Mayer Intro Physics

Extra Credit Opportunities for 2009-2010 Ms. Chen 614 Classes

It is your responsibility to look up which extra credit is due and turn it in on a single sheet of paper with your name, date, and block written. If there is any research required, you HAVE TO cite the sources of you will not receive any credit. You may type the answers but be sure they are your own wok, please review the schools plagiarism policy.

Extra Credit due Friday September 11: (Maximum 5 points) Write a letter to the editor! First, decide whether or not you believe Americans should use metric measurements of length for day-to-day measurements. Then write a letter to the editor that expresses your opinion and provides your reasons.

Extra Credit due Friday September 18: (Maximum 5 points) Do research on the internet and find out about the ancient measurement unit called the “cubit.” What is it? Who used it? Why was it good? Why was it bad? Be sure to include your sources.

Extra Credit due Friday September 25: (Maximum 5 points) People often talk about how many G’s of force a pilot can withstand or how many G’s you can experience on a certain amusement park ride. What is a G-force? What is the maximum G-force a pilot can experience and what happens if the G-force is too much? How many G’s is a typical amusement park ride? Be sure to include your sources.

Extra Credit due Friday October 2: (Maximum 5 points) When in space, astronauts do not experience normal, earth-like gravity. This can cause many health problems. Do 2 things for this extra-credit: 1) Research and write about three health concerns of astronauts who spend extended time in “weightless” environments and 2) Research and write about ways to create artificial gravity in space. Your paper should be 1-2 pages long. Be sure to provide a bibliography.

Extra Credit due Friday October 9: (Maximum 5 points) Listed below are several items that move. Research these items to determine their speeds and write those speeds in the table. Then, rank them in order of increasing speed. Put “1” for the slowest, “2” for the next slowest…and “12” for the fastest. Some Interesting Record Speeds

Rank Item Actual Speed 1 = slowest (include UNITS and source) 12 = fastest Fastest Fish

Fastest Human in any Vehicle

Fastest Centipede

Fastest Elevator

Fastest Human (running)

Fastest Land Animal

Fastest Space Vehicle

Fastest Roller Coaster

Fastest Flying Animal

Fastest Jet-powered Car

Lightening Bolt

Extra Credit due Friday October 16: (Maximum 5 points) Writing good questions for a test or quiz is often a lot more difficult than you may think. For this assignment, you are to create 10 questions involving the topic of speed. At least 3 of these must be problems where calculations/math must be done. The other questions are up to you! Possibilities include: multiple-choice, true/false, matching, or something else you come up with. You must include an answer key with your questions, and all work must be shown for the problems. Extra Credit due Friday October 23: (Maximum 5 points) Go shopping for a new car! Decide on a car and then find out its rates of acceleration. Most cars advertise information for two changes in speed. Find this information and then calculate the accelerations in convenient units. Be sure to include your source.

Extra Credit due Friday October 30: (Maximum 5 points) Momentum is a very important topic when discussing safety devices in cars. Choose one of these safety devices (seat belt, padded head rest, padded dashboard, air bag, etc.) and write about how it uses momentum to help keep you safe in a car.

Extra Credit due Thursday November 6: (Maximum 5 points) We have already finished one- quarter of the school year! How is physics going for you? What have been your favorite activities and topics? What have been the most difficult topics for you? Are there activities we could have done which would have helped you understand the material better? Write one page that addresses these issues.

Extra Credit due Friday November 13: (Maximum 5 points) Complete a “What does Newton’s First Law mean to me?” Journal Entry. Experience Newton’s First Law at least three times this week. Write a journal entry describing each situation and explaining why each situation is an example of Newton’s First Law. Your total submission must be at least one page, handwritten. Pictures or drawings are strongly encouraged.

Extra Credit due Wednesday November 20 (Maximum 5 points) Complete a “What does Newton’s Third Law mean to me?” Journal Entry. Experience Newton’s Third Law at least three times this week. Write a journal entry describing each situation and explaining why each situation is an example of Newton’s Third Law. Your total submission must be at least one page, handwritten. Pictures or drawings are strongly encouraged.

Extra Credit due Friday December 4: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Motion Packet 17 (What is Energy?) and Packet 18 (What are Potential and Kinetic Energy?). These are excellent packets that will help you to understand energy. Please see your teacher to get these packets.

Extra Credit due Friday December 11: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Motion Packet 19 (How Does Energy Change Form?) and Packet 22 (What is Work?). These are excellent packets that will help you to understand energy. Please see your teacher to get these packets. Extra Credit due Friday December 18: (Maximum 5 points) Graphs are used all over the place, all of the time. Find a graph in a print newspaper or magazine (not online!). Then write a few sentences explaining what the graph shows. Use your new vocabulary words including rate and slope. Turn in both a copy of the graph as well as your description of the graph. You must give the source of your graph.

Extra Credit due Wednesday December 23: (Maximum 5 points) I want you to begin to notice how physics relates to the world around you and to develop in interest in reading about current science topics. For this assignment, you get to choose your topic. Please write about something science/physics related that you have recently read about in a newspaper or magazine, seen on a television show, or witnessed yourself. You should write around 1 page on this topic. Please list any sources you use.

Extra Credit due Friday January 8: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Lesson 13 (What are elements?). This packet will help you to better understand matter. Please see your teacher to get this packet.

Extra Credit due Friday January 15: (Maximum 5 points) Next summer, Ms. Mayer will work at the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms. What kind of research do they do? How does it relate to our current study of heat and temperature? Summarize your findings in a one-page (approximately) typed summary. Be sure that you use words that you understand! Include a list of the sources you used.

Extra Credit due Friday January 22: (Maximum 5 points) Insulation is used to both keep things warm and to keep things cool. Often people are surprised to see people who live in some of the hottest parts of the world wearing lots of clothing. Find out about an example of a culture or group of people who live in a warm climate and wears clothes covering their entire body. Explain in terms of heat, temperature, and heat transfer. Write summary (approximately one page long) of what you find. Include a list of the sources you used.

Extra Credit due Friday January 29: (Maximum 5 points) We have said that water has a very high specific heat capacity. Are there any naturally occurring or readily available substances with a higher specific heat capacity than that of water? Write half page (approximately) summary of your findings. Include a list of the sources you used.

Extra Credit due Friday February 5: (Maximum 5 points) What is the “Windchill Factor?” Why do weather forecasters talk about windchill rather than just talking about the temperature? Does the windchill factor really affect how quickly your body is losing heat? Who developed the idea of windchill and how did he do it? Include a list of the sources you used.

Extra Credit due Friday February 12: (Maximum 5 points) Living in the New England, we hear the term “Nor’Easter” a lot in the winter. What is a “Nor’Easter?” What causes a Nor’Easter? Describe some of the worst Nor’Easter that have occurred. Include a list of the sources you used.

Extra Credit due Friday February 26: (Maximum 5 points) It’s happened to many of us: you pick up a tasty-looking piece of pizza, and the crust feels warm to your hands and to your tongue, but not uncomfortably hot. So chomp! and Oww! Your mouth is burned by the pizza sauce. How can this be? Obviously, both the crust and the sauce are at the same temperature ... after all, they were heated together in the same oven. Write 1-2 well written paragraphs that explain this phenomenon. Include a list of the sources you used. (source of question: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99829.htm)

Extra Credit due Friday March 5: (Maximum 5 points) Find out about products that are designed to reduce static cling in clothes and to reduce static problems with your hair in winter. How do they work? HAND WRITE a one-page summary of what you find. YOU MUST INCLUDE A PROPERLY FORMATTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Extra Credit due Friday March 12: (Maximum 5 points) Static electricity causes major problems for some forms of manufacturing, especially manufacturing of electronics and computer components. Find out why this is a problem and how it is handled. HAND WRITE a one-page summary of what you find. YOU MUST INCLUDE A PROPERLY FORMATTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Extra Credit due Friday March 19: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Lesson 20 (What is electric current?). This packet will help you to better understand electric current. Please see your teacher to get this packet.

Extra Credit due Thursday April 1: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Lesson 21 (What is a series circuit?) and Lesson 22 (What is a parallel circuit?). These packets will help you to better understand electric circuits. Please see your teacher to get these packets.

Extra Credit due Friday April 9: (Maximum 5 points) Complete Lesson 23 (What is electrical resistance?) and Lesson 24 (What are amperes, volts, and ohms?). These packets will help you to better understand electric resistance and Ohm’s Law. Please see your teacher to get these packets.

Extra Credit due Friday April 16: (Maximum 5 points) Find out about the Aurora Borealis. Write one page summarizing your findings. Include a proper bibliography of your sources for full credit.

Vacation Extra Credit: (Maximum 5 points) Mail Ms. Chen a postcard! Postcards can be sent from anywhere (including Massachusetts cities and towns) but must be postmarked by Saturday April 21. The picture on the postcard must give you the opportunity to apply something you have learned about electricity or magnetism. On the back of the postcard, write a three to four sentence explanation of the concept and application. Mail your postcards to: Shu-Yee Chen, Beals House, NNHS, 360 Lowell Avenue, Newton, MA 02460. Extra Credit due Friday April 30: (Maximum 5 points) Who was Maxwell? What are his equations? Include his equations in words that you understand. Why was the development of his equations so important? You must include a proper bibliography.))

Extra Credit due Thursday May 7: (Maximum 5 points) “If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with and ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road. CFLs provide high-quality light, smart technology, and design, requiring less while lasting longer than typical incandescent bulbs.” (“Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.” EnergyStar: Buy Products that Make a Difference. Internet. World Wide Web. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm? c=cfls.pr_cfls. 6 March 2006.) Find out about how a compact fluorescent light bulb works. How is it similar to an incandescent bulb and how is it different? Are there any disadvantages to CFLs? Hand write a one page minimum summary of your findings. Be sure to include a bibliography in the proper format.

Extra Credit due Friday May 14: (Maximum 5 points) In class, we have learned that waves of all types carry energy. Tsunamis have caused a lot of damage and loss of life. What is a tsunami? What causes a tsunami? Choose a tsunami which has occurred and write about: when and where it occurred, its cause, and some of the effects of the tsunami. Be sure to include a discussion of the energy types and transformations involved in your descriptions. Include a bibliography.

Extra Credit due Friday May 21: (Maximum 5 points) Many people believe that it is unhealthy to live below or near high power lines due to the magnetic field surrounding the current carrying wires. Find out what you can about this controversy and summarize both sides of the argument. Include a bibliography.

Extra Credit due Friday May 28: (Maximum 5 points) Many people like to be tan year round and tanning beds (or booths). Tanning beds/booths often advertise that they are safer than “cancer-causing” sunlight. How do tanning booths work? Are they safer than sunlight? Can they cause cellular damage that can lead to cancer? Include a bibliography. Extra Credit due Friday June 4: (Maximum 5 points)

Extra Credit due Friday June 11: (Maximum 5 points)

Extra Credit due Friday Month #: (Maximum 5 points)