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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — There's a physics revolution in the works at North High School in Wichita, and science teacher Hannah Kelderman couldn't be happier.
In the past, physics - the branch of science that deals with properties of matter and energy - was for "those kids," Kelderman says, and she makes the air quotes with her fingers.
The math and science nerds, the young Einsteins, the Sheldon Cooper types who already know the difference between Bernoulli's principle and Pascal's law, The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1pvdW55 ) reported.
Only about 36 percent of North High students enroll in physics, a rate that reflects the national average among public high school students and is slightly above the Wichita district average. Most students take biology and chemistry and then a random elective such as anatomy, zoology or environmental science to complete the three units of science required for graduation.
Compare that to more than 95 percent of students in the nation's private high schools who take physics before graduation.
"We looked at that and said, 'Why?'" said Kelderman, co-chair of the science department at North. "In other schools, in other countries, it's just a given that students are required to take biology, chemistry and physics. . Physics is crucial to your understanding of science, of problem-solving. About 70 percent of STEM careers require a prerequisite of physics.
"So why not here?"
And why not now?
Next year, with the blessing of principal Sherman Padgett, North High aims to have at least 80 percent of juniors enrolled in either regular, honors or Advanced Placement physics, more than doubling the number of students who will have at least some exposure to the principles of motion, energy, heat, light, electricity and sound.
"Physics is like magic," said Ryan Owen, a physics teacher at North. "It explains the world around you.
"You know from life experience that you drop something and it falls, but we don't understand the 'why' of how these things work. . Part of being educated is understanding why things happen."
Kelderman, a North High graduate, says the physics push was inspired in part by the district's transition to the Common Core state standards, which emphasize critical thinking and problem solving.
Traditionally in Wichita, physics has been seen as an upper-level science that requires advanced math skills, such as pre-calculus and trigonometry.
"That has greatly deterred a lot of our kids from doing it," Kelderman said.
"But when you look at the standards themselves, it doesn't say you need to have that pre-calc or calc understanding. There's no reason we couldn't just require all our students to take physics. . They're all capable of being successful."
Still, physics will be a leap for many students, particularly those who struggle in math. Kelderman and her colleagues plan to address that by increasing the number of labs and other hands-on activities "to connect physics concepts to their everyday world."
Owen's students, for example, host a cardboard boat regatta each year. They spend a week or more designing and building cardboard boats, then test them by racing against one another in the school's swimming pool.
A $3,000 grant from Westar Energy will allow the school to buy additional lab equipment, including marble launchers to test the principles of projectile motion and tracks with specially designed cars that measure acceleration.
"It's not going to be a requirement" to take physics, said Padgett, the principal. "But it's going to be the expectation in this school: Your three (science) credits start with biology, chemistry and physics.
"We've been talking to the kids for a couple years now, since they were freshmen, so they know the deal."
Kylie Dominick, a North High junior, enrolled in AP Physics I this year because she likes science and plans to pursue a career in the medical industry. During a recent lab in Owen's classroom, her lab group tested Newton's second law of motion by adding and subtracting weights on cars and moving them along metal tracks.
"It's really interesting because you learn a lot of different things you never thought about before," Dominick said. "It's completely new, so that makes it interesting."
Anderson Tatum agreed as he jotted measurements in the team's lab journal.
"There's just a fun element about it because everything is moving and you can test things, as opposed to biology and chemistry, where you can't test everything," he said. "In physics, you actually make it happen."
Kelderman said making physics happen for more students at North will mean reversing a long-held perception that "it's just too hard," or it's only for the very brightest students.
"What we're hoping for, I think, is for kids to say, 'Wow, I've always heard that physics is for those kids, but I can do it.' It's like a badge of honor, and our kids are ready for it."
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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com
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