Are You Struggling to Navigate the New AP Physics 1 Guidelines?

[Chemlady]

Is anyone else having difficulty deciphering specifics in what to teach this year in Ap physics 1? The new course guideline is not straightforward like it used to be. For instance, I am in the waves and sound unit, and when you read through the big ideas, there is no actual list of what to teach, just objectives that sound like what students are supposed to learn during labs. I am at a loss of what to teach for sound. Does anyone have a more precise list they have found of what exactly we are supposed to teach this year? It takes so much time scrolling through the big ideas trying to find what I need and then I usually don't find it.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Are the course guidelines online somewhere for us to look at?

 

[Chemlady]

Yes, they are on the AP college board website. In the past I used a book that they put out that had a very clear outline of objectives for each unit. They changed this into 7 "big ideas" that are more general. I am particularly trying to find out what to teach for my sound unit, in which there is very minimal information listed under these big ideas. I'm at a loss. I had the same problem when trying to put my circular motion and rotation unit together.

 

[Redbelly98]

Hi Chemlady,

You're probably through with the waves unit by now, but I just saw your post. You might want to check out Dolores Gende's breakdown of the Learning Objectives, arranged along traditional physics content areas:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1txNnjYHrJEv_8DimD7_6nZEYP6H8e7AsIvZ8jswS26w/edit
(She has a similar arrangement for Physics 2, which is linked to at the bottom of this page.)

Also, you might find the four sample Course Planning and Pacing guides useful. Scroll down to about the middle of this page for links:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/2262.html