You are talking about “Physics” here. If you are trying you describe, explain and predicting the stuff and things. One thing we have to draw a line between is that engineering classes are NOT mathematics itself. Physical science is NOT mathematics itself people can really lose sight of that. We just using mathematics as a system to model, analyze, describe, and explain concepts in engineering classes. For example, Kinematics a topic in Dynamics uses math to describe “motion”. It doesn’t tell you how motions work or why things move the way it does. After all it is not math and we have to draw a line between that.
The same with fluids it is NOT math it is just another form of Physics. Fluids is nothing more that a collection of atoms, just like a solid is–and Newton’s Law applies to systems of anything. What kind of concepts are we going to need to describe fluids? One way to describe fluids is using differential equations (mathematics). Describe I mean like density and pressure. That don’t mean there is no other ways to do it.
“How to use intuition to convert the physical problem into a series of mathematical statements that allow a student to simplify the equations to be more easily solvable”
Another concept in “Physics” you talking about.