Physics Goes to the Front of Science Class ; More Schools Introduce Students to It Before Biology or

Mar 19, 03:30 PM

Current Headlines: By LESLIE BRODY, STAFF WRITER

A small but growing number of high schools now make all ninth- graders tackle physics, a subject once dreaded as the inscrutable province of the math whizzes.

Boosters of teaching "Physics First" before chemistry and biology see this new sequence as a crucial step toward helping American students overcome their woeful performance on international measures of math and science skills. They see nothing less at stake than America's ability to compete in an increasingly high-tech world.

And today's physics courses, they add, don't deserve the bad rap of the past.

Just check out a class at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, which last year began requiring all freshmen to take physics, despite some skeptical parents' fears it would be too hard.

On a recent morning, ninth-graders were scattered at 15 different experiments around a sunny lab, making all kinds of noise to start off a unit on sound waves. While one boy strummed a guitar, three girls held tuning forks against a white board to see it move in sympathetic vibrations. Five girls made flutes out of plastic straws and listened to how the pitch changed as they cut the straws smaller, shortening the sound waves.

"This is so awesome!" 14-year-old Yadavan Mahendraraj said as he watched a tuning fork shiver under a strobe light. "It's really cool. I love this."

Applies to daily life

Such playful, hands-on experiments aim to spark students' interest in figuring out why the laws of physics work. They said they liked learning why it's safer to be in a parked car than outside during a lightning storm, why a volleyball bounces off their hands and why Ella Fitzgerald's beautiful singing voice could break glass.

"You get to see how everything applies to your real life," said Kayleigh Kobovitch, 15.

Supporters of Physics First hope for just such a reaction - the "aha" moments when students connect their class lessons with their own lives, and become motivated to decipher the deeper math involved.

Supporters say physics should be the first of the "big three" sciences taught because it's the most fundamental. Modern biology, with its focus on the chemical functions of molecules, requires a background in chemistry, they say. And a true grasp of chemistry requires physics' explanations of energy.

The American Association of Physics Teachers endorses Physics First as a way to expose their favorite subject to more students. Now, 33 percent of American seniors take physics before graduation, up from 20 percent in 1987.

Shortage of teachers

Physics First faces big hurdles, however. It requires more certified physics teachers, but schools already face a shortage of math and science faculty. High-paying industry jobs often lure physics teachers away.

Teaching physics to ninth-graders also requires new textbooks, lab tools and making introductory courses more conceptual, using math that freshmen can handle. Some physics teachers accustomed to teaching high-achieving juniors and seniors don't want to deal with squirmy younger teens.

Private, college-preparatory schools and wealthy suburban schools have been in the forefront of switching to Physics First, said Michael Neuschatz, senior research associate at the American Institute of Physics. They tend to have more resources for training teachers during the difficult transition.

State applauds effort

At Northern Highlands, science supervisor Gary Trotter says Physics First has been a boon. Freshmen are divided by math ability into three levels for physics - general, college prep and honors. He said it was gratifying to see students who traditionally wouldn't have taken physics get a taste - and sometimes get hooked.

Only 14 percent of New Jersey high schools require physics, but state education and business leaders want all students to take it. Many applaud Physics First.

"The arguments for Physics First are very compelling," said Jay Doolan, an acting assistant commissioner at the state Education Department. "Physics provides the groundwork for a lot of other sciences and math."

Bob Goodman, who teaches Physics First at Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, says his students prove it boosts achievement.

A mix of students drawn to vocational programs, they are not exceptionally strong in math.

After taking an algebra-based physics course, then chemistry and biology, they went on to take Advanced Placement science exams at 4.5 times the rate of students statewide and passed them at 4.5 times the state's passing rate. More students took extra science.

Students who took a second year of AP physics fared even better than peers abroad, he said. "With so much being written about America being unable to compete in the sciences, this is a good solution," he said. "These are regular kids performing at or above international standards."

For more information:

aapt.org/policy/physicsfirst.cfm

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E-mail: brody@northjersey.com

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