1D Kinematics equations have been the steep hill students have had to climb getting into College Prep or AP Physics. Lots of variables, what do you use where, and lots of frustration.
This year I held off as long as I could before introducing the heavy-hitters of solving word problems. Lots of time spent on whiteboard observations of motion, graphing with and without numbers, and motion maps. Hopefully this “formula” will be a winner.
One of the best things teaching physics is the A-HA! moment when students feel they own the problem.
