As the title suggests this unit is about physics during a twenty-four hour period of any given day. The students this curriculum unit is presented to will discover and identify the many areas of physics and science they experience in an average day. This unit will be developed for middle school students but could easily be modified to be presented to all students of ages and grades. It should take an entire marking period to fully develop. Each part of the 24-hour day will be given to a group of students to investigate and explore, hypothesize and predict, test and retest. Other areas of science such as earth, and life, will be integrated in as well as other areas of the curriculum like reading, math, and art.
I got the idea for this unit from the hit TV series "24" in which entire season of shows actually occurs in exactly 24 hours. Each show is exactly one (1) hour long and it's full of action, excitement, questions, mystery, and suspense.
You see, in the television series "24" everything that could possibly go wrong, shock you, have you on the edge of your seat with your mouth gaping, happened and much more. Your attempts to guess what's going to logically happen next, usually fail. It will be the same way with this adventure you will take your students on.
(Developed for Science, grades 7-8; recommended for Science, grades 5-8)
