Introductory Physics

Term: Yearlong 2020–21, September 8–May 28
Target Grade Levels: 9–10; 11th graders welcome (see placement details below)
Schedule: 3x / week, 60–75 min.
Price: $695.00

Course Sections
Section 1: M/W/F 9:30 a.m. ET with Kathryn Morton

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Ongoing Enrollment and Placement

Ongoing Enrollment

While our courses are no longer available for purchase on the website, Scholé Academy is open to inquiries about enrolling in courses at any time during the year. If you wish to enroll in a Yearlong course for the 2020-2021 school year after the official add/drop deadline (September 21), you will need to contact us directly. We will consider each request on a case-by-case basis after considering several factors, including size of the class, the preparedness of the student, the willingness of the instructor to accommodate a late addition to the class, and the content of the course. If you would like to submit a request for enrollment in an ongoing course, please visit our Contact Us page.

Placement Process

To help ensure that students enroll in the correct course levels, Scholé Academy requires many students to complete placement evaluations. Placement evaluations are only provided to students after the corresponding course registration has been completed. A placement assessment will be required in the following situations:

if the student falls outside of the stated age/grade range for the class.
if the student needs to demonstrate a certain level of skill and proficiency for the course.
if the student has completed prerequisite requirements somewhere other than Scholé Academy (e.g., at home or with another school). In this case, our instructors will need to verify that the student has adequately fulfilled the prerequisite requirements.
if a placement assessment has been recommended by a Scholé Academy instructor.

First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student’s previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Parents are encouraged to connect with the Scholé Academy Principal and/or with the course instructor to make the best enrollment decision for their student.

Registration is not finalized until the student’s placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.

There is a $75 deposit built into the cost of each course.

If a placement evaluation has not been administered, withdrawals requested before May 1 are granted a full refund, including the full $75 deposit.
If a placement evaluation has been administered, withdrawals requested before May 1 are granted part of their $75 refund: $35 will be paid to the instructor for the placement evaluation, and the remaining $40 of the original deposit will be refunded.

After May 1, withdrawals are granted a full course refund, less the $75 deposit. Students may withdraw from a course through the second week of classes. After the second week of classes, no refund is given.

SyllabusIntroductory Physics is an excellent preparation for future studies in Chemistry and Biology. This is more than a physical science course because of its math component. Students use algebra concepts to solve problems; this allows for real-world application of the algebra skills they have been learning and a rewarding understanding of the importance of mathematics. Students will master unit conversions and metric system prefixes as well as foundational topics in physics. (Note: this is not a vector-based physics class. This higher-level skill is saved for upper level physics). The text also brings in historical figures and important events that have shaped the field of physics. Topics covered in Introductory Physics include: the nature of scientific knowledge, velocity, acceleration, Newton’s Laws of motion, energy, momentum, atoms, matter and substances, heat and temperature, pressure and buoyancy, waves, sound and light, introduction to electricity, DC circuits, fields and magnetism, and geometric optics.

Introductory Physics will be taught in a mastery fashion, following John Mays Learn-Master-Retain model. The goal of this approach is to end the course with student mastery of a list of standard problems essential for success in higher level courses. This method of instruction and study brings an end to the Cram-Pass-Forget cycle, typical in most courses taught today. More information about this approach can be found in the course syllabus.

There will be 5 experiments to accompany this course and full lab reports will be written. Students are expected to read the text before coming to class. Class time will consist of discussion of readings, answering questions, solving problems together and conducting experiments. Assessments will consist of weekly quizzes made of essay questions and computations. These will always be cumulative in content.

Prerequisites: Concurrent Enrollment in Algebra 1 or completion of Algebra 1.

Placement: Please read about our new process above.

Syllabus: here

*Required Materials:

Dr. Kathryn Morton has a BA in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and a DVM from the University of Illinois. Upon graduation from veterinary school, she moved to Pennsylvania to work as a clinical research veterinarian on a large dairy farm. From there she transitioned to a busy, small animal practice doing medicine and surgery. When the call of homeschooling touched her heart, she left private practice to focus on her husband and 6 children. She has been teaching math and science courses to the homeschooled students in her local community for 13 years and she heads a robotics club at her town’s public library. She is a lifetime learner and enjoys teaching students about the beauty of the creation and helping them grasp complex topics. kmorton.scholeacademy@gmail.com

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

Visit zoom.us/download.
Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
Open and run the installer on your computer.
In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.

Digital Tablet:Using a digital tablet in class allows students to more fully engage the course content by working out math problems on the digital whiteboard. We recommend using a Wacom Intuos tablet like this one, though similar products may be used.

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First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student’s previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Registration is finalized when the student’s placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.

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Please take careful note of our teaching philosophy, our technology requirements, our school policies, the parent agreement, and the distinctions between our grade levels.

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Our Assistant to the Principal will be in touch with you after your enrollment to help you with next steps, including any placement evaluations that may be required for your course selections.

This registration will be finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.