Dr. Phil's Home ·
Last Update: 29 April 2008 Tuesday
PHYS-1800 (10) Lab 1pm
PHYS-1800 (10½) Lab 3pm
Physical Science for Elementary Education Lab
WMU Spring 2008 Semester
TuTh 1:00-2:30pm · 1413 Wood Hall
TuTh 3:00-4:30pm · 1413 Wood Hall
LECTURE: MW 10:00-10:50am · 1118 Rood Hall
Registration CRN Numbers:
CRN: 12213 - PHYS-1800 - 550
This Lab Requires the Following Lecture (MW 10am, 1118 Rood)
CRN: 12209 - PHYS 1800 - 500
This course was for Spring 2008.
Final Grades for the 1pm section can be found here.
Tue 15 Jan 2008 -- HW for Thursday, Section 2-4 Test
2 (using our ray model of light to show what might appear on the screen as
shown in the worksheet), and Section 2-6, What will the V-shaped extended
filament look like on the screen?
Wed 16 Jan 2008 -- Exam 1 will be on Tuesday 22 January
2008.
Thu 17 Jan 2008 -- Exam 1 will be on Wednesday 23
January 2008. Read Ch.1 (up to 1st paragraph of
"Powerful Ideas" on p. 10 (?), Ch. 2. HW
Ch. 2 problem 17, p. 45 and Ch. 3 problem 3? (the one with the photography
lighting) (to be turned in on Tuesday 22 January 2008).
Tue 22 Jan 2008 -- Finish Ch. 3 and start Ch. 4 on Similar Triangles.
Delaying turn in of HW to Thursday.
Thu 24 Jan 2008 -- Finish Ch. 4 and start Ch. 5 on Shadows.
On your own -- investigate your shadow in
sunlight. HW Read and do activities in Section 5-7
Simulations, p. 83-84 (to be turned in Tuesday 29 January 2008).
Tue 29 Jan 2008 -- Exam 2 will be on Monday 4
February 2008. Read first two pages of section
5-10 for Wednesday's lecture. HW Ch. 5 problem 2
p. 107, problems 7-8 p. 109.
Lecture -- Wed 30 Jan 2008 -- Section 5-10 on Dependencies. Due to
weather, most of my 1pm Lab section was NOT present for this lecture.
Thu 31 Jan 2008 -- Return Exam 1. Average score 79.7%.
HW Ch. 5 problem 2, p. 95 on Dependencies.
Read section 5-11 for Tuesday's Lab.
Tue 6 Feb 2008 -- HW Ch. 5 problem 26, p. 116.
Make sure you look at the last section of Ch. 5 and take
the time to reflect on shadows and write some reflections down before
Thursday's lab.
Lecture -- Wed 06 Feb 2008 -- Essentially section 6-1 done as an E1
activity/demonstration without any introduction. No one present predicted
correctly what would happen with the V-shaped bulbs and the aperture, even
though you all had enough physics from our model of light to work out the
correct answer. (grin) Due to weather, attendance was down at lecture, but
this week most of my lab WAS present.
Thu 8 Feb 2008 -- HW Ch. 6 problem 6 (isn't that supposed to be problem 2?), p. 125.
Read section 6-5, pp. 126-127 before Tuesday's
lab.
Tue 12 Feb 2008 -- Exam 3 will be on Monday 18
February 2008. Revise HW Ch. 6 problem 2, p. 125,
if needed. New HW Ch. 6 problem 9, p. 145 (Note:
Since this activity requires sun, I'm setting this for due next Tuesday. Also,
there's a typo. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is 150,000,000 km or
150,000,000,000 meters = 1.5 × 10¹¹ meters and not 1.5 ×
1011 meters). Remember you have a reading
assignment from the book, Section 1-7 on reasoning in solving problems for
Wednesday's lecture. Then for Thursday, I asked you to
read section 6-8, p.130. cf. sections 5-5 and 5-5.
Thu 14 Feb 2008 -- Exam 3 will be on Monday 18
February 2008 (Ground shadows, dependencies, multiple sources,
Apertures -- through projector only (through Wed lecture). Reasoning modes
1-7). HW Ch. 9 problem 1, p. 203.
Tue 19 Feb 2008 -- Eric substituting for Dr.
Phil. Read about my Tuesday
here. HW Ch. 9 problem 11, p. 211.
Thu 21 Feb 2008 -- Quick Quiz on Monday
covering basic reflections, not images. T2 and T3 handed back.
Finish reading Ch. 9. HW Ch.
9 problem 8, p. 209. Also will collect Ch. 6
problem 9 (sun problem) AND Ch.9 problem 1 on Tuesday.
Tue 26 Feb 2008 -- Next Exam will be on Wednesday 12
March 2008. Be sure to bring protractors and a
ruler/straight edge to lecture on Wednesday (in fact it's a good idea to always
have those at lecture). Finish diagram of source
close to concave mirror and carefully draw the convex mirror problem in book
(p. 221? that we did on the whiteboards) for your own notes.
No new HW for Thursday.
Thu 28 Feb 2008 -- Next Exam will be on Wednesday 12
March 2008. Be sure to bring protractors and a
ruler/straight edge to lecture on Wednesday (in fact it's a good idea to always
have those at lecture). HW "Light Through A
Block Of Glass" handout, due MONDAY 10 March 2008 -- will be used in
Lecture! (Click here for a copy of
the handout -- NOT in your textbook).
*** Spring Break ***
Tue 11 Mar 2008 -- Next Exam will be on Wednesday 12
March 2008. Be sure to bring protractors and a
ruler/straight edge to lecture on Wednesday (in fact it's a good idea to always
have those at lecture). Covers Plane, Convex and Concave Mirrors, plus Basic
Refraction. No new HW, but the Mid-Term Course
Survey form is due at Lecture on WEDNESDAY 12 March 2008.
Thu 13 Mar 2008 -- Monday's Lecture will include the
video on the "Penny in the Cup". Adriana
stops by and asks for volunteers to sign the HSRB consent forms for her
dissertation research. "Fish Day" here at PHYS-1800 Lab.
Mechanics/Motion textbooks available at University
Bookstore (next to WMU Parking Services) only, for $29 -- need for
Tuesday. HW Finish the handout on seeing the shark
in the aquarium from below, due Tuesday 18 March 2008.
Tue 18 Mar 2008 -- Next Exam will be on Monday 24
March 2008. Be sure to bring protractors and a
ruler/straight edge to lecture on Monday (in fact it's a good idea to always
have those at lecture). Covers Refraction at the very least
UPDATE: Covers Refraction, Motion Concepts and Motion Diagrams.
E1 activity in Lab introducing Mechanics and Motion. Note that your new
Mechanics/Motion textbook has TWO sets of page numbers -- we will always use
the printer's page numbers on the BOTTOM. Today's activity is on p. 8. Go over
Exam 4 and today's HW on seeing the shark in the acquarium.
HW (part 1) Write up a reflection on today's activity
both the point of view as the learner and how you might use this as a teacher.
HW (part 2) Answer the three questions regarding how you answered problems 1
and 4 (not 3 as marked on the sheet) on Exam 4, whether you did well or not. A
well-considered set of answers may earn up to 5 bonus points on Exam 4.
Lecture -- Wed 19 Mar 2008 -- Boardwalking activity. Edgerton single-flash
photography.
Thu 20 Mar 2008 -- Next Exam will be on Monday 24
March 2008. Be sure to bring protractors and a
ruler/straight edge to lecture on Monday (in fact it's a good idea to always
have those at lecture). Covers Refraction, Motion Concepts and Motion Diagrams
(pp. 1-12 in Mechanics book). Discussion of motion, motion descriptors
and characteristics, Kinematics (How Things Move) vs. Dynamics (Why Things
Move), Motion Diagrams also known as Position Sequence Diagrams. We are
simplifying the Physics down to the most basic of motions -- types of things we
will and will not cover in this half of the course. The simplest motion is
"No motion." Velocity is speed with direction. No new HW.
Tue 25 Mar 2008 -- Quantitative Boardwalking and Quantitative Motion
Diagrams. Speed = space interval ÷ time interval. Note that "speed
is not an observable quantity" -- that means that although we can tell
when something is moving, all our methods for measure speed are actually
measuring other things which we use to find the speed. No new HW, other
than finishing your t, s, delta-t, delta-s and v (speed
and velocity) motion diagrams for the high- and low-speed dune buggies.
Thu 27 Mar 2008 -- Taking real data is hard. (grin) Fuzziness in
measurements. Change in velocity, acceleration, comprehensive motion maps.
Acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time interval. Make sure you finish your motion map for either the falling
steel ball (every 10th dot) or the pull-back car (every 3rd dot).
HW Slowing Motion, p. 32 or 33 -- don't have the book in
front of me right now. For Hint, look at procedures starting on p. 27.
Lecture (Dr. Phil) -- Mon 31 Mar 2008 -- Participation points for in-class
evaluation. E1 activity for Dynamics: DVD -- Top Gun opening.
Accelerations (Kinematics. How things move.) versus Forces (Dynamics. Why
things move.)
Tue 1 Apr 2008 -- No Quiz this week. Exam next
week -- Prof. Schuster will let you know if the
test will be on Monday 7 April 2008 or Wednesday 9 April
2008. Look at accelerations from last Thursday's ticker tapes.
Note above, given in class, to finish the motion maps generally ignored. Used
20 minutes of lab time to do work which should've been done at home. Some
confusion on how to use delta-t of 1/60th or 1/20th or 1/6th of a second. Real
world data is messy, fuzzy. Falling steel ball should have acceleration a = 981
cm/s/s = 981 cm/s². Do another motion map for a problem with more than one
motion. Dynamics starts around p. 93 in your book. Discussion about forces in
montage of different physical situations on p. 96(?). Extend deadline for HW on p. 32 to Thursday 4 April
2008.
Lecture (Dr. Phil) -- Wed 2 Apr 2008 -- No Quiz this
week. Exam next week -- Prof. Schuster will let
you know if the test will be on Monday 7 April 2008 or Wednesday 9
April 2008. Aristotle and the Greek Philosophers had to observe
and think about motion much like PHYSICS/THINKING-1800 students did. Book and
sheet of paper falling. Do heavier objects always fall faster than
lighter objects? Falling Down (velocity vector points down, delta-v vector
points down, acceleration vector points down, gravity is pulling down) and
Falling Up (velocity vector points up, but still we have delta-v vector points
down, acceleration vector points down, gravity is pulling down). High speed
elevator story from 1 World Trade Center in the 1970s -- TV show The
Electric Company -- Pablo, a bathroom scale and apparent changes in his
weight. DVD -- Speed. You cannot jump a horizontal gap in the road
without jumping up. So what makes the bus jump up? (Hint:
Hollywood script writers and movie makers generally haven't taken
PHYSICS/THINKING-1800.)
Thu 3 Apr 2008 -- In Memorium, Stan Derby --
master of the Physics demonstration. Exam next week -- Prof. Schuster
will let you know if the test will be on Monday 7 April 2008 or
Wednesday 9 April 2008. Optional Portfolios -- for 1pm
and 3pm labs, Dr. Phil will collect on Tuesday 15 April 2008 and return
Thursday 17 April 2008. Eligible categories are the four we had before:
shadows, apertures, plane mirrors, curved mirrors, and add: refraction and
kinematics. Continue trying to get a handle on Force. Using the spring
scales to get a "feeling" for forces and bathroom scales for checking
your weight. Measure force in Newtons -- 1 pound (force) = 4.5 N. Cover roughly
pp. 99-109.
Tue 8 Apr 2008 -- Do Not Miss Lecture on Wednesday
-- This will be the only time this material will be
covered. Have already seen we can add and subtract Force vectors.
Now consider if the total or Net Force is zero. Our First Law of Motion.
Covered pp. 116-134. (Method A - bowling ball or basketball, and hoverdisk.
Skipped Method B.) You might want to try the Stack of
Books trick on p. 134 on your own. (grin)
Wed 9 Apr 2008 -- Motion Graphs activity outdoors.
Thu 10 Apr 2008 -- Finish First Law activities. Discuss Inertia. Developing
Second Law of Motion for when you have a Net Force. Covered pp. 133, 135-141.
Tue 15 Apr 2008 -- Finish Second Law activities. Covered pp. 142-143
(144-145). For completeness, Dr. Phil mentioned briefly that there is a Third
Law. Finish with an "E6" activity -- (1) racing two dynamics carts
down inclined tracks, then add mass to one cart and predict what will change
and (2) try to race the fan carts up the inclined tracks. Not easy to go
up a hill, is it? Optional Portfolios -- for 1pm and 3pm
labs, Dr. Phil will collect on Tuesday 15 April 2008 and return Thursday 17
April 2008. So what's an E6 activity? Well, it's an E1 activity at the
end, rather than the beginning, to introduce you to what's beyond this course.
In our Monday meeting, we ended up calling it "E6 -- Enthusiasm for the
Future."
Thu 17 Apr 2008 -- Return Portfolios and Exams 5 & 6, go over Exam 6
(reviewing motion maps and basic forces) and Lecture HW p. 90 (reviewing motion
graphs), discuss in terms of First and Second Laws of Motion. Review overall
concepts of course. Last Day of Class -- closeout of course. Do well!
NOTE: Dr. Phil's Office
Hours include Friday 18 April 2008 1:30-3:30pm and
Monday 21 April 2008 10am-4pm.
.
FINAL EXAM INFORMATION: Tuesday 22 April 2008, 1118 Rood, 10:15am-12:15pm (2 hours).
THIS REALLY IS THE CORRECT DATE AND TIME as assigned by the Registrar.
While the Final Exam covers the whole course, there is an
emphasis on the second half of the course: Refraction, Kinematics and Dynamics.
However, you do need to review the whole course from January
onward.
Sunday E-Mail From Prof. Schuster:
Everyone,
Do well in the Tuesday final!
Some information:
Exam is Tuesday 4/22/08 in Rood 1118 from 10:15 to 12:15 (2 hours).
On both Light and Mechanics.
There will be three sections in the final:
i. MCQ section
ii. Short answers section
iii Long answers section
Come early. I suggest arrive by 10:05 am, get your exam paper, and
prepare to start without being rushed. I will open up at 10 am.
Bring pencil, eraser, ruler, protractor, etc.
Good luck from the instructors
: )
Jan. 7 Mon - PHYS-1800 Begins
Jan. 11 Fri - Drop/Add Ends (100% Refund)
Jan. 21 Mon - WMU Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Activities < No Classes >
Feb. 29 Fri - Spirit Day (No Classes), Semester Recess begins
Mar. 10 Mon - Classes Resume
Mar. 17 Mon - Last Day to Drop without "W"
Mar. 23 Sun - Easter <<< Please Note Regarding Any Travel Plans + Classes
Apr. 16 Wed - Last Lecture
Apr. 17 Thu - Last Lab
Apr. 22 Tue - Final Exam 10:15am-12:15pm (2 hours)
Apr. 25 Fri - End of Spring Session
Apr. 29 Tue - Grades Due at Noon