Our modern physics curriculum organizes learning around phenomena by engaging students with authentic, real-world experiences. Hands-on and digital activities connect to and excite each learner.
Transform your classroom into a place of curiosity and discovery as students learn physics by doing physics.
Experience Physics® integrates phenomenon-based learning for deeper student engagement.
A variety of resources and strategies are provided to promote key math skills for physics.
Save time and effort with exclusive, ready-to-use lab kits from our Flinn partnership.
Experience Physics® delivers dynamic, hands-on resources to engage all students.
Discover how Experience Physics® creates a class environment and structure that helps every student succeed.
Experience Physics author Dr. Christopher Moore discusses the physical principles at work in this extended video.
Geraldine Cochran Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University, and she is a physics education researcher.
Christopher Moore, Ph.D. is the Haddix Community Chair of Physical Science and professor of physics at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO).
Jason Sterlace is a former high school physics and chemistry teacher from Virginia who is currently employed at James Madison University, where he is both the Physics Coordinator for the Learning Center, and an Instructor for the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D. is the Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
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Get InspiredWhat is Experience Physics and what are its components?
Experience Physics® is a next generation high school physics program that puts the focus on the student experience. This modern program implements a learning model that organizes learning around phenomena giving students an authentic, real-world experience. Experience Physics includes a variety of hands-on and digital activities designed to reach every learner. Students complete hands-on inquiry labs, virtual labs, simulations, data analysis, claim-evidence reasoning exercises and more on their sensemaking journey. An assessment package with formative, summative, performance-based assessments provide opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding three dimensionally. Instructors have access to a robust support package with print and digital resources designed to streamline classroom management.
Take an Interactive Tour of Experience Physics.
The program components include:
Experience Physics digital courseware on Savvas Realize® includes robust digital tools that give teachers flexibility to use a digital, print, or blended format in their classrooms. Teachers can customize the program to rearrange content, upload their own content, add links to online media, and edit resources and assessments. Program-specific resources, flexible agnostic resources, and assessments are available in one location for easy lesson planning and presentation.
Teacher Guide - Available in digital and print, the Teacher Guide provides robust lesson planners based on the 5E learning model, explicit directions and explanations for introducing phenomena, instructional strategies support students as they make sense of the phenomena, and classroom modifications to adjust instruction based on the diverse student needs, skills, and interests in their classroom.
Student Handbook - Experience Physics® transforms the traditional textbook into a modern interactive handbook that students will actually use. With Experience Physics, students DO physics first, by interacting with phenomena and completing hands-on and virtual inquiry activities. Then students complete readings, formative assessments, and math practice in their Student Experience Handbook.
Student Math Skills Workbook - This student worktext, available in digital and print, includes four pages of practice for every learning experience. This resource reinforces physics content knowledge and three dimensional learning with visual summaries of the main ideas and interactive prompts that support problem solving skills.
Flinn Scientific Lab Kits - Flinn Scientific is our partner for the Experience Physics curriculums. Optional lab kits are available for each program. Every Flinn Scientific kit supports a classroom of approximately 30 students. Refill kits are also available.
The Experience Physics curriculum is organized around phenomena. The program drives student learning through a series of hands-on and virtual student experiences that support their understanding of the phenomenon under study. Students directly engage with different examples of phenomena that relate to authentic real-world scenarios.
Every Storyline (the unit of instruction) launches inquiry with an Anchoring Phenomenon video and demonstration. This real-world science phenomenon sparks curiosity as students make observations and ask questions while giving students a purpose as they engage in activities to make sense of this phenomenon and connect physics concepts through a unifying unique occurrence. Throughout the Storyline, students revisit the anchoring phenomenon question and discuss the real-world impact of the problem as they propose solutions. By the end of the storyline, students are able to explain the anchoring phenomenon.
A real-world Investigative Phenomenon video and demonstration launches every Investigation (chapter level organization). Students again ask questions, make observations, and track their understanding of the phenomenon in Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) or Modeling exercises. At the end of each Experience students revisit their CER worksheet in a sense-making exercise to review, revise or add to their explanation of how the phenomenon occurs – thus building understanding over time. At the end of the Investigation, students once again are able to explain the phenomenon under study.
The lessons, called Experiences, are where students encounter everyday phenomena through Flinn Scientific Inquiry Labs, PhET simulations, digital interactivities, videos, teacher demonstrations, modeling activities, data analysis activities, peer review and more. This wide variety of real-world experiences builds student understanding using DCIs, CCCs, and SEPs by interacting with phenomena over time.
The Experience Physics® program includes a variety of resources and instructional strategies that help teachers address the diverse student needs, skills, and interests in their classroom. There are several techniques which are found throughout the different Storylines and Investigations including:
Hands-on Inquiry Labs are available in four different versions, allowing instructors to differentiate based on student needs and abilities and time constraints. The four versions are open-ended, guided, advanced and short.
Assess on the Spot: Quick formative assessments designed to assess understanding of key points in the lab or lesson.
Differentiated Instruction: In the course of the teacher guide narrative, explicit strategies are provided to support struggling students, students with special needs, and advanced students.
Remediation Suggestions can be found at the Evaluate phase of the learning model to help educators troubleshoot student weaknesses.
Teacher Guide margin notes, like Classroom Modifications include ideas for modifying aspects of the classroom or lesson.
WIDA Support addresses the different levels (Speaking/Writing, Entering, Beginning, Developing, Expanding, Bridging) of English Language Development to support students who are acquiring the English language.
Experience It!: provides teacher support to help connect the kinesthetic activity, Experience It, to an important concept in the experience. Math support is provided to assist those students who struggle with the essential mathematical concepts necessary for physics success and include resources like Math Tutorial Videos.
Storyline 1 – Forces in Motion
Investigation 1: Describing Position and Motion (or Modeling Motion)
Experience 1- Displacement and Velocity
Experience 2- Acceleration
Experience 3- Circular and Projectile Motion
Investigation 2: Forces
Experience 1- Force, Mass, and Acceleration
Experience 2- Types of Forces
Experience 3- Forces on Systems
Experience 4- Earth Processes and Forces
Storyline 2 – Forces at a Distance
Investigation 3: Gravitational Forces
Experience 1- Universal Gravitation
Experience 2- Orbital Motion
Experience 3- Kepler’s Laws
Investigation 4: Electric Forces
Experience 1- Coulomb’s Law
Experience 2- Electric Fields
Experience 3- Electric Current
Investigation 5: Magnetic Forces
Experience 1- Magnetism
Experience 2- Magnetic Fields
Experience 3- Inducing Current
Investigation 6: Forces in Materials
Experience 1- Atoms and Atomic Structure
Experience 2- Attractive and Repulsive Forces
Experience 3- Material Properties
Experience 4- Structure and Function
Storyline 3 – Energy Conversion
Investigation 7: Energy
Experience 1- Classifying Energy and Work
Experience 2- Kinetic and Potential Energy
Experience 3- Conservation of Energy
Investigation 8: Collisions
Experience 1- Momentum and Impulse
Experience 2- Conservation of Momentum
Experience 3- Collisions in Earth’s Crust
Investigation 9: Thermal Energy
Experience 1- Temperature
Experience 2- Thermal Equilibrium and Heat Flow
Experience 3- Heat Flow Within Earth
Investigation 10: Electromagnetic Energy
Experience 1- Electric Potential
Experience 2- Energy in Electric Circuits
Experience 3- Power Generation
Experience 4- Energy Resources and Conservation
Storyline 4 – Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation
Investigation 11: Waves
Experience 1- Properties of Waves
Experience 2- Wave Behavior and Energy
Experience 3- Wave Optics
Investigation 12: Electromagnetic Radiation
Experience 1- Electromagnetic Waves and Their Properties
Experience 2- Particle-Wave Duality
Experience 3- EM Radiation and Matter
Investigation 13: Information and Instrumentation
Experience 1- Digital Information
Experience 2- Transmitting and Capturing Information
Experience 3- Transmitting and Capturing Energy
Storyline 5 – From the Nucleus to the Universe
Investigation 14: Nuclear Physics
Experience 1- Nuclear Forces
Experience 2- Nuclear Particles
Experience 3- Fission and Fusion
Investigation 15: Ages of Rocks
Experience 1- Radioactive Decay
Experience 2- Radiometric Dating
Experience 3- Exploring Patterns in the Ages of Rocks
Investigation 16: The Universe
Experience 1- Stars
Experience 2- The Sun
Experience 3- The Big Bang