A Joint Reconstruction of Newtonian Dynamics and Gravitation. Design and Evaluation of a Teaching Sequence Inspired by History and Epistemology of Physics ; Une reconstruction conjointe de la dynamique et de la gravitation newtoniennes. Conception et évaluation d’une séquence d’enseignement inspirée par l’histoire et l’épistémologie de la physique

This work proposes a teaching approach of the Newtonian theory. One of the centralintentions is to justify the concepts and formulae which constitute it, via a progressivepathway enabling to reconstruct them. In particular one of the conceptual target is thenotion of terrestrial attraction, which is most of the time asserted, although it is notself-evident. The interpretation of free fall as a natural motion - in Antiquity and still toGalileo – is used to question the Newtonian concept of force. The purpose is to introduceit by showing its dependency to a natural motion of reference, redefined by the first lawof motion, justifying then its relation to acceleration. This formulation aims at insistingon the specific concept definition of the theory, in order to foster its distinction from thecommon sense ideas about force and motion. Following this formulation of dynamics, ispresented the reasoning - inspired by Newton’s one - leading to the relationship betweenthe revolution of planets, of the Moon, and free fall on Earth. This pathway enablesto justify that the force associated to free fall acceleration can be associated to thepresence of the Earth. It leads furthermore to the justification of the idea of universalattraction, as well as to the construction of the gravitational force expression. At theepistemological level, the pathway leading to relate these various phenomena highlightsthe role of unification of a physical theory. A teaching sequence has been developed onthe basis of this approach and experimented with high school and first year universitystudents. One of the results observed is a strong interest of students for the justificationof concepts definitions and formulae. ; Ce travail propose une approche d’enseignement de la théorie newtonienne. L’une desintentions centrales est de justifier les concepts et formules qui la constituent, via uncheminement progressif permettant de les reconstruire. En particulier est visée la notiond’attraction terrestre, très souvent admise, bien qu’elle ne soit pas ...