Physics, Monday, Class #1

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam had gotten to class very early that morning. On her desk were a number of different textbooks, open to different lessons, and a notebook, full of ideas for classes and lab experiments. On the front chalkboard, she'd printed her name. On the chalkboard to her left were a number of complicated formulae which had nothing to do with anything she'd be teaching her students, but she'd had an idea, and there they were.

"Hi," she greeted the class, walking around her desk and leaning against it as she spoke, occasionally sipping from her cup of coffee. "Welcome to Physics. I'm Professor Carter, but I guess you can call me Sam. Most people do. It's a pretty standard class format--I'll be teaching you a concept, then you'll try to observe it in action, or try to predict what will happen based on what you've learned so far. Hopefully we'll be able to have some fun."

"Oh," she added, "I suppose I should warn you about a couple of things--first, I graduated from Fandom High a year ago, so I have a pretty good idea of how this island does and doesn't work. Feel free to ask questions or come to me with problems. Turning into an animal is not enough to miss class, and if you get gremlin-bit, you get a half absence only if you provide videotape footage. For those of you from other planets, universes, timelines, or centuries, I'll be teaching you primarily twentieth and twenty-first century Newtonian Earth physics, although we may branch off into relativity and astrophysics, primarily because I enjoy them and they raise some interesting ethical questions, as well."

"So. First, I'd like you to introduce yourselves, explain where and when you're from, any experience with physics, astronomy, or mechanics. Then, I'd like to have a discussion, so I can see how you approach issues. Since we're starting with Newton, more or less, I'd also like to discuss one of his quotes--'No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.' What do you think the place of guesswork is in science? What do you think the biggest leap of intuition was? How do you know whether or when to trust it or not? How far do you trust it?"

"Finally, as a final project, you'll be designing and building pumpkin chuckers in teams of two. Which, for those of you who are uninitiated, are like catapults or trebuchets, but with pumpkins. So, start thinking about your design ideas and who you want to pair up with, and get back to me with the pairs by next week, okay? Now. Who's first?"

[ooc: OCD coming is here! Have fun!]

Comments

Sign In #1

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

.

Re: Sign In #1

[thankgoditsme.livejournal.com]

Friday Next

During the Lecture

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Chat amongst yourselves

Re: During the Lecture

[my-tragic-past.livejournal.com]

The teacher was using a lot of big words, so Kevin decided his time would be better spent checking out his classmates.

Re: During the Lecture

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Unsure about how much technical jargon this class was going to involve, John attempted to pay attention and not yawn too much.

Re: During the Lecture

[withoutverona]

It sounded like this class was going to be a challenge, so Romeo was concentrating closely and taking notes.

Re: During the Lecture

[ktarian-wildman.livejournal.com]

Naomi took detailed notes, she was looking forward to this class.

Re: During the Lecture

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney was practically bouncing in his seat at the mention of astrophysics. It seemed like it had been ages since he'd had a class that could be useful to him.

Re: During the Lecture

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

Pumpkin catapults??!?!? Seriously?!?!?

Sokka was bouncing in his seat. And already starting to design one.

Re: During the Lecture

[the_merriest]

Rikku was bouncing in her seat. Physics. Dude. She was scribbling notes on words like "Newtonian" and "astrophysics."

Re: During the Lecture

[carsexual]

Sam was listening with his standard amount of attention to the lecture--until the professor mentioned she'd graduated from high school a year ago.

And then he was very, very deeply confused.

Introductions

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Who, Where, When, Previous Experience

Re: Introductions

[thankgoditsme.livejournal.com]

"I'm Friday Next. Swindon, England, 2002. I don't have much experience, only passing interest and got mixed up with some time travel, which doesn't exist at home anymore. My sister is the mathematical genius of the family. I've picked up a little from her."

Re: Introductions

[sonofmogh.livejournal.com]

"I am Worf," he declared looking like he was sitting at attention. I am from the 24th century. I've taken basic quantum physics. Please give me your notes."

Re: Introductions

[ktarian-wildman.livejournal.com]

"I'm Naomi Wildman," Naomi said, "I most recently lived in San Francisco, California, 2382. I grew up on a starship and I was given lessons in physics and astronomy by the ship's officers when they had the time. I also like to read about physics and astronomy in my spare time,"

Re: Introductions

[lil-yellow.livejournal.com]

"I'm called Bumblebee, and I'm from Cybertron originally, in a time analogous to Fandom. My base programming has some physics included and I've picked up more, but I'm not an expert by any means," he said.

Re: Introductions

[my-tragic-past.livejournal.com]

"Name's Kevin. I'm came here from Dante's Cove, um, from like now." He thought.

"I've always been a fan of physical things -- I work out like, a lot. Sometimes, when I'm on the beach late at night, I like to look at the stars, find different star patterns and stuff. And I'm pretty good at mechanical things. I've totally been changing my own oil since I was old enough to drive."

Re: Introductions

[withoutverona]

"I'm Romeo Montague," Romeo stated. "I'm from Verona Beach, in California, now."

"I've not taken physics before, or much serious science save botany. I did take auto mechanics the second half of the summer."

Re: Introductions

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I'm John Sheppard, from some normal version of Earth around now. My experience is iffy, but I'm not bad with numbers."

Re: Introductions

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney sat a little straighter when it was his turn as he wanted to make a good impression. "I'm Rodney McKay and I'm from vaguely modern Canada. I already have extensive experience in physics, astronomy, and mechanics. In fact, I'd be in college already if my parents didn't insist on me having a 'normal childhood,'" he added with disdain. And airquotes. That good impression might not be going so well.

Re: Introductions

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"I am Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm from Karakura Town, Japan, about two months in the future," Ichigo introduced himself with a shrug. "I don't have any previous experience, but it was seemed to be one of the classes that could be useful later on."

Discussion Question

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Was Newton nuts? Is there a place for guesswork in science? How big a place? How important is trusting your intuition? Other questions?

Re: Discussion Question

[thankgoditsme.livejournal.com]

"I think guesswork and intuition is the basis of scientific advancement. You can follow the dots if you know which direction you're headed and where you came from, but there are large parts of information we don't usually have when trying to take a step into the unknown and that means going with what feels right. If you're wrong, you're wrong, but sometimes it's the only way to get to the next step."

TAs

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Once they're chosen, or if they just want to ping in

Talk to Sam

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

She'll be here after class for a while, too

Re: Talk to Sam

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

As soon as class was over, Rodney marched up to Sam. "I'm the smartest person here so I will, of course, be your TA," he announced. It really was as simple as that.

OOC

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

No ending the world today!