9-12

I1: Use mathematics to describe the law of conservation of momentum.

Curriculum Organizing Questions	What is momentum? How can it be described mathematically? How is momentum conserved in this problem?
Elaboration	High school students can investigate energy transfer quantitatively by measuring variables ... Laboratory investigations and descriptions of other experiments can help students understand the evidence that leads to the conclusion that energy is conserved. NSES p. 178.
Specific Ideas	The total energy of the Universe is constant.NSES B5a. Energy can be transferred by collisions. NSES B5a.
Developmental & Instructional Implications	The specific topic of conservation of momentum is not covered in the AAS Benchmarks or the NSES Standards. The early introduction of the concept of momentum in qualtitative terms prior to considering forces is an important porposal with considerable support. Although in traditional courses this has been seen as a mathematical motion to be faced by older pupils, many studies suggest that we need to offer the idea of momentum so that pupils can attach to it their own idea that a moving object has something which keeps it going. ... There is a general suggestion that Newtonian ideas about motion become harder to accept as pupils become firmer in their own dynamcis. Introducing momentum before force then allows force to be seen as that which causes a change in momentum, and it prevents the label "force' being attached to the pupils' notion of "something in the object which keeps it moving." Driver p. 161.
Examples

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