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Northstar Academy

A fully accredited private online
Christian school for grades 4-12

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Physics Honors

  • Name:

    Physics Honors (PHYS450)

  • Department:

    Science

  • Semesters:

    1.0 (yearlong course)

  • Suggested Prerequisites:

    Algebra 1 (MATH 100/150); Algebra 2 (MATH 300/350); A grade of an 85% or higher in the science course taken the previous year. Physics is an applied mathematics course. The Algebra 2 pre-requisite for this course is essential. Trigonometry is highly suggested as a pre/co-requisite.

Physics Honors

Description:

Physics is a study of the God-ordained laws which govern the physical universe, connecting them with observable phenomena, and covers the general topics of mechanics with kinematic and dynamic motions, gravity, uniform circular motion, work, energy, momentum, simple harmonic motion, waves, optics, electricity, and magnetism. This course will include extensive use of hands-on labs and computer simulations to demonstrate physics concepts. Students will learn to express physics concepts with equations that enable them to solve problems using a basic knowledge of algebra and right angle trigonometry. Three engineering design projects will be created throughout the year.

Special Notes:

This course is a part of the honors track, and intentional focus will be on the required knowledge and critical thinking and analytical skills to prepare a student to be successful in future upper level and Advanced Placement© (AP©) courses.

FROM THE TEACHER

What is your curiosity quotient? Have you ever wondered where gravity went when you see astronauts floating around inside of space ships? How about that weird feeling of moving backward when you look outside the car as another car comes in to park? What does riding an elevator have to do with losing or gaining weight? Do you like to tinker with machinery? Why do Grandfather clocks have a pendulum? How do glasses work to improve your eyesight? Can light really act like a particle? Have you been shocked at the door handle after walking across a carpet? How are electrical currents generated? Where is the North Pole? If you have ever asked yourself these kinds of questions, this course is the place for you. In two semesters of right angle trigonometry based physics we will cover the description of motion, two and three dimensional vectors, projectiles, Newton’s laws of motion, gravity, energy conservation, momentum, simple harmonic motion, waves, optics, electricity and magnetism. Come explore these topics and more with us.

If there are books and materials for this course, they can be purchased from our Online Bookstore.

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Student Feedback

Throughout this course I have seen myself grow as a student and one who has learned more about God because of it. This course has taught me so much about Gods amazing creations and how science can be apart of those creations. My performance in this course has been great I feel like. Everyday I am writing notes, studying for something or just taking an interest outside of the course material to learn, how does physics apply to a topic. My favorite part of this course has been Vark assignments, I like these so much because when I started the course, I did terrible on them, but then I learned and was able to master these assignments with no problem. This semester God has taught me its no how fast you can complete the course, its about the process. For me I have learned that understanding the topic is more important than just rushing though a certain chapter test to be done with it. He has taught me lessons to take my time and to be patient.

My favorite unit was Simply Harmonic Motion. I really enjoyed how easy it was. I understood it fairly quick and could do the problems quickly. I have also really enjoyed how well the course points us to God. He has been teaching me that science is just getting to think God’s thoughts after Him, and that has made me really excited while learning physics.

Science has always been my least favorite subject in school. I have never really found it useful, and have enjoyed Math or History more than any science subject. Physics, however, I have enjoyed more than Biology, Chemistry, or other science classes I have taken. I believe that this has spurred me to do better in the class. My average for a science class before physics was about 90%. For Physics, however, I have been able to keep my grade above 95%. This, I believe, is my greatest accomplishment. I liked the Kinematics unit the best, as I liked the math and logic of the section. God has taught me about the logic of His creation and specifically of Himself. The math behind the world I see points to the logical brain behind it. This allows me to worship God better.

I am very glad I took this course. It has helped me learned so much about physic and it has improved my critical thinking skills.