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Kinematics is the study of motion and its study caused the creation the discipline of physics in the 1600s (Tipler, 1999, p. 19). Kinematics generally covers motion in one, two or three dimensions, including the concepts of position, displacement, velocity and acceleration and normally also includes work with vectors and interpreting graphs. This topic is usually the first that students encounter in physics.

The symbol convention used in this chapter is as follows:

s= displacement or distance,

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

(a) Junior Curricula

(b) Senior Curricula

Figure 4.1: Summary of the junior and senior curricula for the states and territories of Australia. Common topics are contained in the central square; the remaining topics are in the ovals.

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

v = final velocity,

t= time,

a= acceleration,

∆= an interval.

The consideration when designing a resource for Year 11 students is: ‘where are the students coming from?’. The answer to this is in the knowledge students are expected to have when they finish Year 10. The second question is: ‘where do the students need to be?’. The answer is the knowledge students need to have gained by the end of Year 12. In the following two sections these questions are addressed.

4.2.1.1 Year 10 knowledge

Investigating the eight junior curricula for the states and territories, it was found that each contained a varying level of detail.

The Northern Territory and ACT curricula talk only about motion in terms of it being caused by a force (Department of Education, Employment and Training, Northern Territory Government, 2008; Curriculum Renewal Taskforce, 2008).

The Victorian curriculum is also quite vague on the topic, talking again in terms of forces. It does, however, mention describing formal relationships between force, mass, acceleration and velocity using quantitative data, and suggests applying these

relationships to examples from transport, sport and recreation. An example experiment is described, where students use a ticker timer to produce a graph of motion for a trolley rolling down an incline (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2002).

The South Australian curriculum mentions applying “quantitative relationships between forces, energy and energy transfer in order to explore the properties of the physical world”. A suggested activity is for students to describe the operation of a bicycle in terms of properties such as acceleration (Government of South Australia, 2001).

The Queensland curriculum is more definite about what the students should be taught. One learning outcome is that “students scientific ideas of motion (including action and reaction) to explain everyday experiences”. The core content specifically mentions speed, velocity and acceleration but in terms of forces causing motion (Queensland School Curriculum Council, 1999).

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

The Western Australian Curriculum puts motion into an ‘extension’ section, and again refers to it in terms of forces. The students need to know the definition, and units, of velocity and acceleration, and be able to do calculations involving the expressions

v =s/tanda= (v−u)/t(Department of Education and Training, Government of

Western Australia, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c).

Under the NSW curriculum students are expected to be able to “explain qualitatively the relationship between distance, speed and time”. As an extension students should know the difference between speed and velocity and be able to use the equations of motion involving time, velocity and acceleration quantitatively (Board of Studies NSW, 2003).

The Tasmanian curriculum is the most comprehensive, with the overall aim of the relevant section being for students to be able to “work with established scientific laws and theories to predict the behaviour of objects (e.g. equations of motion) including quantitative calculations” (Department of Education, Tasmania, 2007).

4.2.1.2 Summary – the starting point

It can be seen that there is range in the depth of coverage of kinematics required by each state and territory. The Northern Territory and ACT barely mention motion, except in terms of forces. Victoria suggests a learning activity where students produce a “graph of motion” from a ticker-tape experiment. South Australia is also quite vague, requiring students to “investigate and experience a wide range of physical phenomena relating to . . . motion” and gives a suggested example of riding a bike.

The Queensland curriculum has a topic of “speed, velocity, acceleration” but gives no further details. Western Australia mainly deals in forces but as an extension students can go into detail on velocity and acceleration and also use some basic equations of motion. Similarly with NSW, the core content consists of qualitatively treating speed, distance and time, but as an extension the students can cover the equations of motion. Tasmania seems by far the most advanced: the students are expected to use more advanced equations of motion to predict the behaviour of objects. The situations also include negative acceleration and motion under gravity. The curriculum suggests experiments with ticker timers and motion detectors.

Thus, looking at all the curricula, the likely minimum position of students finishing Year 10 is that they would know about:

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

• distance,

• acceleration,

• and be able to use the equationsv =s/t, a = (v−u)/t.

4.2.1.3 Year 12 knowledge

The Year 12 curricula contain rather more detail than those for Year 10. The topics covered under kinematics, however, are broadly the same among the states and

territories. Sentiments from the Queensland curriculum form a useful guiding principle (Queensland Government; Queensland Studies Authority, 2007):

Motion is common to most of our everyday experiences. This is formalised mathematically in kinematics, which is the study of how objects move. Students should be reminded that the types of motion are highly idealised and may seem to have little to do with the real world as we observe it. However, it is essential that students first investigate these simple and

idealised motions and their descriptions to obtain a firm understanding of the basis of kinematics. Once this goal has been achieved, they are in a position to apply their knowledge to the more complex real-world situations, and study phenomena in the quantum realm, which is outside our everyday experiences.

The Northern Territory follows the South Australian curriculum for the senior years. This curriculum requires students to know about motion in one and two dimensions in Year 11, and projectile motion in Year 12. The key ideas listed for projectile motion include: vertical and horizontal components of velocity; time of flight, range and maximum height; and the effect of air resistance. The suggested application for projectiles is sport (Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, 2008).

In the ACT all physics students are required to learn about motion, including using graphs and relevant experimental equipment. It suggests that non-linear motion such as projectile motion may be included (BSSS Australian Captial Territory, 2005).

The Victorian curriculum mentions very similar topics to the ACT, including being able to analyse motion “graphically, numerically and algebraically” including projectile motion and experimental data (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2004). The Queensland curriculum again talks about using experimental data and graphs to understand motion, but also mentions using vectors. It lists the equations of motion and

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

includes projectile motion (Queensland Government; Queensland Studies Authority, 2007).

The Tasmanian, Western Australian and NSW senior curricula are virtually identical in the area of motion and go into some detail on the matter. The Tasmanian curriculum requires students to know about displacement and distance, speed and average velocity

and acceleration. Students should be able to constructs−t,v−tanda−tgraphs and

be able to obtain information from the area under the graphs and the gradients. Motion under gravity is also mentioned in the context of constant acceleration problems, including terminal speed and projectile motion (Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board, 2004).

The extra component mentioned by the Western Australian curriculum is that students are expected to be able to work with one and two dimensional vectors (Curriculum Council, Government of Western Australia, 2008a, 2008b). The NSW curriculum wants students to also be able to: distinguish between scalar and vector quantities in equations; be able to plan and chose equipment for experiments in motion; and describe relative motion (Board of Studies NSW, 2007).

4.2.1.4 Summary – the finishing point

The following common requirements of the Year 12 curricula are apparent. Since there is very little detail in the Victorian and ACT curricula, it is assumed that they would cover these topics:

• knowledge of displacement vs distance,

• knowledge of speed vs velocity,

• average speed and velocity: speed=distance/time (average),

velocity=displacement/time (average),

• knowledge of acceleration and how to calculate it: a= (v−u)/t,

• determination of the preceding quantities from graphs and/or experimental data,

• uniformly accelerated motion including motion under gravity:

s= 1/2(u+v)t, s=ut+ 1/2at2_{, s= (v}2_+u2_)/2a,

• projectile motion,

4.2. What areas of the state and territory curricula are relevant? Chapter 4. Results

– time of flight, range, maximum height.