NEW AQA Physics (2016) - The nature of waves

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA Physics GCSE, particularly the ‘Force and pressure’ SoW.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA Trilogy specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics please see my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

The lesson begins with the definition for a wave, and students are introduced to two types of waves - electromagnetic waves and mechanical waves, and given examples of each. The next slide demonstrates (and this can be done as a physical demonstration in front of the class too) how mechanical waves can either be transverse or longitudinal, students can have a go at recreating this motion with a slinky.

The next part of the lesson focuses a bit more on the properties of transverse and longitudinal waves, students are shown a diagram of each of the waves and given a description of the properties of each. Students will firstly be given the task of creating a small role play (in groups) to display the properties of these two waves, and then will be asked a few short questions to assess their knowledge. Students will then be asked to ‘Think > Pair > Share’ their ideas about what might happen if two or more waves join together at the same time, and then a description of superposition is given.

The following activity requires students to cut out lots of individual images of different stages of a pulse, and then students will need to put them in the correct order and attach them together to create a little flip book of a pulse moving. The final activity is a summary worksheet so students can assess their understanding from the content of the lesson, this task can be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided.

The plenary task is a true or false activity.

All resources are included. Thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated.