Physics (Grades 9–12) Subtest 1
Subarea I.1. Concepts in Physics
0001
Understand the principles and procedures of scientific inquiry.
- demonstrating knowledge of principles and procedures for designing and carrying out physics investigations
- recognizing methods and criteria for collecting, organizing, analyzing, and numerically and graphically presenting scientific data
- demonstrating familiarity with laboratory tools and instruments routinely used in physics investigations
- demonstrating knowledge of practices for ensuring a safe environment in classroom, field, and laboratory settings
0002
Demonstrate knowledge of problem solving in physics and the relation of physics to everyday life.
- demonstrating knowledge of problem-solving strategies in physics (e.g., developing a plan; identifying known and unknown quantities; using words, diagrams, and mathematical relationships to model problems)
- making numerical estimates of the properties of common objects
- evaluating problem solutions in terms of unit consistency, reasonableness, and completeness
- applying linear systems, quadratic equations, trigonometry, simple differential equations, and integrals to physics problems
- demonstrating knowledge of the use of computers in modeling and solving physics problems
- using statistics (e.g., mean, standard deviation) to analyze data and data distributions
- recognizing opportunities for further education and careers in physics and the role of physics in everyday life
0003
Understand the content and methods for developing students' content-area reading skills to support their reading and learning in physics.
- demonstrating knowledge of key components and processes involved in reading (e.g., vocabulary knowledge, including orthographic and morphological knowledge; background knowledge; knowledge of academic discourse, including the syntactic and organizational structures used in print and digital academic texts; print processing abilities, including decoding skills; use of cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies)
- demonstrating the ability to plan instruction and select strategies to support all students' content-area reading (e.g., differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students with varying reading proficiency levels and linguistic backgrounds, identifying and addressing gaps in students' background knowledge, scaffolding reading tasks for students who experience comprehension difficulties)
- demonstrating knowledge of explicit strategies for facilitating students' comprehension before, during, and after reading content-area texts, and for promoting their use of comprehension strategies
- demonstrating knowledge of explicit strategies for promoting students' academic language and vocabulary development, including their knowledge of physics vocabulary words
- demonstrating knowledge of explicit strategies for developing students' critical literacy skills (e.g., encouraging students to question texts, developing students' ability to analyze texts from multiple viewpoints or perspectives)
- demonstrating the ability to plan instruction and select strategies that support students' reading and understanding of sources of physics information (e.g., physics texts, physics laboratory manuals, scientific journals, scientific websites, graphical representations, diagrams, equations, physics notation)
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