CP Physics Assignments

This is where each week's assignments in CP Physics are posted. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 8: Monday, October 7th – Friday, October 11th

And just like that, it's October! 🍁 For this week in CP Physics, we're going to take our Unit 2 Test and then start our next unit on balanced forces. Here's what we're doing for the next-to-last week of 1st Quarter:

Mon. 10/7

Tue. 10/8

Wed. 10/9

Thu. 10/10

Fri. 10/11

I hope you enjoy this short week and get some rest and relaxation over the upcoming three-day weekend! Let me know if you have any questions.

Week 7: Monday, September 30th – Friday, October 4th

Hi there! I hope you had fun at Homecoming and were able to dry out after all the rain we got this weekend. For this week in CP Physics, we're going to continue our work on understanding constant velocity and how to model it through motion maps, graphs and equations. Here's the plan:

Mon. 9/30

Tue. 10/1

Wed. 10/2

Thu. 10/3

Fri. 10/4

Next week, we'll have our test on Unit 2: Constant Velocity on Monday 10/7 with the make-up on Wednesday 10/9. I hope you have an excellent week, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 6: Monday, September 23rd – Friday, September 27th

Hello, future scientists! For this week in CP Physics, we'll continue our work on constant velocity with some fun new equipment! Here's the plan for the first week of fall 🍁:

Mon. 9/23

Tue. 9/24

Wed. 9/25

Thu. 9/26

Fri. 9/27

Have a great Homecoming week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 5: Monday, September 16th – Friday, September 20th

Hi, everybody! This week in CP Physics we'll wrap up our unit on scientific thinking and move into our new unit on constant velocity. Here's the plan for the last week of summer:

Mon. 9/16

Tue. 9/17

Wed. 9/18

Thu. 9/19

Fri. 9/20

I hope you have a wonderful week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions, and I'll see you in Fall. 🍂

Week 4: Monday, September 9th – Friday, September 13th

Hello again! I hope you had a good weekend and have recovered from all that rain on Friday night. Here's what we're doing this week as we wrap up our first unit on Scientific Thinking:

Mon. 9/9

Tue. 9/10

Wed. 9/11

Thu. 9/12

Fri. 9/13

Next week, we'll go over the test and then take the make-up test on Tuesday.

This week, I'm going to pass out PSAT practice exams to all juniors in the class. The PSAT takes place on Wednesday, October 9th in the morning at RHS and costs $19. It's a good way to practice for the full-length SAT, but more importantly, it's the qualifying exam for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship for juniors. Doing well on the PSAT could really pay off, and it looks good on a college application. Registration begins on September 20th on MyPaymentsPlus - I highly recommend taking it!

Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 3: Tuesday, September 3rd – Friday, September 6th

Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying your three-day weekend! Here's what we're doing in class for this abbreviated week as we continue working on our first unit in the course:

Mon. 9/2

Tue. 9/3

Wed. 9/4

Thu. 9/5

Fri. 9/6

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 2: Monday, August 26th – Friday, August 30th

Welcome to the first full week of school! I hope that school has started well for you and you have any issues with your schedule worked out. Now that we've had a few days to get to know each other and set some expectations, we can get to work! Here's what we're doing in class this week:

Mon. 8/26

Tue. 8/27

Wed. 8/28

Thu. 8/29

Fri. 8/30

Please let me know you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 1: Wednesday, August 21st – Friday, August 23rd

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I'm excited to have you in class, and I hope you're looking forward to a good year of learning about physics.

CP Physics is a challenging course that explores the laws that govern the ways objects move or are changed. Students will need strong Algebra skills, an interest in scientific issues, and a willingness to work hard in order to be successful in this course. Over my career, I’ve found that students who take Physics in high school are generally better prepared for college than those who don't.

Here's what we're doing in class for the first week of school:

I hope you had a great first week and that you were able to get some rest this weekend before we attempt to go to school for five full days without strange bell schedules or burning birds. Let me know you have any questions!

Everything below this section is from the 2023-2024 school year!

Week 37: Monday, May 20th – Thursday, May 23rd

Congratulations to our graduating seniors in the Class of 2024! I thought Saturday's commencement was very nice and had some good speeches and performances by our musicians.

For those of you left behind, here's the schedule for this final week of your Junior year:

I've posted the entire 2nd Semester Exam schedule below. Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck with your exams and have a great summer! I hope to see you around school next year. 😁

Week 36: Monday, May 13th – Friday, May 17th

Welcome to the last week of high school for the Class of 2024! Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up our work in Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

It was a pleasure having you in class this year! Seniors, good luck with all of your future endeavors, CONGRATULATIONS, and please keep in touch! Juniors, I hope you'll consider taking Intro to Computer Science with me next year. If not, stop by to say hi any time. Have a great summer, everyone!

Week 35: Monday, May 6th – Friday, May 10th

Welcome to the first full week of May! We only have two more weeks of school for seniors followed by a week of exams for everyone else. Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work in Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

Have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 34: Monday, April 29th – Friday, May 3rd

We've finally made it to the last month of school! Only three weeks left for seniors. Here's the plan for this week as we start our final topic, Unit 10: Electric Circuits:

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a great first week of May!

Week 33: Monday, April 22nd – Friday, April 26th

Welcome to the last full week of April! We're almost done with state testing, so please make note of our last day of the late arrival schedule on Monday. Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 9: Electrostatics:

Have a great week! Hang in there – we're almost done.

Week 32: Monday, April 15th – Friday, April 19th

Welcome to another wacky week at Roosevelt High School! This week, you'll have a "late arrival" schedule due to state testing:

Please do your best to be on time so that we can continue our work on Unit 9: Electrostatics. Here's the plan for this week of unfunded mandates:

I hope you're able to sleep in a few days this week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 31: Tuesday, April 9th – Friday, April 12th

Hello again! I hope you survived the solar eclipse and enjoyed your bonus 3-day weekend. Here's what we're doing for this week as we continue our work on electrostatics:

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

Week 30: Tuesday, April 2nd – Friday, April 5th

Welcome back! I hope you had a fun and relaxing Spring Break and are fully recharged to wrap up the course over the next month and a half. During this short week, we're going to begin our brand new unit on electrostatics! Here's what we're doing for the first week of April:

Speaking of the eclipse, here's some useful information about the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th:

There's also a really cool interactive map of the eclipse path, and you can find out all about the many, many eclipse-related events happening this weekend in Kent at the Kent Total Eclipse 2024 website. Make sure to build a pinhole projector out of cardboard and aluminum foil ahead of time – they're really cool and they work based on something called Huygens' principle that we'll learn about this week!

I hope you have a great week back from Spring Break! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 29: Monday, March 18th – Friday, March 22nd

We've made it to Spring Break! 4th Quarter has begun and we can move into our final topics in the course. Here's what we're doing for the first week of Spring:

I hope you have an awesome Spring Break and get lots of rest and relaxation! I'll see you next month. 😎

Week 28: Monday, March 11th – Friday, March 15th

Welcome to the end of 3rd Quarter! I hope you survived the time change over the weekend and you're ready to finish strong. Here's what we're doing for this last week of Winter as we continue our work in Unit 8: Momentum Transfer Model:

Seniors, you're 15/16ths done with high school. 😱 I hope you have a great week, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 27: Monday, March 4th – Friday, March 8th

Welcome to the first week of March! Here's what we're doing for this week as we start Unit 8 on momentum:

We only have two weeks left in 3rd Quarter, so make sure you're getting all of your work completed and turned in. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a wonderful week!

Week 26: Monday, February 26th – Friday, March 1st

Welcome to the end of February! To wrap up Black History Month, one last physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (b. 1946). Dr. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. where she attended Roosevelt Senior High School (what a coincidence!) and later enrolled at MIT to study theoretical physics. While at MIT, she advocated for the recruitment and retainment of black students, and was a co-founder of the Black Students' Union. She earned her Bachelor's degree in 1968 and her PhD in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics in 1973, becoming the first black women to earn a Bachelor's degree and the first to earn a PhD from MIT in any field. Dr. Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1976, where she researched the optical and electronic properties of two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional systems. In 1995, she was appointed by President Clinton to serve as chairperson of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, becoming the first woman and the first African American to hold that position. Dr. Jackson became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1999 - the first woman and first African American to hold this position (notice a pattern?) - and served in that role for 23 years, helping to raise over $1 billion in donations for philanthropic causes. She was also the Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board under President Obama from 2014–2017. Dr. Jackson is married to Dr. Morris Washington, a physics professor at RPI, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically African American sorority. What an incredible career!

Here's the plan for this week as we begin to wrap up projectile motion:

The momentum unit has lots of lab activities involving carts colliding with each other, so those should be a lot of fun! As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week, and good luck to the Juniors taking the ACT on Tuesday!

Week 25: Tuesday, February 20th – Friday, February 23rd

Welcome back from your extended weekend! Another Black physicist I'd like to tell you about is Dr. Edward Alexander Bouchet (1852-1918). Dr. Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut where he attended one of only three schools that admitted Black children. Based on his academic prowess, he was later accepted into Hopkins Grammar School, a private institution that prepared young men to attend Yale, and he graduated first in his class at Hopkins. He became the first Black student to graduate from Yale in 1874, and was the first Black student to ever be nominated for the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 1876, Bouchet successfully completed his dissertation on geometric optics and became the first Black person to ever earn a Ph.D. from an American university as well as only the sixth American of any race to earn a Ph.D. in physics. Unfortunately, despite his accomplishments, Bouchet was unable to obtain a college or university position due to institutional racism, so he moved to Philadelphia to teach at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in its new science program for the next 26 years where he influenced countless Black students. He left in 1902 when the all-white board fired all of the teachers and held a variety of positions in education over the next 14 years, including as principal of Lincoln High School of Gallipolis, Ohio. Illness forced him to retire in 1916 and he passed away in 1918; he never married or had children.

Here's the plan for this week and our last activities in Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

Enjoy your abbreviated week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 24: Monday, February 12th – Thursday, February 15th

Hello again! Another Black physicist I'd like to tell you about is Valerie Thomas (b. 1943). Ms. Thomas earned her degree in physics with honors from Morgan State University and was hired by NASA as a data analyst in 1964. While at NASA, she developed software to analyze real-time data from satellites and oversaw the creation of the Landsat program, the longest-running acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. She also pioneered the use of satellite technology to automate the prediction of crop yields around the world. In 1977, she began research on ways in which light and concave mirrors could be used to transmit 3-D illusions of an object, which led her to invent and patent the "illusion transmitter", a technology still being used by NASA today. Ms. Thomas retired in 1995 and has received many awards, including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal.

Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work in Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

Enjoy your looong weekend, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 23: Monday, February 5th – Friday, February 9th

Happy Black History Month! Before I list this week's activities, I'd like to tell you about Warren Elliot Henry (1909-2001), who was a Black physicist who studied magnetism and superconductivity. He was valedictorian of his class at the Tuskegee Institute, earned his Masters degree in organic chemistry at Atlanta University, and received a PhD in Physical Chemistry and Physics from the University of Chicago. Some of his work included inventing a metal dewar for liquid helium and a magnetic moment lift for moving samples in and out of a magnetic field. He also established that uranium is a semiconductor and performed experiments on magnetic susceptibility. Dr. Henry earned many awards throughout his life, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Community from the prestigious National Science Foundation. Pretty impressive, to say the least!

Here's the plan for this week as we start Unit 7: Projectile Motion:

This is our last full week of school for a while, because next week we'll only have three and a half school days before having a four-and-a-half day weekend, and then we'll have other interruptions like the ACT. I hope you have a great week, and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Week 22: Monday, January 29th – Friday, February 2nd

Welcome to the end of January! This month has really flown by, although I'm sure that having Winter Break, MLK Jr. Day and three calamity days all helped with that. Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 6:

With any luck, we'll be able to get through a full week without any interruptions as we move into February and one month closer to the end of the school year. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 21: Monday, January 22nd – Friday, January 26th

Hello again! Last week was certainly an interesting series of events. I hope you took advantage of your bonus three-day weekend and got some rest and relaxation! This week, we're going to continue our work on Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

The weather this week looks to be much warmer and rainy, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get through all five days without any interruptions. Next week, we'll move on to Unit 7: Projectile Motion. Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions!

Week 20: Tuesday, January 16th – Friday, January 19th

I hope you enjoyed your three day weekend! This week, we're going to expand our understanding of energy by introducing some equations related to it. Here's the plan:

I hope you have a great abbreviated week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 19: Monday, January 8th – Friday, January 12th

Happy New Year, and welcome back from Winter Break! I hope you were able to take some time to rest, relax and recharge before we get right back into the thick of things. Here's the plan for our first school week of 2024 as we start Unit 6: Energy Transfer Model:

Once we learn how to make LOL diagrams, they'll help us understand energy and how it transfers and transforms, which will make this unit pretty easy. I hope you have a great first week back! Let me know if you have any questions.

Week 18: Monday, December 18th – Friday, December 22nd

We finally made it to the end of 1st Semester! Your exam will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 9:15am in Room 211, so just come to class (on time!) like you usually would after 1st period. The 1st Semester Exam will include questions from all five units so far and will look a lot like your tests. Here's the schedule for the week:

In case you didn't get it last week, the entire exam schedule is available here. I hope all of your exams go smoothly and you have a restful Winter Break. I'll see you in 2024!

Week 17: Monday, December 11th – Friday, December 15th

Welcome back! Here's the plan for the last full week of 1st Semester as we wrap up Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces:

Your 1st Semester Exam will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 9:15am and will cover Units 1 through 5. We'll have time in class on Monday and Tuesday to study and prepare for the exam. The entire exam schedule is available here. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Have a great week!

Week 16: Monday, December 4th – Friday, December 8th

Hello again, and welcome to the first week of December! We're going to continue our work on Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces, so here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 12/4

Tue. 12/5

Wed. 12/6

Thu. 12/7

Fri. 12/8

Next week, we'll do one more lab, take one more quiz, and then we'll have our Unit 5 Test, which will be the final test of the semester. After that, we can start preparing for the 1st Semester Exam. As always, let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Week 15: Monday, November 27th – Friday, December 1st

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving Break and are fully recharged. We have three weeks to get through Unit 5: Unbalanced Forces before we take our 1st Semester Exam, which should be plenty of time. Here's the plan for the last week of November:

Mon. 11/27

Tue. 11/28

Wed. 11/29

Thu. 11/30

Fri. 12/1

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

PS: Make sure you plug in your Chromebook to charge overnight!

Week 14: Monday, November 13th – Friday, November 17th

We finally made it to Thanksgiving Break! Here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 11/13

Tue. 11/14

Wed. 11/15

Thu. 11/16

Fri. 11/17

I hope you have a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving Break! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Week 13: Monday, November 6th – Friday, November 10th

Hello again! Here's the plan for the first full week of November as we begin to wrap up Unit 4: Uniform Acceleration:

Mon. 11/6

Tue. 11/7

Wed. 11/8

Thu. 11/9

Fri. 11/10

We should be able to take our Unit 4 Quiz #2 and Unit 4 Tests A & B next week, right before we go on Thanksgiving Break. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 12: Monday, October 30th – Friday, November 3rd

It's the last week of October, and it's finally starting to feel like Fall! I hope you got out and enjoyed the last bits of nice weather. Here's the plan for this week as we begin our work acceleration:

Mon. 10/30

Tue. 10/31 🎃

Wed. 11/1

Thu. 11/2

Fri. 11/3

I hope you enjoy the labs and activities in this new unit! Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 11: Monday, October 23rd – Friday, October 27th

Welcome to 2nd Quarter – we're already 1/4 done with the year! Here's the plan for this week as we wrap up Unit 3: Balanced Forces:

Mon. 10/23

Tue. 10/24

Wed. 10/25

Thu. 10/26

Fri. 10/27

Next week, we'll start Unit 4: Uniform Acceleration. Have a great week, and get out and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!

Week 10: Monday, October 16th – Friday, October 20th

Welcome back from your 3-day weekend! Here's the plan as we wrap up 1st Quarter:

Mon. 10/16

Tue. 10/17

Wed. 10/18

Thu. 10/19

Fri. 10/20

Remember, because it's the end of 1st Quarter, Friday is the last day to turn in any work from Units 1, 2 or 3 for credit. Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 9: Monday, October 9thThursday, October 12th

I hope you had a great weekend! This should be a fun week of labs and hands-on activities as we continue to explore the balanced forces model. Here's the plan for our abbreviated week:

Mon. 10/9

Tue. 10/10

Wed. 10/11

Thu. 10/12

Fri. 10/13

Enjoy your 3-and-a-half-day weekend! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 8: Monday, October 2nd – Friday, October 6th

Welcome to October! Last week, we wrapped up Unit 2 on constant velocity, so now we're going to move on to Unit 3 so we can try to define, identify and measure various forces. Here's the plan for this week:

Mon. 10/2

Tue. 10/3

Wed. 10/4

Thu. 10/5

Fri. 10/6

We have some fun hands-on activities planned for this week, so I hope you enjoy them! Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 7: Monday, September 25th – Friday, September 29th

Hi there! Here's what we're doing for the first week of autumn 🍂 as we wrap up Unit 2: Constant Velocity:

Mon. 9/25

Tue. 9/26

Wed. 9/27

Thu. 9/28

Fri. 9/29

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 6: Monday, September 18th – Friday, September 22nd

Hello again! This week, we're going to wrap up motion maps and graphs so we can move on to determining the average velocity of an object. Here's what we're doing for the last week of summer:

Mon. 9/18

Tue. 9/19

Wed. 9/20

Thu. 9/21

Fri. 9/22

Next week, we'll take our Unit 2 Tests A & B on motion maps and graphing constant velocity. As always, let me know if you have any questions. It looks like the weather is going to be great, so get out and enjoy it while it lasts!

Week 5: Monday, September 11th – Friday, September 15th

Welcome back! I hope you had fun with all the Homecoming festivities this past weekend. This week, we're going to continue our work on graphing constant velocity. Here's the plan for the first full week we've have in a while:

Mon. 9/11

Tue. 9/12

Wed. 9/13

Thu. 9/14

Fri. 9/15

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 4: Tuesday, September 5th – Friday, September 8th

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! We're wrapping up Unit 1 this week and moving on to Unit 2: Constant Velocity. Here's the plan for this hot, hot week:

Mon. 9/4

Tue. 9/5

Wed. 9/6

Thu. 9/7

Fri. 9/8

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything at all. Stay cool!

Week 3: Monday, August 28th – Friday, September 1st

I hope you enjoyed your unexpected 3-day weekend! Here's what we're doing in class for the last week of August:

Mon. 8/28

Tue. 8/29

Wed. 8/30

Thu. 8/31

Fri. 9/1

Keep up the great work, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 2: Monday, August 21st – Friday, August 25th

Welcome to the first full week of the 2023-2024 school year! Now that we've had a few days to get to know each other and practice taking and interpreting data, we can get to work! Here's what we're doing in class this week:

I hope you had a great first week and that you were able to get some rest this weekend before we attempt to go to school for five full days without strange bell schedules or burning birds. Let me know you have any questions!