Outlook for the week of September 29 - October 3

Hello to All!

Today was a 3rd period block schedule; 60 minutes of Physics!! It was fantastic because we were able to review several important problems from Chapters 2 and 3. Also, one of our students brought in a great piece of equipment that we will use for Kinematics Lab next block Physics class. It is really great!! Thank you YL!!!

We had an early dismissal today, because of Rosh Hashanah celebration.

There is no school Tuesday or Wednesday because of the holiday. Happy New Year!!!!

On Thursday, there is a double block of Calculus, and no Physics class. This will allow us a nice chunk of time to work on differentiation rules and associated problems. We will work on sections 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5; the power rule, the product rule, the quotient rule, trig functions and the chain rule. We will alternate between doing example problems together at the board and having quiet time to work on your own or in groups. We have a full 90 time slot so this will be very productive!

Look for a quiz on these problems on Friday. You should have no trouble preparing; you already have done a good amount of work on these sections.

For Physics on Friday:

We'll work some problems from Chapter 4; Newton's Laws.

Look for a test over Chapter 4 problems on Monday, October 6.

Keep working lots of problems. I will hand out a Physics packet for Chapter 4 on Friday, to work on over the weekend. Some problems in this packet will count as part of the take - home portion of your Chapter 4 test, because of time constraints in class on Monday.

Have a nice holiday!! Try to sneak a little work in when you can!!!

Mrs. Little

Outlook for the week of September 24, 25, 26

Hello Everbody!

Welcome to Wednesday, the middle of the week.

We have gotten a lot of good work done this week in both classes.

For Physics,

As a general comment, I would like you all to do some hard thinking about what you want to get out of this Physics course. AP Physics is a very challenging and time consuming undertaking. Please do not look at a regular Physics class as something that is not worth doing. You are much better off to do well in Physics, than to struggle in AP Physics, and the stress that goes along with AP courses can be overwhelming.

For those of you who did not do well on the Kinematics exam, you must ask yourself why. Did you not do enough problems? Do you have trouble with the math? Do you not understand the concepts? Do you feel rushed? I know that some of you feel that the class is moving very quickly, and for the AP Physics schedule, we must. That is why taking regular Physics may be a very nice option. It will be the same material, but the depth of the problems will not be as difficult. Please speak with me, your parents and/or Mrs. Dehlman about helping you to decide. I don't want to see anybody fail and be overwhelmed and stressed out.

This week (Tuesday) we finally moved on to Chapter 4 - Newton's Laws. Please work on the following problems from our text:

Chapter 4 - 7,9,16,17,29,31,45,50,51,57,58

Thursday and Friday we will work problems together in class.

Make sure you read the chapter!!!!


For Calculus,

Tuesday we had a quiz over Continuity and rates of change.

Today (Wednesday) we learned many rules of differentiation, from section 3.3 in our book.

For Thursday and Friday, we will work on problems (start them for homework) in section 3.3 Do the odd problems 1 - 47, and the standardized test questions 53 - 58 all.

Also, do the standardized test questions, 3.1 #36 - 41 all and 3.2 #40 - 45 all.

I will grade your quizzes tonight. Our class is very much on schedule and things are going quite well. Keep up the good work.

I forgot to mention in class today, but Sunday morning study group might be a good thing. Let me know if any of you are interested.

Have a nice week.

Mrs. Little

Outlook for Friday, 9/19 and early next week

Hello All,

Again, I am posting on a Thursday afternoon. I wanted to give you some direction before the weekend, since there are some exams next week.

For Physics,

I want you all to know how well you did on your Chapter 2 exam. I am very pleased. The only suggestion I would have is that we need to get a bit faster with our calculations, and this is done by repetition. Great job for the first Kinematics test though!!!

Speaking of Kinematics tests, ours will be on Monday, September 22. This is Chapter 3, Kinematics in 2 dimensions. With the power outages, we lost 2 full days this week, so we need to step it up and get through Kinematics and on to Newton's Laws (Chapter 4).

Your test will consist of a take-home problem (over the weekend) which I will give you tomorrow, on Friday. This will be a vector problem. These are time consuming, and I don't want to run into time trouble on a test day.

On Monday, the exam will consist of 2 problems. One you can be sure will be a projectile motion problem, and the other will either be a cliff and ball problem, or throwing a ball into the air, or something similar.

On Tuesday we will finally get into Newton's Laws F = ma which is very interesting. We really need to pick up our pace. We need to stay on schedule for the AP.


For Calculus,

This week and this coming Monday we'll focus on 2.3 Continuity and 2.4 Rates of Change and tangents and normal equations. You are all doing very well, and your effort has been outstanding.

We'll have a "quiz" over these sections on Tuesday, and then begin Chapter 3 - Derivatives on Wednesday. As you know, we have already learned a bit about the deriviative - the power rule, and the relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration.

Physics/Calculus students rejoice, because this is where each class will help you with the other, since they are so closely related!!!

Have a great weekend.

*****Don't forget those AP worksheets******

Mrs. Little

Some adjustments to end of this week.

Hello all!

It is Thursday afternoon.

Our schedule for the week has been changed, as you know.

We will not see each other tomorrow, Friday 9/12 as you all will be going on a retreat. Have a wonderful time.

For Physics,

We have continued to hammer through Chapter 3 - Kinematics in 2 dimensions. I have concerns about the number of problems (and the quality of homework time) you are doing.

You MUST do problem after problem after problem, until the concepts we discuss during class become second nature. I want you all to succeed. Beginning very soon (next week), we will collectively choose 1 day a week for a study group after school.

Also, I can be at school by 9:00 if anyone has a study hall 1st or 2nd period. I can stay during lunch. I can come back in the evenings with a day or so notice. Unfortunately, I don't live here in Bexley, but I am happy to return when needed.

Next week I want you all to work very hard. We need to pick up the pace a bit to stay on schedule for the AP exam. I am planning a Chapter 3 test on Thursday, and although this is a test day for math, I will not give you all a math test that day!!!

Please plan your time accordingly!!!


For Calculus,

We went over several quiz and exam problems that were most missed recently. I hope anything you missed is more clear now.

We are currently in 2.3 - Continuity of functions. This is an addition to 2.1 and 2.2. We will work on 2.3 on Monday.

We'll cover 2.4 on Tuesday, and I am planing a quiz on 2.3 and 2.4 on Friday (9/19) so again, please plan your time wisely.

By October 31 which is the end of the 1st quarter, we need to have completed Chapter 3 (Derivatives) to stay on schedule for the AP exam. We are currently on schedule.

In general, I think we are doing quite well. A bit rusty from the summer, but we are making progress, and I am pleased.

The best thing you can do for yourselves is to work as many problems as possible, and make sure you don't fall behind. Ask for help from me or others in the class before you have lost a lot of time.

Have a great weekend on the retreat!!!

See you Monday.

Mrs. Little

Outlook for the week of September 8 - 12

Good Monday Morning!

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend.

This is our first week with a math and physics block, and this is what it will look like:

For Physics:

Monday: DOUBLE PERIOD!!!! Very exciting; we'll get a lot done!! At the beginning of class, I will give you 15 minutes to finish up your quizzes from last week. After that, we will watch some interesting short videos that show us motion. (and we can discuss what we've seen). Then we'll finish up the projectile motion example that we started on Friday. If there is still time left, you can begin problems from Chapter 3 which I assigned.

Tuesday: Continue working on Chapter 3 problems

Wednesday: Chapter 3 problems and the Chapter 3 AP (blue) book worksheet\

Thursday: NO CLASS BECAUSE OF DOUBLE BLOCK OF MATH.

Friday: Quiz on Chapter 3 - Kinematics in 2 Dimensions and projectile motion


For Calculus:

Monday: NO CLASS BECAUSE OF DOUBLE BLOCK OF SCIENCE.

Tuesday: Wrap up problems from 2.1 and 2.2 - Limits.

Wednesday: Quiz on 2.1 and 2.2

Thursday: DOUBLE BLOCK OF MATH. We'll begin Chapter 2.3 (Continuity) and you'll have plenty of time to complete the problems from this section.

Friday: We'll begin Chapter 2.4 Rates of change and tangent lines. This is actually the last section in the chapter. It is very interesting. Problems from 2.3 and 2.4 will be assigned, but for Calculus, they are generally the odd problems ( and even ones if you want to do extra) and the Standardized Practice problems at the end of each section.

Have a great week!!!

Mrs. Little

Outlook for week of September 2 - 5, 2008

Good Wednesday Morning!

Sorry the blog is a day late; unfortunately, my computer at home has blown up again.

Yesterday in class I gave you the schedule for the week.

Here it is again quickly:

For Physics:

We continue to work on Chapter 2 - Kinematics in 1 dimension. We are a little rusty on remembering vectors and vector analysis, and since this is such an important topic in Mechanics, we should continue to practice this before beginning Chapter 3, which is Kinematics in 2 dimensions, in which we will need to have a solid understanding of vectors in addition to the kinematic equations.

We will have a quiz on Thursday of this week, covering Chapter 2.

On Friday, we will begin Chapter 3, which is simply an add on to Chapter 2, now taking into account vectors, and working in 2 dimensions.

Next week we will have no Physics on Monday, due to block schedule, however on Thursday of next week we will have a double period of Physics.

Keep working problems!!!!!

This is the best thing you can do for yourself!!!! You must do them over and over again, so they become second nature, and so you can easily picture the physical situation you are analyzing.


For Calculus:

Last week (Friday) you completed an "in class work sheet" and a take home test over the weekend. On Tuesday, we began Limits Chapter 2.1 and 2.2 and will continue to work on these sections Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday: Quiz on Chapter 2.1 and 2.2

Just as I said for Physics, it is essential that you work as many problems as you can, so these topics become second nature to you. There are always extra problems in the book and extra worksheets available for you anytime.

Also, we will have a double period of Calculus on Monday, and will study 2.3, Continuity. Because of the double block on Monday, there will be no Calculus on Thursday of next week.

Have a great week!!!!!!

Mrs. Little