* Motion--how things move, and how to describe that movement.  For example, what is the difference between positive and negative acceleration?  Does the mass of an object affect how quickly it will fall?  Visualizing motion, and then being able to calculate values associated with the motion is a fundamental part of any physics course!

* Forces--why is it harder to start to move something than it is to keep it going once it's moving?  How does Earth's gravity affect our lives every day?  What does it mean to "do work"?  Why is it harder to stop a car when you are traveling DOWN a hill, and harder to start a car when you are traveling UP hill?  What happens when you go sky diving?

* Energy Transformations--We'll look at how mechanical energy can do work, and how we can change an object's energy by applying work!  For example, why exactly is it that a roller coaster's first hill is always the highest one?  What would happen if a hill further down the track were higher?

* Momentum and collisions--Ever notice that a large truck is easy to pass when you're accelerating from a stop?  or that when two football players collide, it's not just their size (mass) that determines if a tackle is successful (and which direction they fall)?

*Waves--have you ever watched surfers ride waves?  Have you ever been in a wave pool?  How does the water behave when a wave passes through it?  What's a tsunami?  What are we feeling when we are in an earthquake?  Just a few questions that will rise to the surface!

*Acoustics--do you play a musical instrument?  Have you ever noticed that your voice sounds funny when you talk under water?  Or that in the movies, people put there ears to the ground (or railroad tracks) to hear distant sounds approaching?  Why is that?

*Light--have you ever noticed the lights on stage at a theatrical performance?  Have you ever really looked at the colors in newspaper pictures, or on your computer screen?  Have you ever wondered how astronauts can hear in space (yes, that's related to light!)?  Do you think you couldn't live without your high-speed internet with fiber optic cables?  Or do you enjoy looking in the mirror? or at rainbows?  Our light unit can be a very illuminating learning experience!

Other topics that are touched on, depending on the course, are:

* Rocketry!!   (in General physics)

* Nuclear and atomic physics!!     (In IB Physics 1)

* Electricity and Magnetism!!  (In IB Physics 1 and 2)

* Thermodynamics!!        (In IB Physics 2)

* Quantum and Particle Physics    (In IB Physics 1 and 2)

* Astrophysics!!     (In IB Physics 1 and/or 2)

* Special and/or General Relativity!!     (In IB Physics 1 and/or 2)