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Georgia Public Broadcasting PHYSICS & CHEM is back online for free!


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Hi Everyone,

 

I don't know if you remember the sad story of these videos being suddenly taken offline?

 

Well, here they are back online again.

 

I was writing the teacher about offering some kind of package for the DVD's and she said that they were all online for free. I was astonished...but here they are. Click on the little WATCH (with TV icon) in each episode.

 

After trying to do the Giancoli level physics where my son was not progressing fast enough, we ended up going back to easier material.

 

I bought the DVD's because at the time they were not online any more.

 

Overall my assessment of the program is that on a continuum it would fall in between Conceptual Physics and Giancoli Physics.

 

For people looking for a secular program that has math but is not AP Physics B level, this would be a good fit probably.

 

At first I had the Apologia Physics with it. But ds has finished that and is now finishing things that were not covered in Apologia but are covered in GPB. We are also using Holt Physics. (one of the books the teacher who developed the program said that she used).

 

There are topics covered in Holt Physics that are not covered in GPB and we will do those shortly.

 

I wonder how long they will stay online this time...maybe it would be good to do the program in the summer?

 

The teacher said that she was surprised that they were online again too.

 

Joan

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Amazing! I was so heartbroken when they took them down last year. Was it about this same time? I wonder if they are only up for a while each year?

 

I'm just running off at the mouth . . . or the fingers . . . I guess. We had sort of a catastrophe with a chemistry co-op this year . . . so I'm a little over emotional about it. I guess.

 

Thanks for the update!

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I wonder how long they will stay online this time...maybe it would be good to do the program in the summer?
Thanks, Joan! I think we will download these videos so that we have them for future use. We're very pleased with the MIT physics videos featuring Dr. Walter Lewin for Physics B/C preparation, but these may be better suited for high-school-level physics.

 

Thanks again!

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Joan, thank you. This post is so timely. I was looking for something like this for my auditory younger ds.

How is ds' prep. for AP HG ? My ds. is trying to cram this week. All the best for his exams!

Peace,

 

Nissi

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So I will throw out the question - Can a homeschool teacher, not in GA, get the teacher materials associated with the program?:bigear:

 

Anyone can purchase the teacher materials.

 

I just found out something interesting though. The teacher said that if you purchase even one of the videos, that you get the teacher materials for free. That would be quite worthwhile as you would basically get the DVD for free. But at this point, I am not quite sure of the mechanism. I only found out by writing her. Maybe now when you buy one on Amazon it says something?

 

I don't have time to search at the moment but wanted to post before anyone bought. If I can't find anything, I'll write the teacher again (just didn't want to wear out my welcome).

 

Downloading the sessions sounds like a good idea. I couldn't figure out how to do it myself last night.

 

Last year they took the videos off I think in August? not sure but can find out in old posts...

 

At first my ds didn't want to do the note taking part. By the end he was asking for the sheets. It is quite helpful for him to learn notetaking organization.

 

Mathwise - I thought I should correct my earlier post. On the continuum, Apologia has more than GPB with Holt but it covers fewer topics (not drastic). And the Conceptual Physics I compared was the High School Program level.

 

Nissi - the HG seems to be going well - thanks! I hope your ds does well too!

 

Joan

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I have looked at the DVD's on Amazon and looked on the site but it is not obvious how to get the teacher's CD for free.

 

The teacher's CD has all the student notes, transparencies, etc. Everything the teacher would need.

 

On the site, when you are on the part for Teacher Print Materials it gives this email address classroom@gpb.org

 

Last August I had to buy it for I think 18 plus shipping. Maybe now they would want to see the receipt for a DVD? The DVD's are 29.99 - so I guess you have to pay 10 for it, if you deduct the price of the CD as shipping is free from Amazon.

 

I would not buy the first DVD of physics as they are just sig figs...

 

HTH,

Joan

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Someone mentioned downloading them, or saving the videos to disc. I don't know how to do that. Can someone help me?

 

Yes. Can someone help me too.

 

Thanks!

I wouldn't know how to do this either if I did not have a 20yo CS major! :tongue_smilie: We use Mozilla Firefox for our web browser. This browser has the ability to easily install add-ons. You can access them by clicking 'Tools->Add-ons' in the menu. Then click 'Get Add-ons'. Type 'video' into search box and press 'Enter'. You will then get a list of add-ons. Look for 'Video DownloadHelper'. Click the 'Add to Firefox' button for that entry. (You may need to scroll to the right to see that option.) Then click 'Install Now' to install it into Firefox. Once this completes, you will need to click the 'Restart Firefox' Button at the top right of the 'Add-ons' window. (FWIW, I chose this application because it is the most popular of the download add-ons available. Also, this add-on allows you to convert the videos into many different popluar formats as you download them.)

 

Once you have installed the application and restarted Firefox, you can now download videos in addition to simply being able to watch them on your computer. To do this, you should browse to the page where you would normally watch the video. You should then notice an icon in your Firefox toolbar that looks like three rotating balloons. If you click the small down arrow to the right of the balloons, it will show you a list of videos (just one at a time for GPB) that you can download. If you move your mouse cursor down to the file listed, you can then see a menu to the right. Slide your mouse cursor over to it and click 'Download'. At this point, you can change the filename to something meaningful and save the video to your hard disk. I recommend that once your download starts, you should browse away from the video so that you do not *both* download *and* watch the video, which would reduce your download speed.

 

There is one more issue that will prevent you from watching the videos: The format is *.flv, which is an Adobe Flash format which is not directly supported by Windows. You have the choice of either adding a reader for this format or converting the videos to a more common format. For now, I am doing the former, but I recommend doing the latter. Since each course is about 3.5GB of data I think I will plan on mastering DVDs that I can play on my TV, so I will convert these files to MPEG 4 format as they download. I will recommend that you convert the files to Windows Media Player. To do this select 'Tools->DownloadHelper->Preferences' from your Firefox menu. Then click 'Conversion' at the top of the page. Click 'Conversion enabled'. Then click 'Enable conversion rules...' Click 'New Rule' and then click 'OK' and then 'OK'. You will then need to find the 'Preferences' window again and click 'OK'.

 

This will automatically convert the videos to Windows Media Player format which will play on any Windows computer and many PDAs or cell phones. You also have to option to convert to Apple Quicktime or about 10 other formats.

 

Apparently this conversion will put a DownloadHelper logo on your converted videos until you register the converter you are using. I will probably register the software.

 

Good luck with this. I'm new to this add-on, but it looks better than the one I used previously (that my son had told me about). Please feel free to ask any questions that may come up. I'll try to help figure it out.

 

I'm sorry if you are not browsing with Firefox, since I do not know another way to do this.

 

Good luck and Happy Mother's Day!

 

Reg

Edited by RegGuheert
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Hi Everyone,

 

I don't know if you remember the sad story of these videos being suddenly taken offline?

 

Well, here they are back online again.

 

I was writing the teacher about offering some kind of package for the DVD's and she said that they were all online for free. I was astonished...but here they are. Click on the little WATCH (with TV icon) in each episode.

 

After trying to do the Giancoli level physics where my son was not progressing fast enough, we ended up going back to easier material.

 

I bought the DVD's because at the time they were not online any more.

 

Overall my assessment of the program is that on a continuum it would fall in between Conceptual Physics and Giancoli Physics.

 

For people looking for a secular program that has math but is not AP Physics B level, this would be a good fit probably.

 

At first I had the Apologia Physics with it. But ds has finished that and is now finishing things that were not covered in Apologia but are covered in GPB. We are also using Holt Physics. (one of the books the teacher who developed the program said that she used).

 

There are topics covered in Holt Physics that are not covered in GPB and we will do those shortly.

 

I wonder how long they will stay online this time...maybe it would be good to do the program in the summer?

 

The teacher said that she was surprised that they were online again too.

 

Joan

 

Thank you! These look great!

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I wouldn't know how to do this either if I did not have a 20yo CS major! :tongue_smilie: We use Mozilla Firefox for our web browser. This browser has the ability to easily install add-ons. You can access them by clicking 'Tools->Add-ons' in the menu. Then click 'Get Add-ons'. Type 'video' into search box and press 'Enter'. You will then get a list of add-ons. Look for 'Video DownloadHelper'. Click the 'Add to Firefox' button for that entry. (You may need to scroll to the right to see that option.) Then click 'Install Now' to install it into Firefox. Once this completes, you will need to click the 'Restart Firefox' Button at the top right of the 'Add-ons' window. (FWIW, I chose this application because it is the most popular of the download add-ons available. Also, this add-on allows you to convert the videos into many different popluar formats as you download them.)

 

Once you have installed the application and restarted Firefox, you can now download videos in addition to simply being able to watch them on your computer. To do this, you should browse to the page where you would normally watch the video. You should then notice an icon in your Firefox toolbar that looks like three rotating balloons. If you click the small down arrow to the right of the balloons, it will show you a list of videos (just one at a time for GPB) that you can download. If you move your mouse cursor down to the file listed, you can then see a menu to the right. Slide your mouse cursor over to it and click 'Download'. At this point, you can change the filename to something meaningful and save the video to your hard disk. I recommend that once your download starts, you should browse away from the video so that you do not *both* download *and* watch the video, which would reduce your download speed.

 

There is one more issue that will prevent you from watching the videos: The format is *.flv, which is an Adobe Flash format which is not directly supported by Windows. You have the choice of either adding a reader for this format or converting the videos to a more common format. For now, I am doing the former, but I recommend doing the latter. Since each course is about 3.5GB of data I think I will plan on mastering DVDs that I can play on my TV, so I will convert these files to MPEG 4 format as they download. I will recommend that you convert the files to Windows Media Player. To do this select 'Tools->DownloadHelper->Preferences' from your Firefox menu. Then click 'Conversion' at the top of the page. Click 'Conversion enabled'. Then click 'Enable conversion rules...' Click 'New Rule' and then click 'OK' and then 'OK'. You will then need to find the 'Preferences' window again and click 'OK'.

 

This will automatically convert the videos to Windows Media Player format which will play on any Windows computer and many PDAs or cell phones. You also have to option to convert to Apple Quicktime or about 10 other formats.

 

Apparently this conversion will put a DownloadHelper logo on your converted videos until you register the converter you are using. I will probably register the software.

 

Good luck with this. I'm new to this add-on, but it looks better than the one I used previously (that my son had told me about). Please feel free to ask any questions that may come up. I'll try to help figure it out.

 

I'm sorry if you are not browsing with Firefox, since I do not know another way to do this.

 

Good luck and Happy Mother's Day!

 

Reg

 

I have to admit that I wasn't sure I'd be able to follow all those directions . . . but luckily my son said "Oh." and then had a few of them downloaded in a couple of minutes. :glare:

 

I'll try to work on getting them done over the weekend. Hopefully they'll still be available then.

 

Any news on the Teacher's Resources? I don't really want to email them until I'm able to download the videos, :lol:. Last time I emailed them, they disappeared within a day or two.

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Any news on the Teacher's Resources? I don't really want to email them until I'm able to download the videos, :lol:. Last time I emailed them, they disappeared within a day or two.

 

What kind of news are you looking for? I purchased the disc of teacher's resources last summer. Both the Chemistry and Physics are on one disc, so it was quite a bargain. There are note taking guides, worksheets, quizzes, tests, and answers.

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What kind of news are you looking for? I purchased the disc of teacher's resources last summer. Both the Chemistry and Physics are on one disc, so it was quite a bargain. There are note taking guides, worksheets, quizzes, tests, and answers.

 

Oh, I didn't realize someone already had them. Do you have a link that you can direct me to? I couldn't find them in the Amazon store. I guess I'll go ahead and send them an email to see how much it is.

 

Thanks!

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I wouldn't know how to do this either if I did not have a 20yo CS major! :tongue_smilie:

I have to admit that I wasn't sure I'd be able to follow all those directions . . . but luckily my son said "Oh." and then had a few of them downloaded in a couple of minutes. :glare:
Without the help of our children, I don't see how we could possibly manage to educate them! ;)
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Oh, I didn't realize someone already had them. Do you have a link that you can direct me to? I couldn't find them in the Amazon store. I guess I'll go ahead and send them an email to see how much it is. Thanks!

 

I have them too, but from last summer. It was in emailing with the teacher that I learned about the new policy of giving the CD free when someone buys a DVD. I just have not seen anything about that online either on the GPB or Amazon sites and so was presuming in my earlier post that you would have to now email them in order to get instructions about how to do that.

 

In the last emails with the teacher, I felt like I was wearing out her patience and so did not want to push it.

 

Let us know what you learn. And if there is some kind of discrepency then I will email the teacher again.

 

Joan

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Oh, I didn't realize someone already had them. Do you have a link that you can direct me to? I couldn't find them in the Amazon store. I guess I'll go ahead and send them an email to see how much it is.

 

Thanks!

 

I ordered it thru the GPB store online. It came right away, and then the videos were taken offline. I have found several useful files, though, that I used with my co-op students (Physics) and my own son (Chemistry).

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Results, please?

 

I've just downloaded the first video! I'm SO excited. Even with our poor connection, it took only 15 minutes to download and is about 106MB in size.

 

Thanks Reg for explaining how to do this.

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This is all new to me, but are these videos a complete year of say physics or are you guys using this along with another program? If you are using it with another program, which one? If it is a complete year of science then $29 does not sound bad to get the teacher's notes and everything else free.

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This is all new to me, but are these videos a complete year of say physics or are you guys using this along with another program? If you are using it with another program, which one? If it is a complete year of science then $29 does not sound bad to get the teacher's notes and everything else free.

 

 

Robin, I have no experience with the chemistry course. I have done a fair amount of comparison of the physics course.

 

It is a year course for a certain level. (ETA - My ds is planning on doing Physics again next year for the AP Physics B. I don't know if this course is good enough as the "only" physics that a high school student does. I am not a physics expert...).

 

It is not sufficient to prepare for the SAT II or the AP Physics B exams.

 

But it is a good introductory physics course that is at a little higher level than the Conceptual Physics High School book. It involves a bit more math but you do not have to have studied trigonometry. They do use some sine, cosine, tan in equations but show you just how to do it with your calculator. Algebra I would probably be enough - though I am not sure as ds had almost finished Alg II when doing the course. (anyone else know?)

 

We used it in conjunction with Apologia Physics because that uses even more math. He would watch the videos, taking notes using GPB note sheets. Then he would do the Apologia lesson and take the Apologia test.

 

There are some lessons which are not really covered in Apologia eg Nuclear Science and I use GPB tests for those.

 

You can use it in conjunction with Holt Physics. That is one of the three books the teacher used to develop the program. We have this book also because it covers some concepts that weren't covered in Apologia.

 

My ds really likes and needs to have a book to read. For the videos, they are great for having the lesson presented and the labs demonstrated, but for studying for a test, it is time-consuming to try to refind the exact point of a lesson which you did not really remember well....that is where a book comes in handy.

 

I used the teacher CD for printing up notes, labs, worksheets, etc (you don't have to be online) and for some of the tests and answers. Plus they have the lists of the sheets etc to help you stay organized.

 

HTH,

Joan

Edited by Joan in Geneva
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What kind of news are you looking for? I purchased the disc of teacher's resources last summer. Both the Chemistry and Physics are on one disc, so it was quite a bargain. There are note taking guides, worksheets, quizzes, tests, and answers.

 

Did you tell them that you were a homeschooler? Will they sell the teacher disc without buying the videos? Will they sell to someone outside of Georgia? Lastly, was it a reasonable price:)?

 

I appreciate your help.

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I guess all my whining paid off, LOL. I was trying to get through on the phone and then my email was returned :glare:.

 

The lady said they won't sell the teacher's materials separately and if you are not a Georgia homeschooler/school teacher, you cannot get them free.

 

She said that if you purchase any one of their dvds from their GPB/Amazon store and forward the payment receipt/confirmation to her, then she will send you the teachers materials.

 

So that's how it works.

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Did you tell them that you were a homeschooler? Will they sell the teacher disc without buying the videos? Will they sell to someone outside of Georgia? Lastly, was it a reasonable price:)?

 

I appreciate your help.

 

When I purchased last year, the answers were:

 

yes, yes, yes, and yes (I think it was $29.95, which gives you both Chemistry and Physics resources).

 

ETA: they seem to have changes their policies from last year. See TejasMamacita's recent post.

Edited by MyThreeSons
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