The target ideas for the PET course were teased out from the benchmarks and standards on which the course is based and are the objectives for the course. They are also found on the Scientists' Ideas sheets that are handed out to students at the end of each chapter to validate the ideas that students develop.
The table below shows the target ideas that are addressed in each activity of Chapter 2. The Learning about Learning (LAL) target ideas include the Nature of Science ideas and the Social Scientists' Ideas about learning. Although the students practice thinking about their own learning in most activities in the
PET curriculum, the “X” for a LAL idea only shows where the target idea is the explicit focus of an LAL
Activity.
Newton’s Laws 7 8
N1
N2
N3
Interactions described in terms of forces
Force on an object at rest
Force in direction of motion
1 2 2h w
X X
X X
X X
X
X
3 3hw
1
X
X
X
X
3hw
2
X
4 5 5h w
X X
X
X X
X X
X
X
6 6h w
X X X
X
X X
N4
N5
N6
N7
N8
N9
N10
Force in direction opposite to motion
Strength of Force and change in speed
Mass and change in speed
Effect of no forces
Force from the side
Curved path
Combinations of forces
X X X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
X X
X X
X
1

Nature of science
NS1a Scientists’ ideas have explanatory and predictive power
NS3 Science is a creative endeavor
NS5 Scientists’ ideas are influenced by prior knowledge
Social Scientists’ Ideas about Learning
SS1
SS4
SS5
Learning takes time
All learners have prior knowledge
Sometimes a learner’s ideas are very resistant to change
1 2 2h w
1 2 2h w
3 3hw
1
3 3hw
1
3hw
2
X
3hw
2
X
X
X
X
4 5 5h w
X X
X
X
4 5 5h w
X
X
X
X
6 6h w
6 6h w
7 8
7 8
2