Understanding Properties and Structures

This course focuses on three elements: content knowledge, inquiry and other teaching strategies, and use of multimedia in teaching and learning. Course goals include:

• identifying physical properties of objects and the materials that comprise them;
• exploring how materials and objects respond to and apply forces;
• understanding what happens when a moving object impacts a still object;
• understanding the difference between dynamic and static situations;
• identifying the forces at play in large-scale structures;
• exploring how structural shapes and materials affect stability;
• exploring how to use prediction and testing as a learning tool; and
• examining how to assess learning in an ongoing manner.