Physics is the study of how things work. While there are many branches of physics (biophysics, geophysics, astrophysics, etc.), all of them explore the basic physical phenomena we observe and experience in this amazing universe we call home. You rely on physics every day to do all kinds of things. You put on your glasses or contact lenses and suddenly you can see. You ride a bike or skateboard, play sports, use your cell phone to play Cat Physics (Download it! It's fun!), move objects around, etc. You cook food in a microwave. You watch airplanes fly in and out of Sky Harbor. You get into a car and trust its airbags to protect you in a collision. Won't it be cool to actually understand how some of these things actually work?
This year we will study many topics in physics, including how objects move in straight lines and in circles, how momentum helps us understand collisions and explosions, how forces cause changes in the way objects move, how waves and light work, how we get and use energy, and a little bit about electricity, too.
Along the way, visit this website and Canvas often. Use these pages to help you ACE this class. And by ACE, I don't mean get an "A", although if you work hard, you will. I mean learn something, change, grow, see the world through new eyes, empower yourself to understand how things work and try new things, and discover the beauty built in to the world around you. We don’t call physics “muggle magic” for nothing!
I’m glad you’re here. We're going to work hard and have FUN!
