High school physics does not have the best affective appeal - not reputation among general student population-possibly due to content emphasis. Affective aspects however are important in early to mid stages of education.
Torques, circular motion and coulomb fields are depressing topics to the scientifically inadept; even more modern physics topics and high esteem terms like "constructive superposition" of waves and related phenomena do not faire better.
One however has to keep in mind that the mission of k 12 is to build some conceptual& skillsets/deep understandings that the next generations of scientists should have. Appeal is quarabteed what ever the topic choice for the later.
So the compromise is hard-leading to current win-lose solutions.
Suggestions such as for incorporation of whole year curricula on exciting, high contemporary culture status topics like radioactivity, laser apps, Vacuum conductivity have been raised to be balanced with half year courses on scientific method-a facelifted version of mentioned depressing content with deenpasis on content to teach skills/conceptual areas but keep things attractive to general population are still to gain persuasive power to be adopted.
Some high schools incorporate wave theory as a 12th grade main topic.
Although it exemplifies what a theory is, i. E it has principles, it is shallow in appwal i. E predictions on trivial not high aspirational stuff while its real richness in the knowledge domain is bypassed because its emphasis is on high level skills
Another key point is the current philosophy of easy to hard progression: Laws of science as "connecting changing terms and being immanent in what it govers, are relations" and then a theory (higher grades).
The choice of theory has been critisized (constructively and with best interest in mind), what about choice of laws?
Newton is choses, adding to the depression. Not because there is something wrong with it - but because of its conceptual inconcistency (not generally admited but see my articles of vaqueness of concepts in physical science), its abstraction and its nearness to a Theory of Everything (a unifying principle of nature) that makes it hard and above the threshold challenging. Easiest laws-based year-long theme-based units should be considered and Newton as an appendix and certainly not a repeated year by year, topic.
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