Lesson plans

Lesson plans can be accessed from the cream-colored wrap-around on each page of the digital Teacher's Edition. These fully editable lesson plans cover 100% of the core content of the program and are coordinated to the slides, student assignments, interactive simulations, and interactive equations. All of the investigations found throughout the textbook have associated lessons.

Lessons by chapter

The following is a list of all lessons in the Essential Physics textbook, broken down by chapter. Note that these lessons do not correspond exactly with the division of chapters into sections.

Unit 1: Science and Physics

Chapter 1: Science of Physics
- Lesson 1: The science of physics
- Lesson 2: Waves, electricity, light, and the atom
- Lesson 3: Scientific inquiry
- Lesson 4: Technology and digital images
- Lesson 5: Science and your career
- Lesson 6: Solar power
Chapter 2: Physical Quantities and Measurement
- Lesson 1: Length, mass, and time
- Lesson 2: Measurement
- Lesson 3: Graphing data
- Lesson 4: Problem solving

Unit 2: Force and Motion

Chapter 3: Position and Velocity
- Lesson 1: Position and displacement
- Lesson 2: Vectors
- Lesson 3: Speed and velocity
- Lesson 4: Working with equations for speed and velocity
- Lesson 5: Motion graphs
- Lesson 6: Frames of reference
- Lesson 7: Solving harder physics problems
Chapter 4: Acceleration
- Lesson 1: Acceleration
- Lesson 2: Acceleration on a ramp
- Lesson 3: Models of accelerated motion
- Lesson 4: Gravity and free fall
Chapter 5: Forces and Newton's Laws
- Lesson 1: Force and weight
- Lesson 2: Free-body diagrams
- Lesson 3: Newton's first law
- Lesson 4: Newton's second law
- Lesson 5: Newton's third law
- Lesson 6: Hooke's law
- Lesson 7: Friction

Unit 3: Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Chapter 6: Motion in Two and Three Dimensions
- Lesson 1: Vector components and motion
- Lesson 2: Vector navigation
- Lesson 3: Projectile motion
- Lesson 4: Motion on an inclined plane
Chapter 7: Circular Motion
- Lesson 1: Circular motion
- Lesson 2: Centripetal force
- Lesson 3: Gravitation
- Lesson 4: Orbits
- Lesson 5: Kepler's laws and the planets
Chapter 8: Static Equilibrium and Torque
- Lesson 1: Equilibrium
- Lesson 2: Torque
- Lesson 3: Static equilibrium
- Lesson 4: Structures

Unit 4: Energy and Momentum

Chapter 9: Work and Energy
- Lesson 1: Forms of energy
- Lesson 2: Work
- Lesson 3: Kinetic energy
- Lesson 4: Gravitational potential energy
- Lesson 5: Elastic potential energy
- Lesson 6: Work and the force versus distance graph
- Lesson 7: Power
- Lesson 8: Light and power
- Lesson 9: Energy in nature and technology
Chapter 10: Conservation of Energy
- Lesson 1: Systems and energy
- Lesson 2: Conservation of energy
- Lesson 3: Applying conservation of energy
- Lesson 4: The work-energy theorem
- Lesson 5: Energy transformations
- Lesson 6: Friction and losses
Chapter 11: Momentum and Collisions
- Lesson 1: Momentum
- Lesson 2: Impulse
- Lesson 3: Design a crash barrier
- Lesson 4: Conservation of momentum
- Lesson 5: Collisions
- Lesson 6: Elastic collisions
Chapter 12: Machines
- Lesson 1: The lever
- Lesson 2: Pulleys, wheels, and gears
- Lesson 3: Inclined planes
- Lesson 4: Wind power
Chapter 13: Angular Momentum
- Lesson 1: Rotational inertia
- Lesson 2: Angular momentum
- Lesson 3: Center of mass
- Lesson 4: Rotational energy

Unit 5: Waves and Sound

Chapter 14: Harmonic Motion
- Lesson 1: The frequency and period of an oscillator
- Lesson 2: Oscillators
- Lesson 3: Resonance
Chapter 15: Waves
- Lesson 1: Waves
- Lesson 2: Wave interactions
- Lesson 3: Interference
- Lesson 4: Resonance and standing waves
Chapter 16: Sound
- Lesson 1: Sound waves
- Lesson 2: The speed of sound and the Doppler effect
- Lesson 3: The frequency spectrum
- Lesson 4: Interference and beats
- Lesson 5: Resonance and sound
- Lesson 6: Musical sound

Unit 6: Electricity and Magnetism

Chapter 17: Electricity and Circuits
- Lesson 1: Electricity and circuits
- Lesson 2: Voltage and batteries
- Lesson 3: Design a lemon battery
- Lesson 4: Resistance and Ohm's law
- Lesson 5: Series and parallel resistances
- Lesson 6: Kirchhoff's laws
- Lesson 7: Electrical power
- Lesson 8: Compound circuits
Chapter 18: Electric and Magnetic Fields
- Lesson 1: Magnets
- Lesson 2: Magnetic fields
- Lesson 3: Static electricity
- Lesson 4: Coulomb's law
- Lesson 5: Electric fields
Chapter 19: Electromagnetism
- Lesson 1: Electromagnets
- Lesson 2: Electric motors
- Lesson 3: Design a Rube Goldberg device
- Lesson 4: Induction and the generator
- Lesson 5: Build a paper clip motor

Unit 7: Light and Optics

Chapter 20: Light and Reflection
- Lesson 1: Properties of light
- Lesson 2: Design a pinhole camera
- Lesson 3: Optical devices
- Lesson 4: Reflection
Chapter 21: Refraction and Lenses
- Lesson 1: Refraction of light
- Lesson 2: Snell's law and the critical angle
- Lesson 3: Real and virtual images
- Lesson 4: Ray tracing for lenses
- Lesson 5: Thin lens formula
- Lesson 6: Compound optics
- Lesson 7: Human vision and its correction
Chapter 22: Electromagnetic Radiation
- Lesson 1: Light, color, and frequency
- Lesson 2: Dispersion and the speed of light
- Lesson 3: Electromagnetic spectrum
- Lesson 4: Wave properties of light
- Lesson 5: Dual nature of light

Unit 8: Matter and Atoms

Chapter 23: Properties of Matter
- Lesson 1: Temperature
- Lesson 2: The phases of matter
- Lesson 3: Heat
- Lesson 4: Pressure and the ideal gas law
Chapter 24: Heat Transfer
- Lesson 1: Heat transfer
- Lesson 2: Combining processes of heat transfer
Chapter 25: Thermodynamics
- Lesson 1: Thermal equilibrium and energy conservation
- Lesson 2: Entropy and absolute zero
- Lesson 3: Heat engines and PV diagrams
- Lesson 4: Adiabatic processes and refrigeration
Chapter 26: Quantum Physics and the Atom
- Lesson 1: Atomic model of matter
- Lesson 2: The atomic nucleus and the strong force
- Lesson 3: Energy levels of the atom
- Lesson 4: Emission and absorption lines of hydrogen
- Lesson 5: Identifying elements by their spectra
- Lesson 6: Design an infrared pulse monitor
Chapter 27: Nuclear Physics
- Lesson 1: Strong nuclear force
- Lesson 2: Mass-energy equivalence
- Lesson 3: Radioactive decay
- Lesson 4: Fission and fusion
- Lesson 5: Nuclear power
- Lesson 6: Applications of nuclear physics