VCE Physics Study Design: Course Planning for Units 1 and 2

1. VCE Physics Study Design:Course Planning for Units 1 and 2 A PowerPoint prepared by Dan O’Keeffe, danok@bigpond.com

2. Course Planning for Units 1 and 2 • Unit 1, then Unit 2 • Sequence of Areas of Study • For each Area of Study: • New concepts • Some Practical Activities • Possible Assessment Tasks

3. Unit 1: Sequence of Areas of Study Almost any sequence could be argued for. Time: Weeks per AoS is also an issue. Need to decide on balance. Titles of Areas of Study: • You need to decide on what you will call the Areas of Study in your course documents and teaching: ‘How can thermal effects be explained?’ or ‘Thermodynamics’ or ‘Climate Change’.

4. Thermodynamics: New Concepts • Zeroth law of Thermodynamics • Internal Energy • First Law of Thermodynamics • Thermal Radiation: • Wien and Stefan & Boltzmann • Energy Flow

5. Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics • A late addition to physics, for completeness • A definition of temperature. • “All heat is of the same kind”

6. Internal Energy You are heating a substance, what happens to its atoms and molecules? Gas: Monatomic: Ne Diatomic: O2 Multi atom: H2O Liquid: Solid: Atoms and molecules have different types of energy. Only translational kinetic energy relates to Temp.

7. Internal energy

8. First Law of Thermodynamics • Energy is conserved, • but done quantitatively and best with a gas example • Three terms: • Energy can be added to a system, Q • Work can be done by a system, W • Internal energy can change as a result, DU • DU = Q – W Only simple calculations.

9. Energy Transfer by Radiation Radiation and Greenhouse Effect A significant section with many new physics concepts: • Spectrum Temperature means atoms jiggle electrons jiggle  accelerating charges  electromagnetic radiation • Freq, wavelength • Energy, power Increasing frequency Decreasing wavelength Increasing energy

10. Energy Transfer by Radiation Radiation and Greenhouse Effect • Increased temperature means atoms jiggle faster electrons jiggle faster higher frequency radiation higher energy

11. Thermal Radiation Wien’s Law: How does the wavelength of maximum intensity vary with temperature? lmaxT = constant

12. Thermal Radiation Stefan-Boltzmann Law: How does total energy emitted vary with temperature? Consider Area under the graph: Power ∝ T4.

13. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Light reflected from Earth Average Value 100 watts per square metre Light from the Sun Average Value 340 watts per square metre

14. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Average Value 240 watts per square metre Average Value240 watts per square metre Light from the Sun heats the Earth…

15. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Average Value240 watts per square metre How hot must the Earth be to radiate 240 W/m2 ? -18 °C

16. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? +15 °C 33 °C -18 °C Actual average surface temperature Temperature for radiation balance Greenhouse Effect

17. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? The Earth’s surface is 33 °C warmer than it would be if it had no atmosphere So how does the atmosphere warm the Earth’s surface?

18. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Nitrogen (N2),Oxygen (O2) & Argon (Ar) • More than 99% of the atmosphere • These molecules have one or two atoms • They block some ultra-violet light, but • Allow infra-red and visible radiation through.

19. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Average Value 240 watts per square metre Average Value240 watts per square metre With an atmosphere of Nitrogen Oxygen& Argon, what would be the surface temperature? -18 °C

20. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? Greenhouse warming is caused by Water (H2O) Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

21. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? What is special about H2O and CO2? • Their molecules have three atoms, • Their natural frequencies of vibration are in the infra-red, • They are the earth’s blanket for reflecting certain infra-red frequencies back down to earth.

22. Infrared Radiation absorbed by Water and CO2 Ultra Violet Visible Infra Red

23. What determines the Earth’s surface temperature? +15oC CO2 Greenhouse Warming 33 °C H2O –18oC

24. Global Energy Flows (W/m2)

25. Practical Activities • Introductory activities on phenomena to stimulate curiosity and generate students’ questions • Experiments Heat capacity: i) mixing liquids, ii) adding heated block to water iii) heat capacity of thermos iv) microwave oven expt 1st Law: Calorimeter prac (link to elec) Latent Heat: i) Add ice to hot water Mechanical Equivalent of heat

26. Practical Activities • Experiments ctd Absolute Zero from Volume vs Temp Radiation: i) Spectra of hot objects, ii) Stefan-Boltzmann Expt • Investigation: Keeping it Hot – design, build & test * Discount craft supplies * Reverse Art Truck • Spreadsheet: Investigation of a Climate model

27. Assessment Tasks • Written response to a selection of context questions • Exploration of an issue related to thermodynamics

28. Assessment Tasks Issue related to thermodynamics • Apply thermodynamic principles to investigate at least one issue related to the environmental impacts of human activity with reference to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Consider: * other topics such as solar thermal power, geo-engineering, blog related discussion .... * integrating the task into the work program. * a team approach with a group presentation. * how much resourcing do you supply. * how much guidance and structure.

29. Electricity Extra Content • Voltage dividers • Specific reference to thermistors, LDRs, LEDs • Energy transfer with reference to transducers • Specific reference to Residual Current Devices So, basically the same, with slightly extra content, which many currently do.

30. What is Matter? Origins of atoms Particles in the nucleus Energy from the atom • Big Bang and Cosmology • Radioactivity and Nuclear forces • Hadrons and Leptons, Baryons and Mesons, Quarks • Anti-matter • Fission and Fusion • Binding energy and E = mc2 • Production of light How to group the content? In what order do you want to teach it?

31. What is Matter? Different approaches are possible. History of Science view: • Radioactivity: decay, half life, nuclear transformations, decay series as well as b+and neutrino. • Fission and Fusion: Equations, Binding energy and E = mc2. • Discovery of extra particles: anti-particles, hadrons, then mesons and baryons leading to quarks.

32. What is Matter? History of Science view ctd: • Cosmology: Big Bang theory including inflation, elementary particle formation, annihilation of anti-matter and matter, commencement of nuclear fusion, cessation of fusion and the formation of atoms. • Production of light: accelerating charges, synchrotron, energy level transition

33. What is Matter? - Challenges Most of the new stuff!, however … It is mostly descriptive, so …. Treat it to your own comfort level, e.g. • Cover cosmology with a 50 min Brian Cox video, or • Applets from The Particle Adventure, CERN, …

34. What is Matter? - New ConceptsNuclear Anti-matter: Introduce beta plus decay with beta minus decay. Neutrino: Introduce to explain energy discrepancy in beta decay. Forces: Strong and weak Muon, etc: Alpha spectra is discrete  internal nuclear structure  Yukawa model  discovery of muon, then p meson  even more particles. Quarks et al: Explains observed particles

35. Matter Leptons Quarks Mesons Baryons Nuclei Atoms Hadrons

36. Everydaymatter Exotic matter

37. Hadrons: Mesons and Baryons Mesons: made of one quark and one anti-quark, positive, negative or neutral, examples: Pion, K-meson, over 100 Baryons: made of three quarks, +2 to -2 in charge, examples: neutron, proton, Lambda, Sigma, and …, about 100, … double charmed bottom, etc

38. What is Matter? - New ConceptsBinding Energy Curve and E = mc2 How quantitative do you go? Which units? MeV, Joules Fusion Reaction: 2D + 2D = 4He Calculation steps: 1. Mass of 2D, 2. Mass of 4He, 3. Mass diff, 4. Energy release

39. Production of Light • electromagnetic wave by accelerating charges, • synchrotron radiation at a tangent to a circle, • light from transitions between energy levels. These topics don’t seem to link to the rest of Unit 1. So, how do you approach these aspects?

40. Cosmology So much descriptive content … How do you approach it? • Brian Cox video • Images and graphs • Story line

42. Big Bang Model: Expanding, intensely hot gas of elementary particles. Explains observable universe back to 1 second.

43. Big Bang model: Explains Hubble constant, background radiation, proportion of H, He and Li. Does not explain i) uniformity of universe, ii) universe before 1 sec and iii) energy density of the universe, but inflationary model does.

44. What is Matter? Practical Activities Radioactivity Pracs Dice pracs

45. What is Matter? - Assessment Tasks • an annotated folio of practical activities • data analysis • design, building, testing and evaluation of a device • an explanation of the operation of a device • a proposed solution to a scientific or technological problem • a modelling activity • a media response • a summary report of selected practical investigations • a reflective learning journal/blog related to selected activities or in response to an issue • a test comprising multiple choice and/or short answer and/or extended response

46. What is Matter? - Assessment Tasks What’s left? • a media response Evaluation of responses in an online discussion • a reflective learning journal/blog related to selected activities or in response to an issue • a test comprising multiple choice and/or short answer and/or extended response

47. Unit 2 • Motion Area of Study (with extra content) • Options ( 12 on offer) • Practical Investigation ( on any of above) Q’ns: • Do you split Motion or not? • Managing several options at same time?

48. Unit 2 Options Why you should run more than one option. • The number of options that students do over the two years has dropped from 4 to 3 and now to 1. • Enrolment data indicates that since the introduction of Detailed Studies, the proportion of Year 11 Physics students staying on to do Year 12 physics has steadily increased, both boys and girls. Conclusion: Students value them. • Students learn about options as well as their own.

49. MOTION Largely the same, but with extra content: • Torque • Rotational equilibrium Differences: • Description of Force: Force on A by B • Word ‘Weight’ is not used in the study design. How do you approach these changes?

50. Unit 2 Options Suggestions for managing more than one option: • Student learning: individual, team based or jigsaw method, not teacher directed. • Resources are prepared for several options. • Each teacher decides which ones they are comfortable offering. • Allow students to choose, with a minimum number of students ( eg 4) required for an option to proceed. • Teacher’s role: monitor, guide, support. • Reporting back to the whole class.