Unit Plan Outline
Physics 310 -- Readings for High School Physics
Physics Teacher Education Program
Illinois State University
Carl J. Wenning, Director
Spring Semester 2000
In PHY 311 -- Teaching High School Physics -- you will be required to complete an extensive unit plan dealing wish some aspect of physics teaching at the high school level. You'll get a head start on this unit plan by preparing a Unit Plan Outline. This outline is not intended to be exhaustive. It will merely provide you with the basis for future work.
Follow these steps as you prepare your Unit Plan Outline:
1. Review the Illinois Content Standards, including the Core
Standards for All Science Teachers, and the Physics Specialization
Standards.
2. Select a topic from the Physics Specialization Standards that
will serve as the basis for your unit plan (realizing, of course,
that these content standards are really for the preparation of
future physics teachers in particular, and not the students they
intend to teach).
3. Prepare a chronological outline for the content you plan to
teach, including knowledge, skills, and dispositions. See the
following URL for examples of the lesson plans you ultimately
will be required to teach. Keep in mind that recent versions of
these unit plans have been scaled back from the earlier editions
that you will find on the website. http://www.phy.ilstu.edu/~wenning/ptefiles/unitplans.html
4. Incorporate in your outline a section that deals with process
skills and dispositions that you intend to teach as your students
move toward scientific literacy.
5. Add a list of known preconceptions that relate to your unit
plan subject matter. Be certain to cite references.
6. Explain carefully how your unit plan subject matter will align
with the Illinois Learning Standards. Be very specific, "quoting
chapter and verse."