Middle School Physics Department 

Physics and Sustainable Development 

初中物理组

物理与可持续发展

物理学作为一门研究物质、能量、空间和时间的自然学科，它不仅关心大自然的发展规律，更关心人类社会、自然生态等的健康可持续发展。

本着培养学生对人类社会共同问题的责任感，帮助学生形成将所学科学知识应用于解决现实问题的意识，八年级师生结合联合国提出的当前17大可持续发展问题，鼓励学生从物理学角度思考、探索，作为科学技术摇篮的物理学，能如何帮助我们解决这迫在眉睫的17个可持续发展问题。

本次活动选择了声纳技术与海洋生物、太空技术和粮食危机、激光技术在医学领域的应用、可持续交通、核废水与全球水危机五个物理学相关话题，鼓励学生走出课堂，以更广阔的视觉来解读物理学这门学科在现实生活中的应用，以及在解决社会问题、能源问题等可持续发展问题中扮演的角色。

本次活动采用小组合作的形式，经过近两周的小组调查和研讨，本周迎来了各小组的报告展示和感悟分享。

有的小组通过调查声纳对海洋鲸鱼的影响机制，从物理学角度提出维护海洋生态的方法。有的小组通过对太空技术的探索，总结帮助解决人类粮食危机的新方法，也有的小组通过对激光特性进行调查研究，探讨激光在现代医疗中得到广泛应用的原因等。同学们在分享时，不仅对现有技术进行了总结，也提出了对目前人类社会、自然生态、神秘太空等方面可持续性发展的思考。

同学们在这两周的调研和分享讨论中，不仅感受到了物理学这门学科在现实生活中的应用，更感受到了作为物理学人在社会问题、能源问题等可持续发展问题中所肩负的责任。

Physics is more than just a natural scientific discipline—it is a mechanism with which we can uncover the secrets of the natural world and promote sustainable human development. Through the study of matter, energy, and space and time, we can better understand the laws of nature and find ways in which we can live in glorious symbiosis. 

Grade 8 students first familiarized themselves with the 17 UN sustainable development goals and were then tasked with finding ways in which physics could help solve or alleviate these issues. This was done in order to cultivate a sense of responsibility as global citizens, as well as to empathize with and better understand the difficulties faced by people around the world. By applying scientific knowledge to solve practical real-world problems, we hope to reinforce the important roles physics has to play both now and into the future.

Five physics-related topics were provided—Topic 1 Sonar and Halobios, Topic 2 Space Technology and Food Crisis, Topic 3 Laser Technology in Medical Science, Topic 4 Sustainable Transportation, and Topic 5 Nuclear Wastewater and the Global Water Crisis. 

These units aim to encourage students to step outside of the classroom and take a broader view of how physics is applied to real life and the roles it plays in solving social, energy, and other sustainable development issues. After nearly two weeks of investigation and discussion, each group was required to give a presentation and share their findings.

Students covered a diverse range of interesting topics, with some delving into the impact of sonar on ocean whales and other marine life, while others preferred to focus on lasers and their current and potential use in modern medical treatment. One group even went extraterrestrial by exploring how space technology can help alleviate our current food crisis. Students were also required to provide a summary of existing technologies in relation to the current state of human society and our natural environment, including references to other potential options for sustainable development.

The two weeks of research and discussion proved fruitful in raising awareness of the roles physics plays in regard to social, energy, and many other issues. This unit also gave students invaluable experience in designing their own scientific investigations and seeing physics not merely as a disparate discipline but rather as a holistic field that has the potential to change the world. 

文｜邱林琼

图｜八年级物理老师

审稿｜黄诗媛，Brie Polette

Written by｜Linqiong Qiu

Pictures by｜G8 Physics Teachers

Edited by ｜Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette

文章转载自：【上海中学国际部】