Lesson Plan: Projectiles Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to analyze the motion of projectiles, which are objects that have nonzero uniform vertical acceleration while moving horizontally at constant velocity.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- distinguish between the horizontal and vertical components of the motion of a projectile,
- identify horizontal and vertical components of projectile motion on distance–time, displacement–time, speed–time, and velocity–time graphs,
- identify changes in the KE and GPE of a projectile along its trajectory,
- identify the directions of forces acting on projectiles,
- compare the magnitudes of forces acting on projectiles,
- distinguish between the trajectories of projectiles that are and are not affected by drag forces.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- kinematic graphs of scalar and vector quantities,
- free-body diagrams,
- conservation of mechanical energy.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- any calculations.