Revised Nuffield Physics Year 4

The authors of Revised Nuffield Physics Year 4 used the imagery of a journey to explain how the year’s work fitted into the course as a whole. From this point of view, in years 1 and 2 the students took a journey in a bus across some of the foreign countryside of physics: making acquaintance with things seen from the window, exploring a town here and there in a carefree way, and learning, unconsciously, some of the vocabulary of the inhabitants. In year 3, the students were making a more serious journey to visit a foreign family and learn how people live, to develop a vocabulary of phrases as well as words - but still rather a visit to explore and make acquaintance than an expedition for serious study. Next, on their journey in year 4, the students were expected to do much more; they should read the timetables, plan with maps, and look forward to reading the literature of the land they visit with sufficient care and appreciation to gain a sense of knowledge.

In year 4 the plan was to probe more deeply into scientific explanations. The aim was to provide intellectual satisfaction for young learners through an experimental study, in some depth, of topics such as Newton’s laws of motion and the kinetic theory model of gases.