Semester II Week #3 Blog, Due Sunday, February 9th by 11:00 pm

We have been talking about forces for several weeks now.  Take a look around you.  What forces can you identify from your surroundings?  What forces are acting on you while sitting, running, jumping, falling, etc.?  Think about a time when you went to an amusement park, carnival, swimming pool, or Splash Town.  What forces were acting on you then?  Try to identify forces for an activity/situation that has not already been done by someone else.  Remember to post an original comment PLUS reply to at least one other person's comment in order to receive full credit.  If you have trouble posting on blogger, post your comment and reply on edmodo.  Happy Blogging!

Semester II Week #2 Blog, Due on Wednesday, February 5th by 11:00 pm

We have been learning about forces and Newton's Laws for several months now.  What concepts are still confusing or causing you difficulty?  Are the free body diagrams getting easier or are they still confusing?  What types of activities or resources do you think would be helpful to you?  What have you been doing to get a better understanding of forces and acceleration?  Remember, in order to receive full credit, you must post an original comment PLUS reply to someone else's comment.  Happy Blogging!

Semester Two Week 1 Blog: Due Sunday, January 26th by 11:00 pm

Since we are at the beginning of the new semester and everyone gets a fresh start, it is time to reflect on our successes and failures of the first semester.  Do you feel you received the grade that you earned?  Do you feel your grade does not accurately reflect the time and effort you put in to the class?  Since the second semester will move faster with a higher workload, is there anything you need to change to be as successful or more successful than you were in the first semester?  What are your goals for the new semester?  Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  In other words, if you were not as successful in the first semester as you would have liked, you must change your behavior to improve your success for the second semester.  I look forward to reading your reflections and goals for the new semester.  You must post an original comment PLUS comment on someone else's post in order to receive full credit for the blog.  If you have trouble posting, you can post your comment/response on edmodo or email it to me at physicswithego@gmail.com.  Happy Blogging!

Week #13 Blog, Due Sunday, December 1st by 11:00 pm

Since many of you are still struggling to keep up with the notes and the assignments, we need to do some reflecting.  So, for this weeks blog, you must answer ALL of the following questions:

1.  What does PreAP mean?  That is, what makes a class PreAP?  How does a PreAP class compare to a regular level class?
2. What are the benefits of being in a PreAP class vs. a regular class?
3.  You must give me a valid argument for why you should continue to be in a PreAP class.  You must use supporting statements.  What are you willing to do to stay in a PreAP class?  What do you need to change going forward to be more successful?

Remember, the work load will not decrease. Starting December 1st, there will only be makeup work for missed assignments.  In order to get credit for the makeup assignment it must be completed within ONE WEEK of the missed assignment.  There is NO MORE EXTRA CREDIT after December 1st.  The last day for test corrections will be December 3rd.  If you are absent, you are expected to check edmodo for any work you may have missed.  You should know and be comfortable with the routine and the expectations of this class by now, so this safety net should no longer be needed.  If you do not give me a good argument for your remaining in PreAP, you will be moved to a regular level class OR you will remain in my class, but be re-classified as a regular level physics student and the work you will receive will be that of a regular physics class.  If you have questions, you need to ask me BEFORE the due date.  Remember, if you have trouble posting to the blog website, you can email your responses to physicswithego@gmail.com or respond on edmodo.com.  In order to receive full credit, you must post an original comment and reply to at least one other comment.  Happy Blogging!

Week 10 Blog, Due Sunday, November 3rd by 11:00 pm

This week we finally used our mousetrap cars in our lab practicum.  The purpose of the lab practicum was to prove whether or not your mousetrap car had uniform acceleration.  Some of you discovered that your cars did not travel in a straight line and that made data collection more difficult.  Some of you had cars that barely went 1 meter.  For this weeks blog, I want you to reflect on the construction of your car, the ability to collect good data for the analysis, and the actual motion of your car (uniform acceleration and non-uniform acceleration).  How successful was your car and experiment?  What difficulties did you encounter?  What would you do differently if you had a chance to do it over?  Or any other aspect you want to discuss.  Remember, keep it friendly and avoid texting language.  In order to receive full credit you must post an original comment plus reply to one other person's comment.  If you have trouble posting to the blog, you can always email your comment and reply to physicswithego@gmail.com, reply on edmodo.com, or email me through the aldine website.  Happy Blogging!

Week 9 Blog, Due Sunday, October 27th, 2013 by 11:00 pm

We have been working with translating graphs from a description of motion to qualitative p-t graphs, v-t graphs, a-t graphs and motion maps.  What has been the greatest difficulty for you?  Are you still struggling with any of them?  If so, which ones?  Next week we will be moving into the quantitative graphs (numbers and calculations), so if you are having a lot of trouble without numbers, you need to stay for tutorials.  Remember, each unit builds on the previous unit so it is very important for you to have mastered the concepts we have covered so far.  I am here to help you, but you need to put in the effort for real learning to occur.  Remember, if you have trouble posting on this site, you can post your comment and reply on edmodo.com or email me your comment and reply to physicswithego@gmail.com, or use twitter, or text me.  In order to receive Full Credit on the blog, you need to post an original Comment PLUS a Reply to someone else's comment.  Happy Blogging!

Week 8 Blog, Due Sunday, October 20th by 11:00 pm

We are almost finished with the first 9 weeks!  Time is flying by!  This week I want you to reflect on the notes and labs you have done and put in your interactive notebook.  If you were me and you were going to grade your own notebook, what grade do you think it deserves?  How useful are the notes you have put into it so far?  Do your notes help you with the homework assignments, studying for tests, completing warm ups, etc?  If your notebook has not been a useful tool for you to use in or out of the classroom, what needs to change to make it useful?  Remember, I will be looking at your notebook on either Tuesday or Wednesday so don't tell me its the best notebook ever and then have nothing in it.  Blog Reminders: You must post and original comment PLUS comment on someone else's notebook in order to receive full credit for the blog.  If you have questions, you must contact be BEFORE Sunday evening.  If you have trouble posting to blogger, post your comment and replies on edmodo.com or send it to me in an email at physicswithego@gmail.com.  Happy Blogging!