Website URLs Due in Class (Email them w/ List of 5 Qs)

Tues.  Mar. 9

ALSO, 5 Discussion Questions w/ Answers from Each Group

Each member of group individually types up a Q and A 

Tues. Mar. 9

****NEWS  FLASH ****

Important Info on Saving your Website

Groups and Topics include:

Presentation Schedule for Websites

• Physics
• Nature -- Physics Port
• Aviation and Aeronautics
• Nanotechnology
• Information Technology
• Space
• How Things Work
• Science-in-the-News Stories -  Click to the left to get to some neat In-The-News stories care of Sigma Xi Science and Math Honorary

• Study Hints



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What we did today -- some notes about class activities (and assignments)

 Homework & Homework Solutions

• Ch. 1 &2
• Graphing Homework Assignment
• Graphing HW Solutions
• Ch. 3
• Ch. 6
• Ch. 7
  

• EXAM #1

• EXAM #2

SYLLABUS
 
 

Instructor:	Dr. Jan Yarrison-Rice
Office:	Room 15 Culler Hall
Email:	YARRISJM@MUOHIO.EDU
Phone:	529-1862 or 529-5626
Office Hours:	TR 11-noon
	Other times by appointment
Text:	Physics A World View by Kirkpatrick and Wheeler
	4th Edition
Web:	www.cas.muohio.edu/~yarrisjm/

The goals of this course are three-fold.  First, I expect you to understand basic physical concepts and mathematical descriptions of topics like motion, forces, and energy.  Then we will study societal issues that stem from this initial understanding such as the Greenhouse Effect, Superconductivity and its Applications, Lasers and their Applications, and Nuclear Power and Waste Disposal.  In order to understand these societal issues, more physics will be studied based upon the foundation of topics through energy.  This includes topics like electromagnetism, modern atomic, quantum, and nuclear physics.  Lastly, I want you to be able to read a technical article in a newspaper or magazine and know how to study it further, i.e. can you understand the basic science upon which the article is based?  do you know how to find additional information on the physics or the societal aspects of the article?  can you assimilate this information into a well-informed opinion on the topic?

Miami Plan Course:  Physics and Society, Phy 101, is a Miami Plan course and as such fulfills the University requirements for physical sciences.
 

 As you should be aware, Physics 101: Physics & Society is a Miami Plan Foundation Course.  As stated in the Miami Bulletin, the Miami Plan for liberal education is encapsulated by four overarching principles.

1) Thinking critically
2) Understanding contexts
3) Engaging with other learners
4) Reflecting and acting
 

Below I give some of my interpretation of how these four principles are incorporated in the physics and society course.

1) Thinking critically:  The goals of this course are three-fold.  First, I expect you to understand basic physical concepts and mathematical descriptions of topics. Then we will study societal issues that stem from this initial understanding. Lastly, I want you to be able to read a technical article. In other words, can you understand the basic science upon which an article is based?  do you know how to find additional information on the physics or the societal aspects of the article?  can you assimilate this information into a well-informed opinion on the topic?

2) Understanding Context:  An important quality of physics is that understanding of advanced topics comes from a strong foundation of topics ranging from mechanics through energy. This then allows us to study societal issues that stem from this initial understanding such as the Greenhouse Effect, Superconductivity and its Applications, Lasers and their Applications, Sound and Stereo Systems, and Nuclear Power and Waste Disposal. In order to understand these societal issues, the physics must be supplemented with historical, societal, and cultural contextual information.

3) Reflecting and Acting:  Physics 101 does not intend to make professional physicists out of its students.  However, a major goal of the course is for you to understand basic physical principles, to learn science by doing science when possible, and to be able to read an article on a technical topic. For example, as a result of taking this course are you more likely to read an article on a physical science or technical topic?  Would you be able to search the web to learn about a topic and create an informed opinion on a particular issue that is being voted upon by local or national governmental representatives?

4) Engaging with Other Learners:  As seen in the class goals above and structure below,  Physics 101 provides opportunities for students to interact with each other and with the instructor on a one-on-one basis and within groups, opportunities for hands-on experiences via mini-experiments (you learn science by doing it), and opportunities to consider data collection, experiments, and societal issues grounded in physics from a critical point of view throughout the semester.
 
 

Class Structure:  To achieve these goals, the course will be arranged in the following manner.  We will have lectures and demonstrations on a number of topics.  These will be interspersed with films, small group experiments and problem-solving, and science-in-the-news articles.  Even though this is a class with a large population, I want you to be involved in your learning.  Active participation and good class attendance will serve you well.  In class work will be graded for your 30 point participation extra credit score.

Grades:

        There will be four exams including the final exam.  Each exam will have 30 multiple choice questions, each worth 5 points, for a total of 150 points per exam. In addition, there will be a gropu project in which groups of 4-5 students will produce a website on an approved topic from recent physics-in-the-news articles.  The website will be worth a maximum of 100 points.  Thus, your grade is based upon 700 total points in the semester.

 There will be opportunity for gaining up to 30 extra credit points for participation throughout the semester.

THERE  WILL  BE  NO  MAKE-UP  EXAMS  FOR  THIS  COURSE.

 If you are going to miss an exam, you must contact me BEFORE the exam starts and your excuse must be one I consider valid.  If you have missed an exam for a valid reason, you may submit to me in writing a request for a calculated score for the missed exam.  This score will be calculated by comparing your performance on the other three exams to the class average on those three exams, and then applying that ratio to the class average of the missed exam.
 If you miss a second exam, you will be given an INCOMPLETE for the course.

 Letter grades are determined by an absolute, fixed scale that measures your performance as a percentage of total possible points.  In the fixed scale, a 90% performance is an A, 80% a B, 70% a C, and 60% a D.  These scaled grades are adjusted at the end of the term, using your extra credit points to give you the largest advantage.

EXAM DATES:

Review Session #1:  Tues. Feb 3     8:30PM
Exam #1:   Thurs. Feb 5                   In Class

Review Session #2:  Tues. Mar 2
Exam #2:   Thurs. Mar4

Review Session #3:   WED. Ap.7
Exam #3:   Thurs. Ap. 8

Final Exam Review: Thurs. May 4 8:30 PM
Final Exam: WED.  May 5   12:30 PM
 
 
 

Websites:

Websites & Presentation:
Topic Selection, 5 articles & Annotation:  (10 points) Each student will find 1 physics-in-the-news article from newspapers and magazines.  They should all relate to your group’s particular approved website topic.  The articles should have been written in the last 18 months or so i.e. be current events. There should be no more than 1 from the same source (same magazine same issue).  These will be used as the basis for your group's website.  Write 2 paragraphs describing the main thrust of each article creating an annotated bibliography as well as a full citation for the website.  Articles you chose to write about should be long enough to provide the information you need to answer the above questions; they should not just be partial columns from a newspaper.  Look at popular science journals like Omni, Scientific American, and similar sources for the more in-depth articles.

Website Thrust:  For the approved topic (first come, first to get the topic) that interests your group the most, you must create a website which answers the following questions:

(1) What physics did these articles teach me?
(2) How could this physical science be utilized by today’s society?  Or  How could this affect society?

Website Organization (70 pts):
•    Introduction:  (5 pts) General overview of the topic your group is researching and introduction to the physics behind the topic.
•    Discussion of Physics:  (25 pts) Discuss the basic physics behind your topics as brought out by these articles and other references you have found.
•    Answer to Questions 2:  (25 pts) Answer the questions above in detail, providing additional resources for students to utilize for further reading on the topic (provide links to at least 3 different websites other than your own).
•    Links to 3 additional websites:  (5 pts)
•    Conclusion:  (5 pts) Create a summary of the information you have shared as well as the conclusions you have drawn about how this issue affects society.
**  Cite works you are referring to throughout the body of the text. **
•    Annotated Bibliography:   (5 pts)  List citations for your 5 basic articles along with a paragraph description of each article and add citations for other works utilized in writing the site.

Website Presentations:  (20 pts)  Each member in the group will be assessed based upon their presentation of a portion of the website, the question they provide for class discussion and study of the website, and the answer to the question they provide.  The last half of the course students will present their websites and lead discussions on the topics they introduce. Two or three groups will present each class time. Each group will have about 12 minutes to present their site.  Each person will present one portion of the website.  Each person in the group will identify an interesting question about their website and write a paragraph answer to the question.  These questions on the website will be given to the class as a whole to discuss after the presentations and then the class will meet as a whole to conclude.  The last half of class will be lead by the instructor on issues dealing with the topics of study at that time.

   Your website grade will thus be based on both group work and on individual contributions.   30% is an individual grade and 70% comes from the group’s collected work to create the website.  The group web grade will be based primarily on content (how well you defend your positions, is your paper understandable, are you doing an in-depth analysis or simply stating facts, are your statements concise and to the point or rambling and difficult to follow, do you answer the 2 questions)  Realize that the grammar and prose of your writing (is your project grammatically correct and well-written) are going to affect the overall impression that the reader has of your assignment and will indeed affect the grade you receive.

Feel free to be as creative as you wish when designing your website.  

Website Groups:    Students will form their own website groups of 5 students.  No prior experience with websites will be required or expected from members of the group.  A general template for the website will be constructed during class.

Website Due Dates:  

(1) Website Group Members, Topics and 5 articles with annotation and full citations:  Due Thurs. Feb. 12, 2004  IN CLASS

(2) Website URLs and Web Questions with Paragraph Answers are due by 4 PM on:  

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

(3) First Website Presentations will begin:  Thursday, March 11, 2004 IN CLASS

TOPICS OF STUDY

Daily Plans and Homework Assignments will be posted on the WEB.

Ch. 1  Motion
Ch. 2  Newton's Laws
Ch. 3  Circular and Projectile Motion ONLY
Ch. 5  Momentum
Ch. 6  Energy

Special Topics:

•  Light, Lasers, & Optical Communications:  Ch. 14, 17, & 22
• Electrical Circuits & Nanotechnology:  Ch. 20, Web-based reading assignments