We simply enjoy learning how things work in the natural world. These are questions we can answer by studying physics. Recently we had the opportunity to give a presentation to a group of junior high school students on how physics is fun. Armed with a battery of cool physics toys borrowed from department technician Steve Anderson, we met with what looked like a herd of sleepy cows. But when we brought out our first demo, we had our students' attention for sure.
Mechanics is the best place to start, because it is the basis of motion.
From sports to cars, bridges to buildings, mechanics is the study of movement and change on the large scale. The energy and angle required to throw something over a specified distance is one example. We used common sports situations like baseball and hockey to illustrate these concepts. We explained the simplicity of waves in terms of sound. Using a long metal wire slinky and a tuning fork, we explained the Doppler effect and produced sounds that someone in another room would have sworn were the sound of shots from a Star Wars Blaster.