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WHY Project III
Due
February 29th
Periodically You Can Have Fun!
Our WHY Project III
is based on students investigating an element from the periodic table. Specific details for the essay and the artistic rendition are in your child's folder and were discussed during class today.
Learning Goals:
Students will become familiar with one chemical element
randomly selected by them. They will use research skills to learn about
the element, describe its principle features and reactions, and its most common
uses. Their final project will include a 5 paragraph essay
with a length of no less than 200 words and a maximum of no more than 560
words, as well as an artistic rendition of the uses of the
element.
Mechanics and Motion
Motion is one of the key topics in physics. Everything in the universe moves. It might only be a small amount of movement and very very slow, but movement does happen. Don't forget that even if you appear to be standing still, the Earth is moving around the Sun, and the Sun is moving around our galaxy. The movement never stops. Motion is one part of what physicists callmechanics. Over the years, scientists have discovered several rules or laws that explain motion and the causes of changes in motion. There are also special laws when you reach the speed of light or when physicists look at very small things like atoms.Speed it Up, Slow it Down
The physics of motion is all about forces. Forces need to act upon an object to get it moving, or to change its motion. Changes in motion won't just happen on their own. So how is all of this motion measured? Physicists use some basic terms when they look at motion. How fast an object moves, its speed or Velocity, can be influenced by forces. (Note: Even though the terms 'speed' and 'velocity' are often used at the same time, they actually have different meanings.)
Acceleration is a twist on the idea of velocity. Acceleration is a measure of how much the velocity of an object changes in a certain time (usually in one second). Velocities could either increase or decrease over time.Mass is another big idea in motion. Mass is the amount of something there is, and is measured in grams (or kilograms). A car has a greater mass than a baseball.Simple and Complex Movement
There are two main ideas when you study mechanics. The first idea is that there aresimple movements, such as if you're moving in a straight line, or if two objects are moving towards each other in a straight line. The simplest movement would be objects moving at constant velocity. Slightly more complicated studies would look at objects that speed up or slow down, where forces have to be acting.There are also more complex movements when an object's direction is changing. These would involve curved movements such as circular motion, or the motion of a ball being thrown through the air. For such complex motions to occur, forces must also be acting, but at angles to the movement.
In order to really understand motion, you have to think about forces, acceleration, energy, work, and mass. These are all a part of mechanics.
