Growing up in Central Florida in the 1960s and 1970s, NASA and the space program always held a unique fascination for me. I, like many baby boomers, experienced the explosion of technological and scientific advancements linked directly to the focused goal of having a human walk on the Moon. This early exposure to the unknown of space travel and the daily scientific discoveries resulted in my interest to become a scientist and an educator. I have also since witnessed the decline in an interest in the study of science. Almost daily there is an article about the decline in mathematic and science education in the United States and how this is affecting our future. I attribute part of this decline to the lack of a universal goal in space exploration. I feel the integration of space technology into the physics curriculum would spark an increase of interest in the study of science.
The purpose of including space and technology as a unifying theme throughout the study of introductory physics is two fold. First, so often the study of physics appears to be a series of mathematical manipulations with little connection to understanding how and why the Universe works, which is the true study of science. I believe the integration of space science will ignite interest and allow students to recognize that the study of physics is not just formula manipulations but has implications beyond solving the daily homework problems. The second purpose is that the students we teach will be part of the decision-making for the future and need a basic understanding of physical principles of the Universe to make informed decisions not only about space travel, but about energy resources and the environment. I believe including the science of space in my curriculum will motivate and inspire students to have a richer understanding of the concepts of physics.
Classroom Environment
I teach introductory algebra-based physics to tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students on a semester block program. I have the students for ninety minutes every day for one semester. The tenth grade students are part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) magnet program at my school. I teach between thirty and fifty tenth grade IB students who are self-selected for this program and they take introductory chemistry in the same year, therefore some students have completed chemistry but not all. The upper classmen have all completed chemistry and are divided between honors and regular level which they choose. The curriculum unit is developed for the introductory physics course. I also teach advanced placement (AP) algebra and calculus based physics courses and will use most of the curriculum unit materials in the algebra based AP physics class, but the calculus based class is a second-level course and the material in this unit has already been covered.
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