Course Syllabus
Syllabus Physics B
Welcome
Welcome to Physics B! We’re so glad you’re here.
Every lesson is designed to help you grow as a thinker, problem solver, and global learner. As a Mizzou Academy global student, you will complete lessons and assignments on your own schedule, interacting with course content, participating in interactives, and completing practice activities, as well as drafting and revising assignments, preparing for quizzes and assessments, and taking exams.
To stay on track, we recommend using a pacing guide. You can find more information about pacing in the Course Resources section, along with helpful tools, technology support, and tips for online learning success.
As you begin, remember that online learning requires both independence and communication. Be curious, stay organized, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your teacher if you need support.
We’re excited to learn with you, and we’re happy you’re part of our Mizzou Academy community!
Pacing
This course can be completed in as few as six weeks or take up to 6 months (180 calendar days). The six weeks are counted from the date of the first lesson submission and not the date of enrollment.
This course is asynchronous, meaning you can complete lessons and assignments at your own pace.
Most students spend approximately 10 hours per lesson interacting with course content, participating in interactive activities, and completing practice exercises, as well as drafting and revising assignments, preparing for quizzes and assessments, and taking exams. Your time may vary depending on your goals and learning style.
We encourage you to work at a consistent pace, allowing time to absorb new ideas, build skills, and reflect on what you’ve learned. Use a pacing guide to plan ahead, stay organized, and finish strong.
Course Description
Physics is the foundational study for a deep understanding of any area of science. The study of physics provides us with a basis for describing the universe around us. Physics is the study of matter, space, energy, and time. It describes space-time, the way objects move, the many forms of energy, as well as how energy interacts with matter.
There are many fields of physic such as mechanics, electricity, heat, sound, light, condensed matter, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and elementary particle physics. Physics is the foundation of all the physical sciences, including chemistry, material science, and geology, and it is important for understanding many other fields of human endeavor such as biology, medicine, computing, ice hockey, television…the list goes on and on.
One of the key ideas in physics is that there is an underlying simplicity and unity in nature behind the complexity of the world around us. This is often expressed through all-embracing fundamental concepts such as the principle of conservation of energy.
Physics is fascinating and can be fun. At its heart, physics is about finding things out—about understanding what lies behind everyday phenomena such as rainbows, red sunsets, and blue skies, as well as the more revolutionary concepts of quantum theory, relativity, and cosmology.
This second half unit of the course takes you through an adventure of understanding how and why things move. It provides you with a basic understanding of the nature of matter and the properties of matter.
In this introductory physics course, students will learn about the nature of matter, Light and Optics, Electricity, Thermodynamics and Nuclear Physics. They will investigate how our Universe is structured and how matter interacts, how light behaves, and how energy drives all interactions. No textbook or additional materials are required. However, some optional extension activities may use common household items to help illustrate concepts.
Course Essential Questions
Essential Question 1
How does physics explain force, motion, and energy?
Essential Question 2
How does the electromagnetic theory explain the physical world?
Course Overview
Lesson |
Objectives |
Quiz |
Assignment |
|
1: The Nature of Matter (Solids, Liquids, Liquids, and Plasma) |
1.1 Describe the basic structure of an atom. 1.2: Distinguish between elements, compounds, and mixtures. 1:3 Apply the Kinetic Theory to explain the structure of solids, liquids, gases, and plasma. 1:4 Explain the structure and properties of solids including how to calculate density and specific gravity. 1:5 Describe the relationship between pressure, density, gravity, and height of a fluid. 1:6 Understand buoyancy and how it applies to Archimedes’ Law. 1:7 Explain how a barometer can be used to measure atmospheric pressure. 1:8 Use Boyle’s Law to explain the relationship between pressure and volume of gases. 1:9 Use Bernoulli’s principle to predict pressure changes caused by moving fluids. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 1 Assignment: Buoyancy |
|
2: The Quantum |
2.1: Summarize Thomson’s and Rutherford’s contributions to the atomic theory. 2.2: Describe the relationship between a photon’s frequency and its energy. 2.3: Describe Bohr’s model of the atom. 2.4: Identify types of electromagnetic radiation found on the electromagnetic spectrum. 2.5: Explain the photoelectric effect and how it provides evidence for the particle nature of light. 2.6: Calculate the energy or wavelength of the photon emitted or absorbed in a transition between specified levels, or the energy of wavelength required to ionize an atom. 2.7: Explain why De Broglie suggested that all matter could be considered to have wave properties. 2.8: Calculate the wavelength of a particle as a function of its momentum. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
No Assignment |
|
3: Static Electricity |
3.1: Describe types of charge and the attraction and repulsion of charges. 3.2: Explain the law of conservation of charge. 3.3: Understand Coulomb’s Law and calculate the magnitude and direction of the force on a positive or negative charge due to other specified point charges. 3.4: Characterize materials as conductors or insulators based on their electrical properties. 3.5: Explain how electric charges are transferred. 3.6: Define an electric field and interpret drawings of electric fields. 3.7: Calculate the magnitude and direction of an electric field produced by two or more point charges. 3.8: Define and distinguish between electric potential energy and electric potential. 3.9: Calculate electric potential difference or voltage. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 3 Assignment: Coulomb's Law |
|
4: Electric Currents and Circuits |
4.1: Describe current and its relation to charge and time. 4.2: Identify voltage sources and distinguish between direct current and alternating current. 4.3: Define resistance and identify the factors that determine the resistance of a wire. 4.4: Use and describe Ohm’s law. 4.5: Define electric power and explain how electric power, voltage, resistance, and current are related. 4.6: Calculate electric energy use and costs. 4.7: Interpret circuit diagrams and diagram basic circuit elements. 4.9: Distinguish between series and parallel circuits. 4.9: Calculate equivalent resistance and apply ohm’s law to resistors in series, in parallel, or in combination of series and parallel resistors. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 4 Assignment: Series and Parallel Circuits |
|
5: Light and Color |
5.1: Explain different historical concepts of light and methods to measure the speed of light. 5.2: Compare different types of electromagnetic radiation. 5.3: Describe the relationship between wavelength, energy, and frequency as illustrated by the electromagnetic spectrum. 5.4: Describe how different mediums of light affect light waves. 5.5: Explain and apply light polarization and scattering. 5:6: Identify basic structures of the eye and how they see color and light. 5.7: Analyze factors that determine the color of an object. 5.8: Explain the difference between producing a specific final color through color addition of light and color subtraction of pigments. 5.9: Explain the Doppler shift of light. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
No Assignment |
Midterm Exam |
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6: Optics |
6.1 State and apply the law of reflection. 6.2 Explain the difference between a real image and a virtual image. 6.3 Describe the physical characteristics of plane, concave, and convex mirrors and distinguish among the types of images they form. 6.4 Calculate the location and properties of images formed in curved mirrors when given information about the location of the object and focal length of the mirror. 6.5 Explain why and how light is refracted. 6.6 Apply Snell’s Law to determine how light travels when it is refracted. 6.7 Describe the physical characteristics of concave and convex lenses and distinguish among the types of images they form. 6.8 Name common vision problems, identify their causes, and explain how they can be corrected. 6.9 Describe how interference patterns result when light passes through slits or thin films. 6.10 Describe what affects the extent of diffraction. 6.11 Explain behaviors of waves, including diffraction, interference, and coherence, and describe applications based on these behaviors.
|
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 6 Assignment: Snell's Law |
|
7: Magnetism |
7.1: Explain how magnetic poles affect each other. 7.2: Summarize properties of magnets and describe how some nonmagnetic materials can become magnetized. 7:3: Describe and interpret drawings of magnetic fields around bar magnets and current-carrying wires. 7:4: Describe the conditions for a magnetic field exerting a force on a charged particle in a field. 7.5: Calculate and describe the magnitude of magnetic force in a magnetic field and the force on a current-carrying wire in a magnetic field. 7.6: Explain how solenoids and electromagnets are constructed and describe factors that affect the field strength of both. 7.7: Describe how electric current is generated by electromagnetic induction. 7.8: Compare and contrast electric motors and generators. 7.9: Describe how a transformer works. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
No Assignment |
|
8: Thermodynamics and the Effects of Heat |
8 8.1: Explain that temperature is a measure of internal kinetic energy. 8.2: Use and convert between Celsius, Kelvin, and Fahrenheit scales. 8:3: Describe heat, thermal energy, internal energy, and heat flow. 8.4: Define specific heat. 8:5: Define and calculate sensible heat. 8:6: Define and calculate latent heat. 8.7: Describe the difference between endothermic and exothermic processes. 8.8: Analyze phase change graphs. 8.9: Describe and calculate the results of thermal expansion. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Assignment Title and brief description (or n/a) |
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9: Movement of Heat and the Laws of Thermodynamics |
9.1: Compare and contrast conduction, convection, and radiation. 9.2: Explain how substances absorb, radiate, and reflect radiant energy. 9.3: Describe the greenhouse effect. 9.4: Analyze the factors that affect climate change. 9.5: Explain and give examples to illustrate the first law of thermodynamics. 9.6: Describe and give examples of adiabatic processes 9.7: Explain and give examples to illustrate the second and third law of thermodynamics. 9.8: Define entropy. 9.9: Explain how heat engines work in terms of the laws of thermodynamics 9.10: Describe and solve problems thermal efficiency and ideal efficiency. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 9 Assignment: How Can We Reduce the Effects of Climate Change? |
|
10: Nuclear Physics |
10.1: Describe the structure and forces present within the nucleus. 10.2: Define isotope and write the correct nuclide when given information about the number of protons and neutrons. 10.3: Describe nuclear reactions and distinguish between alpha, beta, and gamma decay. 10.4: Compare the properties and penetrating power and energy of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. 10.5: Explain radioactive half-life and its role in radiometric dating. 10.6: Calculate radioactive half-life and solve problems associated with radiometric dating. 10.7: Explain Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence equation. 10.8: Describe the difference between nuclear fission and fusion. 10.9: Describe the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear energy and nuclear technology. |
25 multiple-choice questions |
Lesson 10 Assignment: Radioactive Candy |
Final Exam |
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Grades
Your final grade will be based on the number of points you earn on submitted work and exams. The available points are distributed as follows:
| Source | Available Points |
|---|---|
| Lesson Assignments | 156 |
| Lesson Quizzes | 250 |
| Midterm Exam | 300 |
| Final Exam | 300 |
| Total | 1,006 |
Textbook & Technology Requirements
To fully participate, make sure you have:
- A computer that meets our Mizzou Academy technology requirements
- A microphone and webcam for recording audio and video assignments
- Any other required textbooks or materials for the course
Accessibility
If you anticipate barriers related to the format or requirements of this course, please let Mizzou Academy know as soon as possible. If disability-related accommodations are necessary (for example, a scribe, reader, extended time on exams, captioning), please contact Mizzou Academy.Canvas Technical Support
Canvas will be used as the primary platform for accessing course materials and assignments for this class.
- Access Canvas through the Tiger Portal https://mizzouacademy.missouri.edu/
- For assistance with Canvas, passwords, or other technical issues, submit a ticket by selecting Help from the Global Navigation menu on the left in Canvas. Additional information is provided in the following Canvas Guide: How do I get help with Canvas as a student?
- For questions about enrollment, access to courses, exam proctoring, or billing, contact our Support Services Team at (855) 256-4975 or mizzouacademy@missouri.edu.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|