Lesson Plan: Time Dilation Physics • 9th Grade
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to calculate the change in the amount of time between two events as measured in different reference frames.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- understand that time passes more slowly for objects moving relative to the observer’s reference frame,
- use , the relationship between the time measured by a moving observer and proper time, in all permutations using both SI units and units of ,
- understand how to use in combination with calculations of the travel time of light,
- understand Minkowski diagrams that show time dilation.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- inertial reference frames,
- Einstein’s postulates,
- the Lorentz factor,
- events and world lines in Minkowski diagrams.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- length contraction,
- velocity transformations,
- coordinate transforms,
- metrics,
- intervals,
- the relativistic Doppler effect.