Sweden Grundskola Year 9 Physics Curriculum

This curriculum outlines the key learning objectives and core content for Physics in the Swedish Grundskola system for students in Year 9 (ages 15-16). The curriculum aims to equip students with a foundational understanding of physics principles and their applications in nature and society.

Physics in Nature and Society

• Energy Flows: Students learn about the flow of energy from the sun through nature and society, exploring different ways of storing energy and the various types of energy quality, along with their environmental advantages and disadvantages.
• Electricity: The curriculum covers electricity production, distribution, and its societal use, examining current and future energy supply, considering possibilities and limitations.
• Weather and Climate: Students learn about weather phenomena and their underlying causes, including the physics concepts used in meteorology and weather forecasting. The curriculum also introduces physical models used to describe and explain the Earth's radiation balance, the greenhouse effect, and climate change.
• Radiation: Students explore particle radiation and electromagnetic radiation, their impact on living organisms, and their applications in modern technology, such as healthcare and information technology.
• Particle Model of Matter: The curriculum uses particle models to describe and explain the properties and phase transitions of matter, including pressure, volume, density, and temperature. It also explains how the motion of particles influences the distribution of matter in nature.
• Societal Issues: Students engage with current societal issues related to physics.

Physics and Everyday Life

• Forces and Motion: Students study forces, motion, and changes in motion in everyday situations, applying this knowledge to areas like traffic safety.
• Simple Machines: The curriculum covers levers and gearing in tools and devices, such as scissors, levers, blocks, and pulleys.
• Sound: Students learn how sound is produced, transmitted, and recorded, exploring the properties of sound and its impact on health.
• Light: The curriculum covers the propagation of light, reflection, and refraction in everyday contexts, including explanatory models of how the eye perceives colors.
• Electricity in Circuits: Students explore the relationship between voltage, current, resistance, and power in electrical circuits and their applications in everyday devices.
• Electromagnetism: The curriculum introduces the relationship between electricity and magnetism and its application in common electrical equipment.

Physics and World Views

• Historical and Contemporary Discoveries: Students learn about historical and contemporary discoveries in physics and how they have been shaped by world views. The curriculum emphasizes the importance of these discoveries for technology, the environment, society, and human living conditions.
• Current Research: Students are introduced to current research areas in physics, such as elementary particle physics and nanotechnology.
• Universe Origins and Development: The curriculum explores scientific theories about the origins of the universe, comparing them with other descriptions. It also covers the development of the universe, the occurrence of atoms, and the development of stars.
• Structure of the Universe: Students learn about the structure of the universe, including planets, solar systems, and galaxies, along with their movements and the distances between them.
• Theories and Models: The curriculum examines theories and models in physics, discussing their usefulness, limitations, validity, and variability.

Physics Methods

• Systematic Studies and Simulations: Students learn about systematic studies and how simulations can be used in modeling. They practice formulating simple questions, planning, executing, and evaluating studies.
• Measurements and Instruments: The curriculum covers measurements, measuring instruments, and how they can be combined to measure magnitudes such as speed, pressure, and power. It also introduces electrical sensors for measuring and registering properties in the environment.
• Physics Studies and Development: Students explore the relationship between physics studies and the development of concepts, models, and theories.
• Documentation: Students learn how to document studies using tables, diagrams, pictures, and written reports, both with and without digital tools.
• Critical Examination of Information: The curriculum emphasizes the importance of critically examining sources of information and arguments in various sources and social discussions related to physics, both in digital and other media.