NEXUS/Physics > Threads

The NEXUS/Physics course is a reinvention of an introductory physics curriculum for the life sciences that is designed to interact strongly and supportively with the introductory biology and chemistry courses taken by life sciences students, with the goal of helping students build general, multi-discipline scientific competencies.

One way that NEXUS/Physics differs from traditional introductory physics courses is by including  macroscopic, microscopic, and nanoscopic (atomic and molecular) scales and by including the topic of molecular bonding and chemical reactions as part of the topic "energy".

This page includes an instructional "thread" on chemical energy.  These materials have the goal of providing active-engagement activities to help students build a greater coherence around energy concepts in physics, chemistry, and biology. They include:

• Readings -- text describing energy concepts from the macroscopic to the atomic scale described in a coherent way;
• Homework problems -- tasks for out-of-class work for students to complete on their own;
• Peer instruction questions -- clicker questions for encouraging in-class discussion;
• Recitation activities -- guided activities for use in recitation sections with students working together in groups;
• Quiz and exam problems -- problems that can be used for either formative or summative assessment throughout the class.

The motivation, goals, and structure of this particular thread are discussed in greater detail in the papers,

• Chemical energy in an introductory physics course for the life sciences, B. Dreyfus, B. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, & E. Redish (2013)
• Students' reasoning about high energy bonds and ATP: A vision of interdisciplinary education, B. W. Dreyfus, B. D. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, & E. F. Redish, Phys. Rev. ST Physics Education Research 10 (2014) 010115, 15 pages. 
• Ontological metaphors for negative energy in an interdisciplinary context, B. W. Dreyfus, B. D. Geller, J. Gouvea, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, & E. F. Redish, Phys. Rev, ST-PER (2014) in press. 
• Student Views of Macroscopic and Microscopic Energy in Physics and Biology, B. W. Dreyfus, E. F. Redish, and J. Watkins,  Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference, Omaha, NE, August 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1413, 179-182 (2012)
• The Trouble with Chemical Energy: Why Understanding Bond Energies Requires an Interdisciplinary Systems Approach, M. M. Cooper and M. W. Klymkowsky CBE Life Sci Educ (June 3, 2013) 12:306-312; doi:10.1187/cbe.12-10-0170
• Resource Letter TTSM-1: Teaching thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in introductory physics, chemistry, and biology, B.W. Dreyfus*, B.D. Geller* (co-first authors), D.E. Meltzer, and V. Sawtelle, Am. J. Phys. 83, 5-21 (2015); doi: 10.1119/1.4891673 

Two dissertations dealing with this topic have been completed and are available at our website.

• Interdisciplinary reasoning about energy in an introductory physics course for the life sciences, Benjamin Dreyfus, PhD dissertation, University of Maryland (2014).
• Explanatory Coherence in the Context of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Benjamin Geller, PhD dissertation, University of Maryland (2015). 

Readings

The readings cover the topic of energy beginning with a standard discussion of how the concept of energy arises out of the idea of work. In order permit the inclusion of atomic and molecular interactions and energies early, electric forces are introduced at the same time as gravitational forces and energies, early in the course.

• Energy: The Quantity of Motion
• Kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem
• Reading the content in the Work-Energy theorem
• Energy of place -- potential energy
• Gravitational potential energy
• Spring potential energy
• Electric potential energy
• The conservation of mechanical energy
• Interpreting mechanical energy graphs
• Energy at the sub-molecular level
• Atomic and Molecular forces
• Interatomic forces
• Chemical bonding
• Chemical energy 
• The 1st law of thermodynamics

Homework problems:

The out-of-class activities are intended to be done by students out of class working together. These are intended to be challenging problems that require deep thought about the fundamental concepts and a bringing together of concepts learned in biology and chemistry with the physics that is being studied. Solutions are available for those items followed by an asterisk (*). The solutions may be reached by certified instructors by clicking on the asterisk. To get certified for these solutions, contact Joe Redish.

• Energy-Skate Park {*}
• The Water-Coat Potential {*}
• Bound States {*}
• Going to a Deeper Well {*}
• Muscle Contraction {*}
• Thermal to Chemical Energy Transfer
• Bulldog on the Skateboard {*}
• What's Conserved {*}
• The Gauss Gun {*}
• Gauss gun energy bar representation {*} 
• Exothermic reactions: Macroscopic and nanoscopic {*}
• Two atom bound state
• Chemical reaction toy model 
• Chemical bonds 
• Getting energy from ATP 
• Energy in photosynthesis - a toy model {*}
• Energy in photosynthesis - light and dark reactions 
• Capture by photon emission {*}
• The Devil in the dark 
• Boiling hydrogen bonds {*}
• A biologist, a physicist, and a chemist... 
• Burning hydrogen {*} 

Peer Instruction Questions:

These are presented as slides in PowerPoint booklets to allow faculty to easily include them in their lectures. The clicker slides in this booklet are meant to be used as stimuli to encourage class discussion. They are intended for use in a class that attempts to help students develop a coherent and sophisticated understanding of scientific thinking. They are NOT intended as items to test whether students are “right or wrong” or “know” the correct answer by one-step recall if enough cues are given. (The direct links yield the PowerPoint versions some of which contain notes giving suggestions for use. The "pdf" links are PDF files of the slides without the notes.)

• Work and Energy (pdf)

• Atomic interactions and chemical energy (pdf)

Recitation activities

These tasks are intended for small group problem-solving and discussion, and are intended to help students build strong conceptual fundamental understanding of the physics and to make the connection with what they know from biology and chemistry. They are not intended to be collected and graded. They are most effective when students work in groups of 3 to 5 and are given encouragement to think about the questions and bring in their knowledge from biology and chemistry where relevant. (Guidance for facilitating these activities are similar to those given for facilitating University of Washington-style Tutorials. See for example, Facilitating in Tutorials from the UMd-PERG.)

Energy Skate Park

• Skate Park_Activity (1)
• Skate Park_Activity (2)
• Energy skate park additional questions
  
  

• Protein Stability

• Protein Stability Task
  
  

Temperature Regulation

• Temperature regulation
  
  

Kinesin

• How a Kinesin Walks

Quizzes and Exams:

Quizzes are intended as formative assessment, not summative. It is intended for these to be challenging and for there to be potentially extended discussions about the answers when they are handed back. Exam questions are intended as summative. A few sample questions and formatting are provided here as document files for easy cutting and pasting into a printed quiz or exam. (Use of these files are limited to faculty. Please contact Joe Redish for access.)

• Quiz Questions
• Work & Energy
• Atomic Interactions & Chemical Energy
  

• Exam Questions
• Work & Energy
• Atomic Interactions & Chemical Energy
• Chemical reaction toy model

For more information, contact Prof. E. F. Redish (redish@umd.edu)

Contributors to this effort include:

C. Bauer², K. Carleton¹, T. Cooke¹, M. Cooper³, C. Crouch⁴, B. Dreyfus¹, B. Geller¹, J. Giannini¹, J. Svoboda Gouvea^1,5, M. Klymkowsky⁶, W. Losert¹, K. Moore¹, J. Presson¹, E. Redish¹, V. Sawtelle¹, C. Turpen¹, K. Thompson¹

¹ University of Maryland, College Park, ² University of New Hampshire, Durham, ³ Michigan State University

⁴ Swarthmore College, ⁵ University of California, Davis, ⁶ University of Colorado, Boulder

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