Patterns of thinking
Teaching Guidance
for 14-16
Exploiting patterns whilst making them explicit
Teacher Tip: Three patterns of thinking have been widespread and explicit in the topic and throughout SPT. These are compensation, proportion, and accumulation. All three are used in this SPT: Force and motion topic. We suggest that you explicitly refer to the patterns in order to help show how common patterns of thinking are re-used in the topic.
Teacher Tip: Compensation: a trade-off between the physical quantities x and y, both of which contribute to the quantity z.
z = y × x
Teacher Tip: Proportion: the physical quantities x and y go up and down together, and when one is zero, so is the other.
x = constant × y
Teacher Tip: Accumulation: one physical quantity, y sets how another, x, grows over time.
Δ x = y × Δ t
