| CIPS has five units. The course is hierarchical, with both topics and skills
developed in a structured progression.
Because scientists believe that their observations can be explained in terms of
interactions between objects and the energy descriptions of those interactions,
the CIPS course is organized around the powerful themes of interactions and
energy.
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 UNIT
1: Foundations
The
first unit introduces students to scientific experiments, and to the
concepts of interactions and properties.
In activities involving pendulums
and magnets, students learn how to carry out experiments, determine
whether an experiment is well designed, and judge whether
an experimental conclusion is logical and well reasoned.
To introduce the idea of interactions,
the first unit gives students opportunities to investigate four types
of interactions:
- magnetic,
- electric charge,
- electric circuit,
and
- electromagnetic
In the process of learning about
these interactions, students construct and analyze motors and electromagnets.
Later in this unit, students
learn about the importance of measurement in science, methods of
measuring volume, mass and density, and characteristic
properties.
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 UNIT
2: Interactions
and Energy
The second unit explores energy descriptions of interactions. Waves of
various types are investigated - mechanical, water, sound and earthquake
waves - and then students learn about the four types of mechanical interactions:
- applied
- elastic
- drag
- friction
and they conduct experiments to examine variables that affect the
interactions. They also learn how to write and evaluate analyses
and explanations.
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 UNIT
3: Interactions and Forces
In
this unit, students learn how to describe mechanical interactions in
terms of forces, and develop ideas that lead to Newton's First and
Second Laws of Motion. The unit employs appealing contexts such as skateboarding,
bike riding, and playing soccer to discuss these ideas.
Then students
learn about gravitational interactions and circular motion. They end
the unit by explaining phenomena like satellite orbits and terminal
speed.
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 UNIT
4: Interactions and Conservation Throughout the second and third units, students learn about energy
transfers between objects, and the idea that energy can change
from one form to another.
In the fourth unit, students first learn
about the idea of conservation in the contexts of mass and volume. Then, after examining
interactions that involve heat transfer,
they extend the conservation idea to energy.
The unit begins with an
introduction to mass and volume as measures of the "amount of
stuff." Then students investigate several types of interactions to
see if mass and volume are conserved.
Next, students investigate
thermal and infrared radiation interactions, both of which involve
heat transfer, and study phase changes (such as water freezing to
become ice). Knowledge of heat energy exchange gives students
the final tool they need to examine the idea of energy conservation.
Students end the unit by applying conservation ideas to concepts
like energy efficiency. .
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 UNIT
5: Interactions of Materials
Students begin the final unit by describing and classifying materials, and
then becoming familiar with the classification scheme of chemists and the
periodic table.
Then they learn about the Small Particle Theory of matter,
which students use to explain:
- the properties of gases, liquids, and solids;
-
the phenomena of air pressure and dissolving; and
- the classification of
materials as elements and compounds.
The importance of models, which
was introduced implicitly in earlier units, is revisited and made explicit
in relation to Small Particle Theory.
Finally, students experiment with
chemical interactions that produce new substances, and build physical
models of the reactants and products in these interactions.
View sample
activities
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