Physical Sciences Summer Curriculum Grant 2008-09 Wiki
- Any science department faculty member can modify this page using Contribute.
- Proposal
- Resources
- Relevant rubric from the SI Excellence in Teaching program regarding curriculum design
- Chemistry & Chemistry Honors
- Physics & Physics Honors
- Summer '08 work
- Force Concept Inventory as well as other research resources
- California state content standards for high school Physics
- Draft
Physics curriculum document
- For 2008-09 school year: continue UbD process, adding knowledge & skills for individual units
- Physics Honors curriculum document
- Added course-wide essential questions and enduring understandings
- Added tutorial & 3-ring binder projects as outlined in Grading document
- Pretty much in final form pending additional comments
- Physics Laboratories
- Took all the disparate physics labs and put them in one location
- Began process of categorizing and expanding labs based on level of inquiry / student responsibility
- For 2008-09 school year: continue UbD process, continuing process of categorization and expansion; adapt to scientific method/laboratory work (see below)
- Summer '08 work
- Scientific Method & Laboratory Project
- Summer '08 work
- Rubric/guide to the Laboratories & the Scientific Method for SI students: (.PPTX format, color .pdf, grayscale .pdf)
- Lab Level 1 Examples: Percent Composition Lab (Chem), Marble Acceleration Lab (Phys)
- Lab Level 2 Examples: Generic Level 2 Lab Worksheet (Chem), Measuring the Focal Length of a Lens (Phys)
- Lab Level 3 Examples: Investigating Centripetal Motion (AP Phys), Max Shapiro '06 RC Circuits Lab (AP Phys), Generic Level 3 Lab (Chem)
- For 2008-09 school year: continue UbD process, continuing process of categorization and expansion so that labs for a certain topic can be approached from any of the three Levels
- Rubric/guide to the Laboratories & the Scientific Method for SI students: (.PPTX format, color .pdf, grayscale .pdf)
- Summer '08 work
- Feedback
- Summer '08 work
- Feedback document in preparation
- Summer '08 work
- Science Department Mission
Our mission is to teach students the scientific method so they can understand modern scientific descriptions of the universe and come to objective conclusions about the natural world. Like all members of the SI community we aim to educate the whole person, emphasizing the academic, extracurricular, and spiritual development of our students.
We would like to see graduates of SI ...
- knowledgeable about a broad range of scientific topics
- confident and proficient in the use of the scientific method
- able to use core science knowledge to assimilate new ideas and discoveries
- aware and appreciative of the universe and its inhabitants
- effectively able to communicate scientific principles, theories, and historical discoveries
- comfortable with laboratory techniques and experimental apparatus
- conscious of the environmental and ethical consequences of scientific progress
- dedicated to acting as a "person for others" in accordance with Catholic faith, Jesuit tradition and our school's mission
- well prepared for future study in any academic discipline
- ... and eager to continue to enjoy, learn about, and practice science throughout their life.
To this end, we strongly advise students to take all three of our core classes (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) as well as a 4th year elective course.
Comments? Corrections? Complaints? Contact the department chair. Most recent page update: January 27, 2009 .