This is the first course in a two-course sequence. AP Physics C: Mechanics is a calculus-based, college-level physics course. It covers kinematics; Newton’s laws of motion; work, energy, and power; systems of particles and linear momentum; circular motion and rotation; oscillations; and gravitation. The course will also utilize the AP Classroom practice activities at the College Board site to maximize the AP Exam preparation experience. Course does not include the AP Exam; students can contact their school’s AP Coordinator or the College Board to sign up to take the Exam.
Prerequisites: High School Calculus: Students should have taken or should be concurrently taking calculus.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...
- Analyze and/or use [non-narrative/non-mathematical] representations of physical situations, excluding graphs.
- Determine scientific questions and methods.
- Creative visual representations or models of physical situations.
- Analyze quantitative data represented in graphs.
- Determine the effects on a quantity when another quantity or the physical situation changes.
- Solve problems of physical situations using mathematical relationships.
- Develop an explanation or a scientific argument.
Course Outline:
Unit 0: Calculus
Unit 1: Kinematics
Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion
Unit 3: Work, Energy, and Power
Unit 4: Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum
Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits. The eTextbook for this course (Ling, Samuel J.; Sanny, Jeff; Moebs, William. University Physics, Volume 1. Open Stax, January 19, 2021. Digital: ISBN-10: 1-947172-20-4 | ISBN-13: 978-1-947172-20-3.)is also available at no cost via OpenStax at https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-1.
Additional Costs: Students are required to supply lab materials, consisting of common household items. Recommended, though optional, supplemental resource: Princeton Review AP Physics C Prep, 2021
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.
Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:
- Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
- Download and install software
- Use a messaging service similar to email
- Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
- Open attachments shared in messages
- Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
- Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
- Save a file as a .pdf
- Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
- Insert images or links into a file or html editor
- Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
- Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
- Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
- Use presentation and graphics programs
- Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
- Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
- Create and maintain usernames and passwords
Additional Information: The official course descriptions for Advanced Placement courses and information about their exams are located on the College Board site at a http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/descriptions/index.html.
Michigan Virtual prepares students in AP courses for the AP exam, but does not offer the exam test itself. It is the responsibility of the school or parent to register for a local administration of the AP exam.
There are required due dates in AP courses. The pacing of due dates in AP courses aligns to the completion of all lessons and required assignments and assessments prior to the national AP exam date related to this course title. The calendar of AP exam dates is published by the College Board (Exam Calendar).