General Physics Standards

This is a follow-up post to the [Honors Physics Standards post](https://pedagoguepadawan.net/119/honorsphysicsstandards/) that enumerates the standards that we have defined for our General Physics class. As I mentioned previously, this year, our entire school is replacing the traditional report card with a standards-based report card. The standards reflected on this report card, which we call report-card standards, represent an aggregation of several of the more-specific standards and are common across both high schools in our district. For General Physics, we have defined the following report-card standards for the whole year.

Report-Card Standards
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* science as a process
* understand the basic concepts of kinematics
* understand, explain, discuss, and apply Newton’s Laws
* understand the basic concepts of energy and energy conservation
* understand the basic concepts of momentum and its conservation
* explain, discuss, and calculate the properties of electrostatics
* explain, discuss, and calculate the properties of electric circuits
* understand, explain, and discuss the properties of magnetism
* describe wave type, properties, and interactions
* understand the relationships among science, technology, and society in historical and contemporary contexts

Below are the more-specific standards that we use for General Physics during the fall semester. These standards are influenced by objectives defined by a group of physics teachers working together at the county level as well as [Modeling Instruction](http://modeling.asu.edu/).

Fall Semester Standards
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> STT 1. I can build a qualitative model, identify and classify variables, and make tentative qualitative predictions about the relationship between variables.
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> STT 2. I can select appropriate measuring devices, consider accuracy of measuring devices, maximize range of data, and calculate error propagation for an experiment.
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> STT 3. I can develop linear relationships and relate mathematical and graphical expressions.
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> STT Lab 1. I can create and populate data tables for an experiment.
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> STT Lab 2. I can measure phenomena in the laboratory with minimum error.
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> STT Lab 3. I can create graphs from data measured in an experiment.
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> STT Lab 4. I can analyze graphs of data measured in an experiment.
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> STT Lab 5. I can analyze uncertainty in an experiment.
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> STT Lab 6. I can write a complete formal experiment report according to the specified format.
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> CVPM 1. I can distinguish between scalar and vector quantities.
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> CVPM 2. I can describe and analyze constant-velocity motion based on graphs, numeric data, words, and diagrams.
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> BFPM 1. I can draw a free body diagram and add vectors graphically to find net force.
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> BFPM 2. I can identify the Law of Inertia (Newton’s 1st Law) to various situations in the real world.
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> BFPM 3. I can identify action-reaction force pairs (Newton’s 3rd Law) and the fact that they act on two separate bodies.
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> CAPM 1. I can describe and analyze uniform-acceleration motion based on graphs, numeric data, words, and diagrams.
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> CAPM 2. I can apply the various kinematics equations in one dimension.
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> UBFPM 1. I can draw a free body diagram and use the concept of net force to solve problems using Newton’s 2nd Law
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> UBFPM 2. I can identify how different factors affect the force of friction and can differentiate between static and kinetic friction.
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> UBFPM 3. I can solve problems using the coefficient of friction.
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> UBFPM Lab 1. I can determine the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration using experimental data.
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> PMPM 1. I can justify that if the only force acting on an object is gravity, it will have the same constant downward acceleration regardless of mass, velocity or position.
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> PMPM 2. I can apply the various kinematics equations in two dimensions while recognizing the independence of horizontal and vertical variables.
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> PMPM Lab 1. Model the path of a projectile based on experimental data and use this model to hit the predicted location.
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> PMPM Lab 2. Compare predicted values based on a model against experimental results.
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> COEM 1. I can identify that energy is transferred and solve problems using conservation of mechanical energy (kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy)
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> COEM 2. I can identify work as a change in energy and calculate its based on force and displacement.
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> COEM 3. I can analyze the rate of energy change of a system in terms of power.
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> COEM Lab 1: Perform an experiment to compare the loss of gravitational potential energy and the gain of kinetic energy of an object moving down an  incline in order to calculate the energy transferred between the system and the environment.
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> COMM 1. I can identify momentum of an object as the product of mass and velocity and relate the change in momentum (Impulse) to the force acting on it over a period of time.
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> COMM 2. I can analyze the momentum of a system of objects in one dimension and distinguish between elastic and inelastic collisions
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> COMM 3. I can solve problems using conservation of momentum were the net external force is zero.
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Spring Semester Standards
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> ES 1. I can identify the charge on each sub-atomic particle and describe the behavior that each has on each other and how these particles move in a conductor.
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> ES 2. I can apply the principle of conservation of charge (charge is neither created nor destroyed just transferred from one object to another) to predict the movement of charges in insulators and conductors.
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> ES 3. I can predict attraction and repulsion between charged and neutral objects and predict how charges will redistribute based on charging by contact and induction.
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> ES 4. I can apply Coulomb’s Law to two charged particles.
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> ES 5. I can describe an electric field and identify the electric field diagrams for a one or two charge system and identify the direction of the force experienced by a charge in an electric field.
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> ES Lab 01. I can predict the charge on a neutral object knowing the process by which it was charged.
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> ES Lab 02. I can demonstrate how to put a charge on a conductor using the processes of conduction and induction.
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> CIR 1. I can recognize and analyze series and parallel circuits.
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> CIR 2. I can apply how energy is conserved within a circuit (Loop rule) and how charge is conserved within a circuit (Junction Rule)
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> CIR 3. I can calculate equivalent resistance and apply Ohm’s Law.
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> CIR 4. I can calculate the power used by an electronic device.
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> CIR Lab 1: I can measure voltage and current with an appropriate meter.
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> CIR Lab 2: I can draw a circuit diagram and build it correctly based on a description.
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> CIR Lab 3: I can draw a circuit diagram for a circuit based on bulb brightness and observations of the circuit.
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> EM 1. I can recognize and explain what causes magnetic fields.
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> EM 2. I can identify the direction of magnetic fields.
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> EM 3. I can distinguish between magnetic fields and electric fields.
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> EM Lab 1. I can understand the relationship between magnetic and electric fields.
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> EM Lab 2. I can recognize that an object must be charged and moving in a magnetic field in order to experience a magnetic force.
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> WA 1. Know and identify the following features of a wave: amplitude, wavelength, frequency, crest, trough, node, antinode, and period.
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> WA 2. Identify, and compare and contrast, the two types of waves and how they transfer energy.
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> WA 3. Apply the principle of superposition to explain constructive and destructive interference of waves.
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> WA 4. Conceptually and mathematically describe reflection and refraction of waves.
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> WA 5. Conceptually and mathematically demonstrate the relationship between velocity, frequency, and wavelength for a wave, and how wave medium affects these variables.
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> Understand the relationships among science, technology, and society in historical and contemporary contexts.
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