Senior Physics – ACT, QLD & WA (Australian Curriculum)
The current state syllabus in the ACT, QLD and WA is a direct copy of the Australian Curriculum, although sometimes taught in different orders.
These are example schedules to demonstrate the content of the meriSTEM online course and how it maps to your curriculum.
Unit 1
| meriSTEM Module | Sub-topic | Australian Curriculum Physics Science Understandings |
|---|---|---|
| Science Skills | Welcome to meriSTEM | |
| Units | ||
| Measurement | ||
| Significant figures | ||
| Graphs | ||
| Interpreting data | ||
| Scaling and Estimates | ||
| Formulae, algebra, vectors & scalars | ||
| Thermal physics | 1. Temperature | 9, 14, 17, 18, 19 |
| 2. Heat | 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 151, 152, 153 | |
| 3. Heat Transport | 16, 21, 22 | |
| 4. Kinetic Theory | 39, 60 | |
| 5. Using Energy | 22, 23, 24, 25 | |
| Nuclear Physics | 1. Nuclear composition | 26, (Chemistry 21) |
| 2. Nuclear stability | 26, 27, (Chemistry 22) | |
| 3. Unstable nuclei and decay processes | 26, 27, (Chemistry 22) | |
| 4. Nuclear halflives | 29 | |
| 5. Nuclear energies and masses | 31, (Chemistry 24, 39) | |
| 6. Nuclear reactions | 31, 33 | |
| 7. Nuclear power | 33, 34 | |
| 8. Binding energy | 35, 36 | |
| 9. Ionising radiation | 27, 28, 30 | |
| Electrical physics | 1. What are circuits? | 37 |
| 2. Charge and current | 38 | |
| 3. Energy in a circuit | 39 | |
| 4. Voltage and current | 40 | |
| 5. Power | 42 | |
| 6. Resistance and Ohm’s Law | 43 | |
| 7. Circuit analysis | 44 |
Unit 2
| meriSTEM Module | Sub-topic | Australian Curriculum Physics Science Understandings |
|---|---|---|
| Science Skills | Welcome to meriSTEM | |
| Units | ||
| Measurement | ||
| Significant figures | ||
| Graphs | ||
| Interpreting data | ||
| Scaling and Estimates | ||
| Formulae, algebra, vectors & scalars | ||
| Mechanics | 1. Motion | |
| 2. Forces | 53, 54, 61, 62, 63 | |
| 3. Momentum | 54, 63, 64 | |
| 4. Energy and work | 63, 65, 66 | |
| Waves and Optics | 1. Introduction to waves | 67, 68, 69, 70 |
| 2. Characteristics of waves | 67, 68, 69, 70 | |
| 3. Transport in waves | 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 | |
| 4. Sound waves | 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 | |
| 5. Applying our understandings of waves | 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 | |
| 6. Experimenting with pipes | 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 | |
| 7. Resonance | 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 | |
| 8. Refraction | 73, 76 | |
| 9. Light | 74, 77 | |
| 10. Mirrors and lenses | 74, 77 | |
| 11. Optics | 75, 76 |
Unit 3
| meriSTEM Module | Sub-topic | Australian Curriculum Physics Science Understandings |
|---|---|---|
| Gravity and Motion | 1.Introduction | 87 |
| 2. Gravity in space and Earth | 87, 93, 94, 95, 98 | |
| 3. Projectile motion | 99 | |
| 4. Uniform circular motion | 100, 101 | |
| 5. Fields and energy | 96, 97 | |
| 6. Space, old and new | 101 | |
| Electromagnetism | 1. Introduction | 103 |
| 2. Electric fields | 102, 103, 104 | |
| 3. Coulomb’s law | 102, 105 | |
| 4. Magnetism | 106 | |
| 5. Magnetic fields | 106 | |
| 6. Magnetic forces | 109,110 | |
| 7. Induction | 108,109,110,111 | |
| 8. Electromagnetic waves | 112,113 |
Unit 4
| meriSTEM Module | Sub-topic | Australian Curriculum Physics Science Understandings |
|---|---|---|
| Special Relativity | 1. Galilean relativity | ACSPH123, 129 |
| 4. The postulates of special relativity | (ACSPH130, 131) | |
| 5. Time dilation | (ACSPH132) | |
| 6. Relativity of simultaneity | (ACSPH132) | |
| 7. Length contraction | (ACSPH132) | |
| 8. Concluding remarks | (ACSPH132) | |
| 9. Paradoxes: Muons | (ACSPH129, 130) | |
| 10. Paradoxes: Bell’s spaceships | (ACSPH130) | |
| 11. Paradoxes: The relativistic limo | (ACSPH132) | |
| 12. Relativistic momentum | (ACSPH129, 133, 134) | |
| 13. Lorentz transformations derivation | (Extension) | |
| 14. Fundamental effects from the Lorentz transformations | (Extension) | |
| 15. Lorentz transformations: the invariant interval | (Extension) | |
| Quantum Mechanics | 1. Double slit experiment | (ACSPH135, 140) |
| 2. Origins of quantum mechanics | (ACSPH136, 137) | |
| 3. Atoms and atomic spectra | (ACSPH123, 135, 138, 139) | |
| 4. Quantum mechanics describes everything | (ACSPH137, 139, 140) | |
| The Standard Model | 1. Particles | (ACSPH141, 144) |
| 2. Reactions | (ACSPH142, 143, 145) | |
| 3. Modern particle physics | (ACSPH146, 147) |