News — physics labs

We have all been there. You introduce the concept of momentum, write p = mv on the board, and your students nod along. It seems simple enough—mass times velocity. But then you introduce impulse, the impulse-momentum theorem (FΔt = Δp), and conservation of momentum. Suddenly, the nods turn into blank stares. Students start confusing momentum with energy, or they struggle to understand why a bouncing ball experiences a greater change in momentum than a ball that sticks to the floor. Teaching momentum in high school physics can be a challenge because it requires students to connect abstract mathematical formulas to...

If you've ever taught high school physics, you know the moment. You've just finished explaining Newton's First Law, and a student raises their hand to ask, "But if an object in motion stays in motion, why does my skateboard stop when I stop pushing it?" It's a classic question that reveals one of the most persistent misconceptions in physics: the idea that force is required to maintain motion. Teaching Newton's Laws of Motion is often the first time students are asked to fundamentally rewire how they perceive the physical world. They come into your classroom with years of intuitive, Aristotelian...

If you're staring down the barrel of a new school year—or perhaps just a new semester—and wondering how you're going to get your students to care about kinematics, forces, and circuits, you are not alone. Teaching high school physics is a unique challenge. You aren't just teaching facts; you're teaching a completely new way of looking at the universe, wrapped in a layer of math that many students find intimidating. But here is the good news: when physics clicks for a student, it is magic. The moment they realize that the same equations governing a falling apple also govern the...