Living Physics 1 and 2: An introductory physics class for life-science students

Living Physics is a two-semester algebra-based introductory physics course with calculus explained and used conceptually where needed. We highlight the fundamental scientific skills that students need for the new MCAT, including mathematical modeling and mechanistic reasoning. We introduce physics topics that are especially valuable for biologists, such as diffusion, fluid flow, chemical energy, statistical mechanics including entropy, free energy, and fluctuations, electrical models of nerves, and fluorescence. Each of these new topics build on traditional physics principles. Living Physics includes many truly authentic biology examples that keep students' attention and help them see how useful physics is for their careers. An important part of this course is how it explicitly helps students learn to blend conceptual physics with mathematical representation, scaffolding their needed change from seeing math as only for calculating to seeing symbols in equations as having physical meaning. Living Physics is built on the HHMI project, NEXUS/Physics, and years of NSF-funded research and interdisciplinary work with biologists and chemists. As a collaboration between an award-winning physics researcher / IPLS instructor and an award-winning clear language expert, Living Physics makes its points with a readable style, inviting layout, and hundreds of relevant illustrations. The Top Hat Living Physics package includes integrated auto-graded questions and integrated workouts with PhET simulations, as well as group-learning activities and clicker questions for use in class. We encourage you to make Living Physics work best for your students. You can use the text as is. You can pick and choose among the modules. You can add and edit. Creating new questions is easy in Top Hat. Royalties go to the American Association of Physics Teachers to support the Living Physics Portal website.