Refraction and total internal reflection
A light ray bends when it passes into glass or water. At a shallow angle it cannot get out at all: total internal reflection, as in an optical fibre.
Physics – grade 9/10
Stage 2: additional focal points up to the end of grade 9/10; stage 1 content (grades 6–8) is assumed. The units are the same for grades 9 and 10. Both grades are therefore shown as one stage. The numbers (content area.focus) are our own.
Unit 1House of the natural sciences
Placing physics alongside chemistry and biology, knowing historical and current ways of gaining knowledge, and judging measurement accuracy.
1.1Particularities and commonalities of physics, chemistry and biology
Comparing the methods of the three natural sciences.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
1.2Historical and current ways of gaining knowledge in physics
Showing with examples how physical knowledge arises; estimating measurement errors.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 2Extension of the senses
Comparing the propagation of light and sound, explaining optical phenomena and producing optical images (e.g. with lenses); determining the speed of sound.
2.1Sound, light and their propagation
Comparing how light and sound propagate, including the speed of sound.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
2.2Optical phenomena
Explaining phenomena such as mirror images, refraction and total internal reflection.
2.3Optical images
Forming images with lenses and optical instruments and constructing them graphically.
Lenses and image formation
Move a candle in front of a lens and construct the image with three special rays. It becomes sharp on the screen.
Unit 3Energy in the environment and technology
Energy is quantified: forms of energy and conversion chains, conservation of energy and efficiency.
3.1Energy as a quantifiable quantity
Calculating energies and stating them in joules.
Conservation of energy (roller coaster)
A car rides a roller coaster: energy bars show how potential and kinetic energy turn into each other.
3.2Forms of energy and their conversion
Setting up conversion chains and determining efficiencies.
Conservation of energy (roller coaster)
A car rides a roller coaster: energy bars show how potential and kinetic energy turn into each other.
3.3Principle of conservation of energy and its application
Using conservation of energy to predict processes.
Conservation of energy (roller coaster)
A car rides a roller coaster: energy bars show how potential and kinetic energy turn into each other.
Unit 4Electricity in everyday life
Current, voltage and resistance quantitatively; more complex circuits as systems; explaining electrostatic phenomena by charges.
4.1Influence of resistors on the strength of the electric current
Investigating the relationship between voltage, current and resistance.
Ohm’s law
Turn up the voltage and the current rises, always in the same ratio. Point by point the characteristic curve appears, though not quite straight for a lamp.
4.2Circuits as systems
Viewing series and parallel circuits as a whole; current as charge per time, voltage as energy per charge.
Series and parallel circuits
Connect lamps in series or in parallel and measure current and voltage at different points.
4.3Electrostatic phenomena
Explaining charging, attraction and repulsion with charges.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 5Weather phenomena and climate
Heat transfer, pressure as a state variable and differences in pressure and temperature as drivers of weather and climate; human influence on climate.
5.1Transfer of thermal energy
Investigating conduction, convection and radiation.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
5.2Pressure as a physical state variable
Representing pressure as a function of other quantities.
Gas laws
Push the piston halfway in and the pressure doubles. Heat the gas and it pushes the piston out. Pressure, volume and temperature are tightly linked.
5.3Pressure and temperature differences
Explaining weather phenomena as the equalising of differences.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 6Locomotion and mobility
Forces as interaction, inertia, effects of forces (change of motion, deformation) and power of humans and machines.
6.1Interaction of bodies
Forces always occur in pairs between two bodies.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
6.2Inertia of a body
Inertia as resistance to changes in motion; importance for road safety.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
6.3Effects of forces
Forces change motion and deform bodies; representing and measuring forces.
Adding and resolving forces
Two forces pull on one point. Use the parallelogram of forces to find the total force or to split a force into two.
Hooke’s law
Hang weights on a spring and measure how far it stretches. Double the force means double the stretch.
6.4Human and technical power and their comparison
Determining one's own physical power and comparing it with machines.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 7Technology in the service of people
Force converters such as levers and pulleys, buoyancy in liquids and gases, and the magnetic effect of current and electromagnetic energy converters.
7.1Force-converting systems
Investigating laws for levers, pulleys and inclined planes; equilibrium.
Inclined plane
A block sits on a slope. At what angle does it start to slide? The weight is split into two parts to find out.
Law of the lever
How can a child lift an adult on a seesaw? With the longer arm. Wheelbarrows and bottle openers use the same trick.
7.2Phenomenon of buoyancy
Investigating and explaining floating, hovering and sinking.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
7.3Magnetic effect of electric current
Understanding electromagnets and electromagnetic energy converters such as motors.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 8Sustainable energy supply
Generating electrical energy in power plants, storage and transport (voltage transformation), and supply grids.
8.1Converting various forms of energy into electrical energy
Explaining generators and other converters.
Electromagnetic induction
Magnet in, the needle swings. Magnet out, it swings the other way. Every generator works on the same principle.
8.2Large-scale power plants
Comparing types of power plant.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
8.3Storage and transport of energy
Investigating storage and high-voltage transmission with transformers.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
8.4Energy supply grids
Evaluating centralised and decentralised supply.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 9Physics and responsibility
Radioactive decay and ionising radiation: effects, dangers, protection, and opportunities and risks of technologies.
9.1Radioactive decay processes
Describing decay with atomic models and evaluating decay data.
Radioactive decay and half-life
Many nuclei decay at random and a Geiger counter clicks. Even so, after each half-life almost exactly half are left.
9.2Effects of different types of radiation
Alpha, beta and gamma radiation, hazards and protective measures.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
9.3Consequences of using the results of physics research
Weighing opportunities and risks of technological developments.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
The summaries describe the curriculum in our own words. The original text is authoritative. Original text (German): Kerncurriculum, Gymnasium, Physics, grade 9/10