When Do We Start Real Physics?

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 17:14:15 -0700

Converting!...Significant Figures! Pfft! Didn’t I convert enough by ending my summer break and showing up at school this week?
Ok, ok, I get it, doing tedious math problems and boring conversions isn’t the most exciting way to begin a course. I don’t blame you...in fact, I don’t really like teaching it either. The only thing worse is trying to learn it at the same time you are trying to learn kinematics or wave motion. This is the reason I begin with conversions and significant figures. Remember, this is physics, numbers are supposed to actually represent something. We don’t make up irrelevant, fictitious numbers that you might experience in a math textbook. Being a few centimetres off may not make a difference to you on paper but I can guarantee it will make a difference to the stuntman jumping from one rooftop to another. Accuracy is important, it makes things predictable, thus we are able to plan more effectively.
If I gave you a 30 minute detention after school, wouldn’t you want to know whether it was “30 minutes, give or take a second”, “30 minutes, give or take a minute”, or “30 minutes, give or take 10 minutes”?
if “Uncertainties” is a topic that you are feeling uncertain about, take some time and look at other resources. If you visit the online storage site you will find some extra practice or you can visit this site: http://www.chem.sc.edu/faculty/morgan/resources/sigfigs/. Here you will find the topics broken down into a stepwise process. Also, take a look through your textbook, it’s more than just a paperweight.
Good luck!

Getting Started: Our First Week Back

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 10:22:06 -0700

Welcome to the physics home page. Hopefully you have familiarize yourself with the site and added it as one of your bookmarks. If you have any questions, requests or comments, you can add it in using the link below. Also, if you have any website, images or files that you think would be helpful for other students, please attach it in the comments section as well.
If you have misplaced the syllabus you can find one here.
Another useful place to find all of your electronic files would be to visit my online storage site at https://public.me.com/woelders . Use the password “pa2011”. The navigation should be quite simple.
You may want to spend 5 minutes downloading the DataStudio software found at www.pasco.com/support/downloads. This software will be used throughout grade 11 and 12 physics, biology and chemistry.
Also, you will be responsible for going to www.blogger.com and creating your own blog space. You can use your gmail address to register if you have one. If you have a blog site that you are already using, feel free to use that. However, you will need to write academic pieces on it so if it is a themed blog (ie. “My Obsession With Glee Blog”) you might want to create a different one for this purpose. It is probably a good idea to keep your blog anonymous, however, I will need to know the link

Today’s Task: Login to www.engrade.ca and add Physics 11 to your set of courses.
Create a blog. Decorate it, tweak it, make it your own.