazing world of energy! This quarter, students are diving into the fundamental concept of energy conservation, discovering how energy transforms between kinetic (motion), potential (stored), and thermal (heat) forms. We're investigating how factors like mass, friction, and gravity influence energy flow, especially in the context of a virtual skater's journey. Students are learning to interpret energy bar graphs and pie charts, predict motion, and even calculate speed and height based on energy principles. They'll also be exploring how changing reference points affects energy calculations and, as a fun culmination, designing their own skate parks using their understanding of energy conservation! Prepare for some fascinating discussions about how energy shapes our world. 

Get ready for an electrifying quarter! We are exploring the fascinating world of forces, both big and small, from the tiny interactions of electric charges to the vast gravitational pull of celestial bodies. We're diving into electrostatics, uncovering how charged objects attract and repel, and exploring Coulomb's Law to understand the strength of these forces. We're also connecting these concepts to Newton's Third Law, understanding how force pairs work. Then, we'll shift our focus to the grand scale of gravity, investigating how mass and distance influence gravitational force, and how it governs the motion of our solar system. Students will learn to predict interactions, design experiments, and even calculate fundamental constants like Coulomb's law and the gravitational constant. We'll also be exploring the relationships between the Sun, Earth, Moon, and space station, and how gravity keeps them in their orbits. Through free-body diagrams, vector addition, and hands-on investigations, students are developing a deeper understanding of the forces that shape our universe. 

This quarter, we are exploring the fascinating science behind our planet's climate! We're diving into the role of greenhouse gases, understanding how they affect sunlight, infrared radiation, and ultimately, our surface temperature. We're also investigating the concept of radiative balance, learning how it connects greenhouse gas concentration to global temperatures. Students will compare and contrast the behavior of sunlight and infrared radiation and discover how factors like albedo influence our climate. Beyond that, we're exploring convection, a process that drives everything from small-scale fluid movement, like in a simple snack, to massive Earth and space phenomena like weather patterns, ocean currents, and even the movement of material within stars and in stellar processes. Get ready for some enlightening discussions about how our planet's systems work together!