hopeallgoeswell Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I am doing physics next semester with two 8th graders. I really like LOF and was thinking of doing LOF physics with a kit of some sort. Any reviews? I already have snap circuits. Any good physic kits out there? I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002HABZU/ref=s9_simh_gw_p21_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0QW8TGW290MQ62H3179C&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccolopy Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 DS really liked that kit (we used it with Noeo), but we haven't used LOF Physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I am doing physics next semester with two 8th graders. I really like LOF and was thinking of doing LOF physics with a kit of some sort. Any reviews? I already have snap circuits. Any good physic kits out there? I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.co...&pf_rd_i=507846. Thank you! Do you have the LOF physics book? One of my kids is using it at the moment... well, actually taking a break from it because she got frustrated with the difficulty level of some of the problems. Anyway, the book seems to me more theoretical and mathematical rather than tying in with any physics experiments kits that I have seen. I suppose you could do experiments with the period of a pendulum, and slopes, but the book spends a lot of time talking about formulas and calculations of things that would be not so easy to measure in real life -- but these things work well for being the topic of math problems. Some topics in the first part of the book are constants of proportionality, Hooke's law, coefficient of friction, etc. If somebody ties LOF physics together with a series of experiments, I'd like to see the sequence. The book has a lot of topics I don't remember seeing in a middle school physics text, so making an experiment set to correspond with LOF physics could result in a program that would suit kids who have a strong interest in physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Do you have the LOF physics book? One of my kids is using it at the moment... well, actually taking a break from it because she got frustrated with the difficulty level of some of the problems. Anyway, the book seems to me more theoretical and mathematical rather than tying in with any physics experiments kits that I have seen. I suppose you could do experiments with the period of a pendulum, and slopes, but the book spends a lot of time talking about formulas and calculations of things that would be not so easy to measure in real life -- but these things work well for being the topic of math problems. Some topics in the first part of the book are constants of proportionality, Hooke's law, coefficient of friction, etc. If somebody ties LOF physics together with a series of experiments, I'd like to see the sequence. The book has a lot of topics I don't remember seeing in a middle school physics text, so making an experiment set to correspond with LOF physics could result in a program that would suit kids who have a strong interest in physics. This is interesting to hear. I'm thinking we'll do LOF Physics when we get to Story of Science/Newton, which will be halfway through 6th grade. This means we will have completed Fractions, Decimals, and probably at least half of Pre-A w/ Biology in math class before we get to LOF Physics, but judging from what people are saying about the difficulty, I think that will be fine. I'm not going to try to link it up topically with SOS/Newton, but I figured that going over the topics and concepts from a mathematical point of view at the same time we do it from a scientific and historical point of view will only be a good thing. But what do I know, I'm actually terrified of teaching physics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Have you looked at the Science Wiz kits? They have kits on Color, Inventions, Electricity, and a few others. The kits I have used so far (color, Chem, Chem+, DNA) have all been very high quality and a great value for the money. We are planning physics for next year, and regardless of what we do, we will include Science Wiz kits as part of our plan. They are fun, they work, they include what you need, they have great, clear instructions, and you can't beat the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I am searching for a strong college-prep math-heavy w/o Calc . . . (For my two highschoolers as a first physics course, older will be in Calc next year, younger will be in PreCalc or something along those lines, but I don't want to plunge into AP level w/o a first course.) and I stumbled on this . . . http://www.ucopenaccess.org/course/view.php?id=77 I've previewed the first lesson, and it looks spot on. They have an honors version, but it includes calculus from the get go. Now I'm trying to choose labs, b/c the labs in the above course are not homeschooler friendly, lol. Can anyone give me a link to details on the labpaq choices. I hate how the hide them! FWIW, I found the castle heights book on their website for sale as a pdf for $15, but not many details, so I'm still checking out options. I'd like something easy to implement, and I am willing to pay $$$ to make it so, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 btw, there are books to extend the Story of Science books - you might want to check out that for the hands-on part? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Have you looked at the Exploration Education kits? They are mostly physics with a little chem. http://www.explorationeducation.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 You could also check out Adaptive curriculum (8.00 at Learning.com) as they have a lot of physics simulations. I find them really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Have you looked at Timberdoodle? They have so many cool kits for different parts of physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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