What Physics Studies
Phenomena, observation and experiment - the very first idea in physics
Big Idea: Physics is the science of nature. It studies physical phenomena - the changes we see happening all around us - and it learns about them in two careful ways: by observing and by doing experiments.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- say what physics is and what it studies,
- name the main kinds of physical phenomena (mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical and more),
- tell a physical body apart from the substance it is made of,
- explain the difference between an observation and an experiment,
- describe how physical knowledge is built, step by step.