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MAKING SENSE OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD: LEVEL 8

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES

Students can
  1. carry out an extended investigation, involving a range of techniques, originating from their own interests into some aspect of, or issue related to, the Physical World;
  2. clarify ideas on the applications and uses of the effects involved in the transfer and transformation of energy, e.g., motors, compact disc players, solar panels, CT scanners, on the sports field;
  3. gather, analyse, and evaluate data of increasing complexity about physical phenomena ' evaluation may include some more complex symbolic and numerical patterns, e.g., absorption of beta particles by aluminium, data obtained for the cooling of a cup of tea, manufacturer's specifications for a light-dependent resistor;
  4. explain how physical phenomena are used in some examples of everyday technology and how such technology affects people and their environment, e.g., a temperature alarm for a child's bedroom, a child's safety seat for a car, an electronic egg timer, a 'robotic' arm to help a person with a physical disability.

    Note: Teachers should recognise the opportunity for students to take an integrated approach to achieving objective 1 by combining their learning from this and other contextual learning strands in a single investigation. This approach could reduce the number of extended investigations students would carry out.

SAMPLE LEARNING CONTEXTS

  • Solar power
  • Houses of the future
  • Helping people
  • Physics of sport
  • Information technology
  • Nuclear hazards
  • Scientists at work
  • Science award schemes
  • Weapons
  • Mihini hou

POSSIBLE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Students could be learning by:

  • testing the strengths of various timbers ' deciding on variables, their control, and how to test in the best way;
  • determining the effectiveness and safety of a range of commercial smoke detectors;
  • investigating a medical use of nuclear technology;
  • investigating the biophysics and biochemistry of vision in insects;
  • designing, constructing, and testing a solar-powered device;
  • investigating the effect of temperature on the bounce factor of a squash ball;
  • examining the strength and structure of wool fibres twisted in various ways;
  • using video to investigate the speed and spin of a moving ball;
  • visiting a radiography department in a hospital to see how X-ray machines work and being briefed on energy changes in the body due to X-rays;
  • analysing the action of a shot-putter in terms of energy transfer;
  • reading articles from a science magazine in preparation for a class seminar on the hazards associated with nuclear waste;
  • gathering and plotting data to decide on how the bending of a beam depends on applied weight or other variables;
  • observing a Geiger counter response to alpha, beta, and gamma ray sources;
  • designing and making a model magnetic door lock;
  • evaluating the relative merits of alternative energy systems, including the wise use of available energy resources;
  • designing and testing a method of improving the heat retention in a house.

ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES

Teachers and students could assess the students':

  • ability to plan and organise scientific investigations effectively, when the students present a project diary;
  • ability to use physics principles, when explaining the results of an investigation into the relationship between the thickness of the legs of quadrupeds and the quadrupeds' weight;
  • understanding of the energy changes involved in the operation of a fluorescent tube, when they provide explanatory notes to support a seminar on this topic;
  • ability to reach a useful conclusion, when the students evaluate data on different windmill designs in order to recommend a particular design for use by a farmer in their local district;
  • ability to determine a numerical relationship, when they process and analyse measured data relating to the natural vibration frequency of a piece of wire and its length;
  • ability to evaluate the relative merits of testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific, when the students participate in a group debate;
  • ability to make a considered judgment, when they draw conclusions about the safest child's car seat based on measured data and criteria about safety;
  • understanding of the physical principles associated with an everyday technological object or process, when the students describe the possible effects of electromagnetic radiation from household appliances.

 

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