Developmental Module
In this supplementary module, you will find resources which will help you as you navigate through this course. If you need extra help with an assignment, click on the links below.
Course Icons and Glossary
The course icon library can be accessed for definitions of each icon used in this course.
You can access the course glossary by clicking on the glossary icon from the top of the topic pages in the course. Note that this link only appears on the main course pages and not on any of the documents or presentations that are linked to the course. When you open the glossary, either scroll to the term in the left pane or select a letter from the top first and then select the term. The definition appears in the right pane.
Throughout the course, you may notice an icon that looks like a key. This icon indicates that the content is referencing a person who is part of the Physics Hall of Fame. These key leaders in science had a long-lasting impact on the field of Physics.
Physics Resources
- Helpful Physics Equations and Formulas
- Digital Graph Paper
- The Electron (play video and read about the electron)
- Solving Algebraic Expressions
- Unit Conversions: Area and Volume
How To Resources
- Accessing and Viewing Presentations
- Citing Resources MLA Style
- Creating Effective Presentations
- How to Take a Screen Shot and Paste It Into a Word Processing Program
- Saving a Word Processing File In a Rich Text File (.rtf) Format
- Submitting Assignments
Discovery Education™ streaming Videos
This Physics course utilizes videos from Discovery Education™ streaming. When possible, these videos have been included in course files; however, due to copyright, some videos must be viewed on the Discovery Education™ streaming website. For information about your username and password for this resource, please contact your course instructor.
Physics Scientific Investigations
What Are Scientific Investigations?
Throughout this course, you will participate in scientific investigations. A scientific investigation is a method of exploring scientific content using the scientific process. Some of these scientific investigations will be hands-on and will use everyday, practical objects that you have around your school or home. Others will be virtual and will incorporate online simulations. For each scientific investigation, you should utilize the scientific investigation report document on the webpage associated with each experience.
These scientific investigations are important. They allow you to test your predictions, use evidence to revisit initial concepts, and examine the connection between your ideas and the scientific views that explain your findings. Through them, you can apply the knowledge and skills that you learn in this course to real-world situations.
Safety In Science
Observing safe practices in a laboratory setting helps to ensure your safety and the safety of others. Two ways you can help reduce the potential for accidents is to adhere to proper laboratory safety guidelines and to follow carefully all experiment instructions. It is also helpful to know what to do in case of an accident in the laboratory. View the interactivities below to learn more about safety practices in the science laboratory:
Scientific Investigation Reports
Each scientific investigation uses a consistent format that follows the scientific process. As you complete each scientific investigation, you will maintain a scientific investigation report. This report will be a document in which you will need to make predictions, record data, analyze any data collected, and form conclusions about the scientific investigation.
You will see the following terms in each scientific investigation report:
- Title - the name of the scientific investigation
- Introduction - any background information from the topic that you will need to know before you begin the scientific investigation
- Objectives - identified learning goals for the scientific investigation
- Hypothesis - a prediction that you formulate based on your prior knowledge and by reading the scientific investigation's procedure
- Required Simulation - information about a simulation used in a scientific investigation
- Equipment and Materials - a list of any special equipment or materials that you will need to perform the scientific investigation
- Procedure and Data Collection - a set of instructions provided to you so that you know how to conduct the scientific investigation; the procedure will prompt you when you need to record data
- Data - a location for you to record your observations and measurements from the scientific investigation
- Data Analysis - a list of questions or prompts that assist you with analyzing the data that you collect during the scientific investigation
- Conclusion - a summary of the findings of the scientific investigation; accepts or refute any hypotheses made at the beginning of the investigation
- Experimental Sources of Error - a list of any sources of error that may occur during the scientific investigation