Nuffield Physics: Year I

Nuffield Physics Year I was planned to be a year of gaining acquaintance with materials and their properties and behaviour, and instruments, and the way in which scientists do things, and just a little of the way in which scientists talk. It was intended as a year of seeing and doing, with very little to be learnt by heart.

The spirit of the approach is captured in this quotation from Teachers’ Guide I: “In looking forward to this Year we should think of the pupil who learns a piece of physics thoroughly, trying his own experiments and watching demonstrations, discussing with the teacher, doing his own thinking. He makes simple knowledge his own, and says: I understand this. That is a proud possession, giving a sense of power, a sense of strong knowledge which can be of lasting value in his education”.

Year I topics 

1. Materials and Molecules

2. Making a Microbalance

3. Rough Measurement

4. Looking for a Law of Levers

5. Investigations of Springs

6. Air Pressure and Molecules

7. Measurement of a Molecule 8. Energy