First, thanks for the insight into Newton's and Snell's laws. I haven't read all of the posts yet, but have found some helpful (busy end of semester).
Second, graphical properties (slope, area, y-intercept) of kinematics and other relationships is a point of emphasis in the Modeling approach. Modeling also emphasizes collecting data, plotting it out, and getting the relationships from your data.
The AP tests (if you like them or not) are also emphasizing these ideas more in recent years.
Paul Lulai
Physics Teacher
St Anthony Village S.H.
3303 33rd Ave NE
St Anthony Village, MN 55418