Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics

A comprehensive, research-based physics curriculum that utilizes a learning cycle approach appropriate for all high school students.

Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics (C³P) offers an integrated approach to physics content, instructional materials, and pedagogy. C³P is a research-based curriculum developed at the Department of Physics at the University of Dallas. The project is available on a single CD-ROM that includes both the curriculum and resource materials. Other physics projects such as Conceptual Physics, PRISMS, CASTLE, Operation Physics, Tools for Scientific Thinking, Physics: Cinema Classics, and The Mechanical Universe High School Adaptation have been utilized in the development of this curriculum. Although C³P was designed for students in grades 9 through 12, it contains an assortment of resources, making it flexible enough to accommodate a variety of teachers and students.

The Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics (C³P) Project was developed by funding from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. ESI-9254590).

Principal Investigator: Richard P. Olenick, Department of Physics, University of Dallas, 1845 E. Northgate Dr., Irving, TX 75062, olenick@udallas.edu

Project Office: 972-721-5072, 1-800-526-8472

Dr. Olenick's NSTA Address of April 1, 2005 entitled Stop! I Can't Fit Anything More Into My Head! How Students Learn Science, can be found here.

The curriculum is embedded in the C³P CD-ROM and is organized around the seven topics shown below. The topics are intended to be addressed sequentially. The course content is organized by topics, subtopics, elements, and specific learner outcomes.

Topics (with Subtopics) Click on buttons to explore more.

Sample Materials Below

(Experiences, Observations, and Order; Inquiry; Logic; Gathering and Analyzing Data)

(The Nature of Matter; Wave Particle Duality; The Fundamentals of Matter; Models of the Atom; Fusion and Fission of Atoms; The Universe from the Nuclear to the Galactic; Measurements of Matter; Space; Time)

(Idea of Change in Time; Frames of Reference, Position, and Position vs. Time Graphs; Total Distance Traveled and Displacement; Velocities and Velocity-Time Graphs; Acceleration; Approaching the Speed of Light)

(Classification of Forces; Force and Momentum; Resistance to Change in Velocity; Interactions; Gravitation; Forces Causing Two-Dimensional Motion; Threads to the Future)

Sample Materials Below

(Energy; Thermodynamics; Redistribution of Energy in Systems)

(Electrostatics; Potential Difference, Current, and Resistance (Ohm’s Law); Magnetism; Solid State Electronics)

(General Wave Properties; Periodic Waves; Modeling Phenomena as Waves; Wave Behaviors; Simple Harmonic Motion; Matter as Waves and Particles)

(Atomic Physics; Chaos and Fractals; Cosmology; Nuclear Physics; Particle Physics; Michelson-Morley Experiment; Special Relativity; General Relativity;

C³P 2000+ CD-ROM

The C³P CD-ROM is available only through workshop participation and contains both the curriculum and resource materials. A guided tour introduces the user to the navigation system and the various sections found on the CD-ROM.

CD-ROM features include:

· Story Line - provides the rationale for topics contained within the curriculum, the sequencing, and the approach taken toward developing an understanding of the physical world

· Starter Pak - gives access to the seven sections of the curriculum. Each section contains

o Identification of specific subtopic(s) and element(s) addressed

o Learning Outcomes

o Misconceptions

o Lesson Plans – outline one or more learning cycles (exploratory, concept development, application), including various components ranging from student lab activities with teacher notes, video clips, lectures, discussion notes, and demonstrations. Suggestions and strategies for the teacher are also included

· Assessment Items

· Terminology gives definitions of terms that are essential for understanding various physics principles. This feature provides definitions in physics and in everyday language as well as possible misconceptions associated with terms

· Topics - contains additional learner resources (on the CD-ROM) about the selected topic

Resource features include:

· National Standards – summary of all the various national and state curriculum and standards projects

· Karplus Learning Cycle Workshop overview of learning cycles (exploration, concept development, concept application) as they pertain to the teaching of physics

· Time Line – offers a historical timeline of physics and world events

· Video Resource includes a list of video clip references from The Mechanical Universe and Cinema Classics correlated to each of the seven C³P topics

· Physics Cartoons and Tunes

· The CASTLE Project – provides an alternate approach to teaching electricity concepts