Course overview
General Physics introduces middle school students to the exciting world of motion, forces, energy, matter, and the laws that govern how things work. The course focuses on real-world applications through hands-on activities, experiments, and problem-solving, helping students understand how physics connects to their daily lives and future technologies.
What you’ll learn
By the end of this course students will be able to:
Key topics covered
- 1Speed, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Force and Gravity
- 2Work, Energy and Power
- 3
Sound and Light Waves
- 4
Magnetism and Electricity
Course curriculum
Objective: To introduce the core concepts of motion, speed, and how forces affect objects, including an understanding of Newton’s Laws.
Understanding Motion
Distance, speed, velocity, acceleration
Graphing motion
Newton’s Laws of Motion
First, Second, and Third Laws
Real-life examples (e.g., sports, vehicles)
Objective: To help students explore the different forms of energy, how energy is transferred or transformed, and how work is done in physical systems.
Types of Energy
Kinetic and potential energy
Energy transformation (e.g., electrical to thermal)
Work, Power and Machines
Calculating work and power
Introduction to levers, pulleys, inclined planes
Objective: To explore how energy travels through different materials and how we observe physical phenomena like heat, sound and light.
Thermal Energy
Heat transfer: conduction, convection, radiation
Temperature vs. heat
Waves of Sound and Light
Sound waves and pitch
Light reflection, refraction, and color spectrum
