Saturday night, film on, feet up… and it turns out that’s revision too. Physics in Film takes short scenes from films and TV shows and asks the question every physicist secretly wants answered: could this really happen?
How it works
Find the short scene on YouTube, watch it, then work through the physics questions. They range from simply spotting the physics at work to proper Higher-tier calculations. Each question is labelled (F) Foundation, (F/H) both tiers or (H) Higher.
There are 80 scenes, all from films and shows rated U, PG or 12A and chosen to avoid swearing – so they’re safe to use in class.
Every topic covered
- Energy in Film
- Electricity in Film
- Particle Model in Film
- Atomic Structure in Film
- Forces in Film
- Waves in Film
- Magnetism in Film
- Space in Film
Why it works
Applying physics to an unfamiliar situation is exactly what the trickier exam questions ask you to do. Film scenes are a fun way to practise it – and judging whether a stunt is realistic means thinking hard about forces, energy and motion rather than just recalling facts.
For teachers, a scene makes a brilliant lesson hook, end-of-term activity or homework that students actually want to do.
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