TL;DR: here’s the full assignment.
If you’re looking for my full (in-progress) AP Physics 1 Curriculum, you can purchase it here!
I’m going to come out and say it…I like giving summer assignments for my AP classes. Some schools require it (ours sort of does), some teachers think they’re necessary, and some teachers love to tell everyone that they don’t give one. (If that’s you, feel free to leave a comment here and let me know 😉)
I also think my students like getting their summer assignments. They’re achievers, and I think they feel a sense of pride or honor when they get the summer work, like they’re part of an elite club. It’s not just slack off time. It’s time to get a head start and dive in to their exciting, upcoming classes!
Now, that being said, I do believe students should enjoy their summers. I don’t want them stressing about the work. I also can’t give tons of feedback on their work since I don’t see them over the summer, so I don’t want them doing anything that solidifies misconceptions that comes from incorrect work.
So as I’m preparing to (sort of) teach AP Physics 1 for the first time this year, I repurposed a few of my regular physics videos, recorded a new video, and updated the problem sets for better spiraling of problems throughout. The summer assignment has four sections, each with a different due date. But it’s still short enough that it certainly won’t ruin their summers…honestly, most of my students could crank this out in a single day. And I’m okay with that.
Instead of introducing actual physics, the assignment focuses on some prerequisite math skills. It’s mostly stuff they’ve seen before, but in different contexts. For example they’ve seen SOHCAHTOA, but they haven’t used it to solve for vector components technically. They’ve learned the function types, but might not have had to analyze how doubling one variable would affect another variable.
So, I like what I’ve come up with. Hopefully, it will solidify some math skills, get them excited for the class, and not take too long.
Anyway, here are the assignments!
Assignment 1 – Unit Conversions
Guided Notes & Practice Problems
Metric conversions are a must, and I don’t want to spend precious class minutes reteaching this. Most of my kids could probably do without it, but some extra practice is good.
Assignment 2 – Function Types & Proportional Reasoning
Guided Notes & Practice Problems
They’ve all learned these functions, but I’ve found that their proportional reasoning is weak. But analyzing how changing one variable affects another variable is crucial for AP Physics, and this lays the foundation for that.
Assignment 3 – Manipulating Equations Algebraically
Guided Notes & Practice Problems
My kids come in with solid algebra skills…but take away their precious numbers and leave everything as variables!? Welcome to the big leagues, kids! We don’t substitute numbers in until the end…if at all.
Assignment 4 – Right Triangle Trigonometry & Vector Components
Guided Notes & Practice Problems
Again, something my students have seen, but in a different context. I also like that they’re hearing about vector components early on.
Here’s the whole AP Physics 1 summer assignment in one doc:
If you teach AP Physics 1 (or any physics class), feel free to use any and all of this assignment! And if you or a colleague need an AP Chemistry summer assignment, feel free to check out mine here.
Have a great summer!
P.S., If you’re looking for my full (in-progress) AP Physics 1 Curriculum, you can purchase it here!
Siebert Science 