Grade 11 Waldorf Physics Block

Over the last four weeks, the high school physics block at H3 Learning has taken students on a full journey through electricity and magnetism—from the first crackle of static charge to the invisible fields of radioactivity and modern wireless technology. The block combined rigorous scientific thinking with hands-on experiments, field visits, art, movement, and community life in keeping with Waldorf principles.

Weeks 1–2: Static, circuits, and fields

The block opened with static electricity: rubbing materials, observing attraction and repulsion, and discovering that “empty” space is filled with forces, closely echoing phenomenological approaches recommended for Waldorf physics. From there, learners built simple DC circuits, compared series and parallel connections, and met AC current conceptually as the form that actually powers homes and transformers.​

Students then explored magnetism through bar magnets, iron filings, and compass work, making field patterns visible and comparing the “gesture” of magnetic forces with static electric forces. This flowed naturally into electromagnetism: building simple electromagnets, seeing how current creates a magnetic field, and linking this to motors, generators, and the foundations of modern communication technology.

Weeks 3–4: EMF, radiation, and radioactivity

In the third week, learners experienced EMF “in action” through demonstrations and practicals that made invisible fields tangible, connecting earlier work on circuits and transformers with the idea of space filled with forces rather than emptiness. The focus then shifted to EMF in action: voltage, induction, and wireless transfer were brought to life through a practical on wireless conductivity and a field visit to a transformer workshop connecting classroom formulas to real power infrastructure. Students met DC/AC transformers, turns ratios, and efficiency questions in situ, deepening respect for the engineering that lights up cities.​

Radiation and radioactivity then widened the picture to include natural background radiation, X‑rays, and nuclear phenomena, with careful attention to health, ethics, and history. Concepts such as half‑life, nuclear reactors, and atomic bombs were introduced in an age‑appropriate way, inviting critical thinking about how the same scientific knowledge can serve medicine, energy, or destruction.

Hands-on physics and field visit

A highlight was the field visit to a transformer workshop, where students could see real coils, cores, and industrial transformers, linking classroom equations on voltage, current, and turns ratio to machines that actually power homes and cities.

Back at school, a practical on wireless conductivity and simple wireless power transfer let them work with coils, resonance, and inductive coupling, turning abstract EM ideas into a small, working technological artefact.​

Throughout the block: Art, movement, and community

Across all four weeks, students kept up steady maths practice to support quantitative work with circuits, power, and exponential decay. They also engaged in Leno art, created main lesson book pages, and prepared short presentations on topics of their choice, nurturing clear expression and artistic rendering of scientific ideas.​

Daily games, yog, and meditation underpinned focus and wellbeing, aligning with research on movement and contemplative practice in school settings. A rescued puppy unexpectedly became part of the classroom life, offering a living “mission moment” of care and responsibility that sat beautifully alongside the more technical studies of forces, fields, and energy.​

Light assessments at the end of the block gave learners feedback on conceptual understanding, skills, and engagement, rounding off a four‑week journey that has laid a strong, experience‑based foundation for further work in modern physics.