Course title

Pre-requisite

Course description

Course Title:†

Science and Engineering Concepts†

The course is defined under the AZ State Course Catalog as Integrated Science; code: AZ03-201. This course (Science and Engineering Concepts) is interdisciplinary (hence the Integrated Science classification) and is intended to qualify as a ?lab science.? The course uses a combination of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and AZ science standards.†

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I. Class Description

The Science and Engineering Concepts course is an integrated science course that will give students an understanding; and direct experience through investigation of science concepts. Students will learn and apply the disciplines of physics; chemistry; and earth science. The integrated science course will provide students the opportunity to develop skills; knowledge; and creativity to conduct laboratory investigations and build models based on scientific theory and practices. Topic covered: Energy; the Universe and Space; Newton?s laws; and Technology in these fields.††

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II. Class Meeting Times:†

Class meets three times per week which is 220 minutes/week. The time allotment is 2 hours 10 Minutes for lectures and discussion; and 1 hour 30 minutes for laboratory investigation.

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IV. Expected Outcomes

• Students will develop an understanding of how scientists work.

• Students will develop a basic understanding of science using models.

• Students will be able to plan and carry out investigations.

• Students will be able to analyze and interpret data.

• Students will be able to use mathematics and computational thinking.

• Students will apply principles of science concepts; technology; engineering; mathematics; communication; and teamwork to construct explanations and design solutions.†

• Students will be able to engage in arguments from evidence.

• Students will develop mastery of the scientific method.†

• Students will recognize the importance of science to solve real-world problems.†

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V. Physical Laboratory Experiments

†This integrated science course has 13 laboratory experiments which is comparable to an AP chemistry class which has 14 laboratory experiments.††

Laboratory experiments completed include:

1. Classroom/Lab Safety Experiment†

Students will learn appropriate safety precautions and proper measurement techniques. During this investigation; students will explore the concepts of general lab safety; learn the basics of safe and productive lab experience.††

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2. Scientific Method Experiment Sound Lab (Plus HS.Phy.P4U1.6)

Students will learn how to plan; design; and carry out an investigation to explore important questions about different phases of matter affecting the speed of sound waves. In this activity; students experience first-hand the effect of sound traveling through a solid and the air.

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3. Sound and Pitch Experiment (Essential HS.P4U1.10)

Students will explore the properties of sound; pitch; and how it varies. This activity will help students understand how changing the rate of vibration can vary the pitch of a sound. They will use and collect data on various elementary music instruments as well as tuning forks; combs; rubber bands; books; bottles; etc. Using their findings; they will generate questions about what they would like to learn about sound.†

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4. Wavelength Relationship Experiment (Essential HS.P4U1.10)

In this experiment students will investigate some of the characteristics of waves?wavelength; period; frequency and velocity; and how they are related to one another. Students will be able to develop and use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how amplitudes of a wave are related to the energy in a wave.†

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5. The Angle of Insolation Experiment (Essential HS.E1U1.11)

In this lab; students will examine how angles affect the concentration of light.† Students will also examine the relationship between latitude; the location on the Earth and surface temperature.†

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6. Solar Energy Smores Experiment (Plus HS+Phy.P4U2.7)

Students will design; construct; and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer. Students experiment with heat transfer through conduction and the effect of insulation and the concept of solar radiation. They test the effectiveness of their designs qualitatively by baking some food and quantitatively by taking periodic temperature measurements and plotting temperature vs. time graphs.†

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7. Expanding Universe Red-Shift Universe Experiment (Essential HS.E2U1.17)

Students will create a model that illustrates how the universe expands. In this experiment; students will measure how fast the Universe is expanding; how old it is; and the distance to some nearby galaxies.†

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8. Solar System Scale Experiment (Plus HS+E.E2U1.16)

Students explore their thoughts about how big; how far away; how hot; and how old various astronomical objects might be. Participants are given a series of photographs to manipulate and represent a mental model of space and time. Students will then make a customized scale model of the solar system and its effect on the local environment.

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9. Nebula Theory Experiment (Plus HS+E.E2U2.17)

Students will use pictures taken from modern telescopes to explain the role of gravity in the formation of our sun and planets. Students will achieve an understanding of the formation of planets and solar system elements.

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10. Life Cycle of Star Lab (Essential HS.E2U1.15)

Students will describe the relationship between a star?s mass and its life span. Students will describe the relationship between a star?s mass; its age; and its position on the Hertzsprung Russel diagram. They'll explore data that provides evidence for the dispersal of several elements produced by the explosion of massive stars; specifically through the Cassiopeia A supernova.

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11. Inertia and Force Lab (Essential HS.P3U1.6)

Students will learn the effect of Newton?s First Law of inertia in different events. Students will be able to organize objects based on their masses and interpret the relationship between mass and movement. Students will use evidence from manipulating objects to determine a definition of inertia. Students will analyze their results to develop an experiment to demonstrate an understanding of inertia.

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12. 2nd Law Lab (Essential HS.P3U1.6)

In this physics lab; students investigate the motion of different skateboarders pulled with varying values of constant force. Using skateboarders of different masses and a variety of constant force values; students produce distance vs. time motion graphs for a number of skateboarding trials. Students are encouraged to develop their own methods for setting up the lab and recording the necessary data. Following data collection; students analyze the data using Newton's second law and discuss differences between trials; the effects of friction; and possible sources of error in the experiment.

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13. Momentum Lab (Essential HS.P3U1.6)

Students will learn about momentum and measure the actual force of impact due to the motion of various rolling objects. This activity is designed to get a visual demonstration to associate with the Law of Conservation of Momentum. Students will make predictions about what is to happen in several scenarios and then record data to verify their predictions.†

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• CTE
• Career and technical education

• LPHY
• Physics

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Online / Virtual