Dec 19th

Do you know the mass of your vehicle? Bring it to class to find out! I will post the rubric for the essay by tomorrow. The essay is due when you get back from vacation. Great job building and rebuilding your vehicles. Engineering is hard work!

12-13 12:25pm

Go to work and power questions in student resources and complete the assignment.

essay grading

I will post a rubric in the student resources. To the best of your ability, match the statements on the rubric to what you have written. For every statement that you make that is essentially the same as the one in the rubric, underline it in colored pen or pencil, and give yourself the number of points allowed. if it says you can get 1 pt then, give yourself only one point ( you can not have more than one point if you offer two similar or even different statements/examples for each category. There is a maximum of 6 points on the first part (N1 law). There is a maximum of 7 points on the second part (N2 law). There is a maximum of 7 points on the second part (N2 law). There is a maximum of 2 points on the second part (N2 law).

nov 20

Essay Bring to class and keep with you until the final exam!!! A person has a bow that takes 500N to fully pull back. They have put in the string a 0.1 kg arrow. Define Newton's three laws in terms of the person shooting an arrow. Describe what happens, and why it happens for each of Newton's three laws and the forces of friction ( and any other forces on the arrow). Describe what happens to pull back the string, and the result as you let it go. Also describe what could be done or forces on the arrow that would make the same shot go in three different locations other than the target they aim for. Each idea gets a paragraph,,,example: define Newton's first law...... it applies to the bow and arrow because... The arrow if shot over a target would...because.... define Newtons second law... it applies to the bow and arrow because... The arrow is shot with more _____ then._______...because or if the arrow was twice the mass then...because... define Newtons third law... it applies to the bow and arrow because... The force on the string is on the hand of the archer, and the force........because or the arrow would not go as far if the force...... then...because

Nov 15

Do the forces mass acc' problem set in the student resources. The difficulty of the problems vary. Try your best. Call a friend and discuss the problems if you choose.

NOVEMBER 14

Know the three laws for a matching quiz Review the notes from last night so you can do the problems in class tomorrow.

nov 13th hw

Read the information at: http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newton3laws.html search two other web sites for Newton's three laws of motion. Come up with extensive definitions for these three laws and memorize them.

nov 7th hw

A person throws a ball downwards into the Grand Canyon at an initial speed of 10 m/s. What is the final speed of the ball after 20 seconds? How far would it travel in 20 seconds? If the canyon is 1600 meters deep at that spot, will it hit the ground before the 20 seconds are even up? If you throw a ball up into the air with an initial velocity of 0 m/s, how long will it take until it reaches its highest point? Remember that the acceleration of the ball is now negative because it is pulling the ball down as you throw it up, therefore decreasing its speed every second. Also know at its highest point the ball has a velocity of 0 m/s. A car going down the highway at a constant acceleration of 3.2 m/s2 , travels for 15 seconds. What is the final speed, and what is the distance it travels during that period? Do the questions out in the five step format on a piece of paper and hand it in at the begging of class. If you still don't know how to do these questions, research them online.

nov 5

Read about falling objects in the student resources.

Nov 1

We will continue with the test for half an hour of the period. If you are not done by then, plan on staying awhile to finish after school.

oct 23

Make sure to do the analysis from your sowbug race lab. You made a data table of time...displacement...and distance sowbug actually travelled. Do the average velocity for the whole displacement. Make sure to have a direction with it. Do the average speed for the entire distance travelled. Do a graph of the displacement over the whole trip. Do a graph of the displacement over the whole trip. .................................................................... Do average velocity for each segment using displacement data. Do average speeds for each segment using the distance data. ..................................................................... Graph the velocities for each interval(from displacement data). Do a second graph of speeds for each interval using the average speed for each interval (from distance data). Questions: 1. Which is faster?...the speed of the bug or the velocity of the bug? Show calculations for each and, explain why! 2. Which interval gave the fastest speed of the bug? Show calculations and explain why. 3. At which intervals is the organism moving at a constant speed? What is the evidence for this from at least two graphs? 4. In which intervals is the organism moving at a negative acceleration? Show calculations and evidence from a graph. 5.In which intervals is the organism moving at the greatest positive acceleration? Show calculations and evidence from a graph.

Oct 17

No homework tonight other than to review the work we did in class today. I will be at a conference for Thursday and Friday. I left a few packets based on interpreting graphs and motion. the last one has five parts and comes with a rubric. It requires a lot of work to complete and get an advanced score. Do your best to finish these in the next two days. It is not a quiz so you may use resources to answer the questions.

oct 8

Study for a quiz on problems presented today on scale and actual.

oct 3

check out the velocity acceleration keynote presentation in student resources and do the questions at the end. There is also a formula sheet as well. Also finish the questions from last night doing the 5 step process.

oct 2

Make sure to do the homework in student resources : ez motion problems. Don't forget to double check your work...or 'rats' (true story). Great job participating in class today!!!!! 21 virtual Mario gold coins for everyone that participated.

Oct 1

View the powerpoint on distance, displacement, speed and velocity. Know these terms (including frame of reference). Know how to add and subtract displacements. Know your 3-4-5 right triangle combinations. Know the different formulas for d=vt

sept 28

I posted the grades for anyone that finished my test. These grades were scaled.

the test is tomorrow (Friday)

I hope you haven't waited until tonight to start studying for the test! Other than everything for Mr. Hennessy, there are many things covered on my portion of the test: Definitions for...Science and technology, hypothesis, theory and law, each part of the Scientific method, outlier, independent or manipulated variable, dependent or responding variable, control and variable group, controlled experiment, bar/pie/line graphs, smoothed lines or line of best fit, Requirements for each step of the Scientific method, how to interpret data tables and select the best sets of data within one, how to set up a graph measurements in the metric system and SI units when to use each type of graph ...line, bar or pie How to write a hypothesis how to write a conclusion, including the appropriate language If you have been doing the work for the project and homework, then if you study tonight you should do well. Good Luck

We will review the sheet that we did not finish today so make sure it is done. then we will go over some more on the physics portion in preparation for the test Friday.

sept 18

Good job on the technology quiz on steps in the engineering design. Be prepared to present the next time we meet, if you have not presented yet. Send in all your corrected presentations to Mr. Worden, by Friday morning if you want a higher grade.

leaf lab

Much better job on your presentations. Remember that you must make the changes that were suggested or that you suggested in order to get credit. Your final copy is what I am grading, if you already sent it to me, just send the new copy.
Remember, it is how much you are willing to improve your work that will determine how you do in the class. Each time try a little harder to get it right, and you will see your grades skyrocket, not just in my class, but in your other classes as well.
It is important that you try to do the math. If you are having trouble finding the slope of a line, I am available nearly every day after school.

Sept 12 hw

Tomorrow we will be putting together a keynote presentation on the steps of the Scientific method and how to run a controlled experiment using the leaf disk lab as a model. You will have one day to put it together. Everyone in the group should be working on some of the slides, so divide the work fairly. Each student will be required to talk about their slides and what it represents.
Each slide should represent one of the steps of the scientific method. Make sure to just have an outline with the important points. It can't be a script to read from.
Font size should be 24 or larger.
You may put the data table and graph on the slides.
In the conclusion:
restate the hypothesis;
background information will be about controlled experiments;
3 pieces of evidence;
whether or not the hypothesis is supported;
no need to explain why your variable caused the measured result.
You will give your presentations on friday.
Good luck

sept 7 hw

Great job on conducting your experiment in a shorter amount of time. It shows you are using time management better and that everyone in lab is working. Better job on cleaning up too.

You are going to take these results and present to the class your findings. The next time we meet you will have one class period to write the presentation. Everyone must have a copy on their iPad! One person from each group will connect to the projector and each person in the group will take turns talking about one of the slides. You must talk for a total of at least five minutes and cover each step of the Scientific method. It is a lab report in a presentation form.

You will take turns peer editing the presentation. You will also self assess it. You have a few days if there is research or other considerations you want to include.

I will put up a lab report to show what it should cover. Remember it is an outline, most of the details are spoken, you should not read word for word, but remember what you will discuss.

set 6 hw

Sorry the lab did not work, but it was good practice to learn time management and cooperative learning. You must be doing something in lab, instead of watching someone else work! Also when lab is over there were many leaves left out with holes in them, markers and hole punchers not returned to the front desk, syringes and cups not returned to the central supply area. You are responsible for cleaning up or it will reflect on your grade.

I found a leaf that will fall after one application of a vacuum. the leaf is green and white. It took me 15 minutes to run the experiment from start to finish. The next time we meet we will perform the experiment. You will be given 25 minutes to run it.

For homework, go through your notes on the Scientific Method, and for each thing we talked about (Problem, hypothesis, running an experiment that is valid, observations/data, analysis, conclusions) write down what you will do the next time in the lab to meet all the requirements of running a valid experiment , as well as what you will include in your report. You can give the actual problem, hypothesis, and method and how it will be a valid experiment., because these are things you must know before you start an experiment. You can also tell me how you will set up the data, and what type of graph you will use, as well as, what things to include in your conclusion.
This is due the next time we meet. IT NEEDS TO BE HAND WRITTEN. Do not send it electronically.

After we perform your experiment you will write a lab report.

sept 5

Good job participating in class today!

You should continue to study what we have discovered about the Scientific Method and how to conduct experiments. There will be a quiz Thursday on this. Soon I will attach a document that shows you how to write a lab report. We will do a simple lab that you will have to design yourself choosing your own variable.
OOOOOH...INQUIRY LEARNING!!!

Try to be ready when I cut the reigns.

Two things we did not mention is that after a graph you should make a statement that expresses the mathematical relationship shown in the graph. For example...The graph shows that the dry mass of the plant is twice as high in the variable group, than the control group.

The conclusion is the only place to explain why the measurable results in the experiment turned out like they did. But it is based on evidence, not opinion. You should give a few peices of evidence from your observatiions, data or the graph for your conclusion. It is best to use a comparison of data points, rates in a graph or a comparison of averages in the control or the variable group.
You must try to answer the quesion or problem you posed and only talk about that. Your data at the end will either support your hypothesis, or not support the hypothesis. It will not prove or disprove the hypothesis!

sept 4 hw

Read the new resources on the student resources sidebar about graphing and the scientific method. Memorize the steps of the scientific method. Write down how you would do the scientific method (step by step) to find out whether students with iPads do better on standardized tests than students without iPads.

Tomorrow we will learn about how to run an experiment (one variable, control group, sample size); collecting data tables; analyzing results-graphing smoothing lines, types of graphs; making conclusions. There will be a surprise quiz on the steps of the scientific method.

August 31 homework

Look for the 2 sites about the scientific method in the student resources and read them both. Know the steps of the scientific method and what they entail.

Hi E-block students

Hello to E-block students and parents, from your teacher Mr. Worden. This blog is a way for me to communicate to you what we are doing in class, give assignments and provide common resources for students to use. Make sure to look at this site each day to keep track of assignments tests and quizzes. Today the students were designing paper towers in a challenge. They should have taken notes.

Good luck in the coming year.

Please read the following and send an email that shows you have found the site and read the student expectations information below.





Honors Introductory Physics / Technology Engineering

1st, 2nd and 3rd Trimesters 2012-2013
Mr. Worden (Physics)
Mr. Hennessy (Tech.)

Contact Information: dworden@uxbridge.k12.ma.us (Physics)
phennessy@uxbridge.k12.ma.us (Tech.)

We Are A Community of Caring
~Respect~Caring~Responsibility~Family~Trust~

Uxbridge High School Mission Statement: Our mission at Uxbridge High School is to provide the resources and educational experiences to meet the diverse needs of all students, with the aim of encouraging responsible citizenship and life-long learning. In partnership with parents and community, Uxbridge High School fosters this development in a safe learning environment.

Student Learning Expectations:
1) Use a variety of learning and study strategies
2) Listen for understanding
3) Demonstrate effective oral communication
4) Read critically and for understanding
5) Write effectively
6) Demonstrate effective use of technology
7) Employ modes of artistic and creative expression
8) Demonstrate civic responsibility
9) Show respect for self, others, and the environment

Course Description: In the Honors Introductory Physics, students recognize the nature and scope of physics, including its relationship to the other sciences. Students learn about basic topics such as motion, forces, energy, heat, waves, electricity, and magnetism. They learn about natural phenomena by using physical laws to calculate quantities such as velocity, acceleration, momentum, and energy. In Technology Engineering, students develop their ability to solve problems in technology/engineering using mathematical and scientific concepts. Students are able to relate concepts and principles they have learned in science with knowledge gained in the study of technology/engineering. Students must supply their own scientific calculator


Textbook(s): Physical Science Concepts in Action, Prentice Hall

Materials: The materials necessary for this class are a three ring binder, paper, writing implement and iPad. As stated in the course description, it is the student’s responsibility to provide their own scientific calculator.

Assessments methods: This course will employ a variety of assessment methods including tests, quizzes, projects, labs and presentations.

Grading: Student’s trimester average will be calculated in the following manner.
Quizzes 10%
Tests 40%
Homework / Class Professionalism 10%
Written 10%
Projects / Labs 30%
Because the projects are worth 30%, your student must pass in each paper that is required for the project or they possibly could fail.

Attendance: Daily attendance is crucial to success in this class. The attendance policy can be found in the Uxbridge High School handbook. It is the student’s responsibility to make-up any work that is missed due to absence.

Homework: This class will have 3 to 4 homework assignments per week. The length of these assignments will vary depending on topic.

Extra Help: Extra help is available most days after school, from 1:50 to 2:50. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the teacher that they intend to stay for extra help.

Class Expectations: All students are to bring their full attention, RESPECT for one another, agenda, textbook covered, three(3) ring binder notebook, calculator, pen or pencil, ipad and homework to class every day. Everyone is expected to arrive on time, have homework and the above on your desk ready go when the bell rings. No food or drink. If students score below a 70%, they have five days to make up the test.
Course Outline:
In Introductory Physics students learn about:
the relationships between motion and forces through Newton’s laws of motion.
the difference between vector and scalar quantities and learn how to solve basic problems involving these quantities.
the conservation of energy and momentum and how these are applied to everyday situations.
heat and how thermal energy is transferred throughout the different phases of matter.
waves and how they carry energy.
electric current, voltage, and resistance by learning about Ohm’s law.
the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of wavelength and frequency.

In Technology Engineering students:
pursue engineering questions and technological solutions that emphasize research and problem solving.
achieve a more advanced level of skill in engineering design by learning how to conceptualize a problem, develop possible solutions, design and build prototypes or models, test the prototypes or models, and make modifications as necessary.
Throughout the process of engineering design, students are able to work safely with hand and/or power tools, various materials and equipment, and other resources.



Parents: Please email me that you and you son or daughter have read this, include the name of the student and that they are in E block..

Have a great year!

Thank you,
Mr. Worden