Mississippi Science PHY.1.1
The Standard
- PHY.1
- Students will investigate and understand how to analyze and interpret data.
Investigate and analyze evidence gained through observation or experimental design regarding the one-dimensional (1-D) motion of objects. Design and conduct experiments to generate and interpret graphical evidence of distance, velocity, and acceleration through motion.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · One-Dimensional Motion
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students plan a straight-line motion test and record an object's position at equal time intervals. They use the data to calculate velocity and acceleration, then graph each measure against time.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student makes position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs with labeled axes and units. They use the slope of the position graph to find velocity and the slope of the velocity graph to find acceleration.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think a rising position-time line means the object is speeding up, even when the line is straight. They may think a flat velocity-time line means the object stopped. Some confuse distance traveled with change in position when an object turns around.
How to Assess It
- At 0, 1, and 2 seconds, a cart's positions are 0, 1, and 4 meters, and its velocities are 0, 2, and 4 meters per second. Have students sketch position-time and velocity-time graphs, then draw an acceleration-time graph with the correct value.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Tape a meter stick beside a ramp, film a rolling ball, and use video timestamps to plot position, velocity, and acceleration.
Draw a straight and a steepening position-time line on the board, then ask which cart accelerates and how students know.
Give pairs cards labeled stopped, steady forward, speeding up, and slowing down; have them sketch matching velocity-time graphs and compare.
Give students a printed bus speed log at five-second intervals; have them graph velocity and identify when the driver accelerates and brakes.
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Printable PHY.1.1 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- PHS.5.2
Design and conduct an investigation to study the motion of an object using properties such as displacement, time of motion, velocity, and acceleration.
- P.6.6.5
Conduct investigations to predict and explain the motion of an object according to its position, direction, speed, and acceleration.
- PHY.1.2
Interpret and predict 1-D motion based on displacement vs. time, velocity vs. time, or acceleration vs. time graphs (e.g., free-falling objects).
- PHY.1.6
Design and mathematically/graphically analyze quantitative data to explore displacement, velocity, and acceleration of various objects. Use probe systems, video...
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