WA and Apologia: Physical Science Motion and Kiddie Physics

The second half of Physical Science is Physics, beginning with Motion, then Classic Newtonian Physics.  My classes both at WA and with the home-school Co-op are both entrenched in the Physics portion the past few weeks.  So, it is high time to map out the first few units. Considerable time was invested doing several preliminary labs for students to understand motion, speed, velocity, and acceleration.  It takes patience to run through the Algebra, too.  Kids struggle with units.  It pays to reinforce this concept.  In despair the other day, I had the kids create a chart with the concept, formula, and possible units.  When I asked how to measure time, they kept saying mL.  Arghh!  Another trick is to rewrite word problems with the kids' names in them.  For example, Ashley walked ten blocks to Hot Topics in seven minutes....which will prompt Skye to say she wants to go to Hot Topics, too.  So, I will start a series of posts with links to help with this unit.