Integrating Energy and Equity in High School Physics
From Motion Tracking to Transportation Justice
Purpose: Introduce mechanics concepts to 9th/10th grade students through the lens of transportation justice. Students will * Learn about ways to represent motion and measure speed, velocity, and acceleration. * Gather data on their journeys to school. * Create motion diagrams and graphs of commutes, compare different transit modes. * Discuss resources required, equity issues of resource access, and the impact of their use. * Investigate opportunities for local advocacy around transportation policy. * Tell the energy story of transportation. * Explore kinetic and potential energy by building model cars with different energy sources.
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integrating energy and equity in high school physics.
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Energy is a foundational concept of physics and plays an integral role in a web of sociocultural realities, economic issues, and public policies. The Energy and Equity Portal supports high school teachers in teaching a robust model of energy, grounded in the NGSS, and also intentionally constructed to support engagement with current sociopolitical issues.
Using the resources and community provided in the Portal, teachers explore energy learning as a means for promoting discussions of energy justice and energy equity globally and in our local communities. By developing a model of energy in physics that is fully aware of how science is sociocultural, teachers and students create science concepts informed by their cultural worlds and educational priorities. Check out the classroom-ready teaching tools and enjoy a dynamic and compassionate professional learning community!
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Integrating Energy and Equity in High School Physics