Physics for 6th Grade--Help me Choose Resources

[julikins]

I've been scouring posts here on the forum about physics and have been looking at multiple posts from Charlotte Mason, Wildflowers and Marbles, Guest Hollow, Eclectic Homeschooler and several other websites for resources for 1 (ONE) semester of Physics for my 6th grade son.

 

And what I thought originally was a lack of resources, I have now realized is an abundance and I have no idea how to pare it down into one semester.

 

Here are my goals for my 6th grade son:

--Give him a desire to learn more on his own

--Must be fun and informational but not overwhelming

--encourage him to pursue this area life long if that is his desire

--I want it to be hands on for him and not exhausting for me :)

 

His visual spatial intelligence was tested off the chart, but he's never studied physics before. He's only in 6th grade, so he can't handle the math involved yet. He will be doing one semester of Chemistry using McHenry's Elements and Carbon Chemistry first then this. Please let me know what you have used and if you loved or hated it or in between and WHY. The resources with asterisks mean that I've heard good reviews. I realize that more is not always better and we live overseas so getting the resources down here is a challenge. But I'm willing to do it if it will be effective for him. And, we are Christians, so keep that in mind. Thank you!

 

So here are the resources I have found:

 

Spines:

RS4K Physics

Exploration Education*

Bite-Size Physics—by Science Jim*

The Wonders of Physics by Irving Adler

Apologia’s Exploring Chemistry and Physics*

CK12's Middle School Physical Science

CPO Physical Science

Tiner's Exploring the World of Physics*

Life of Fred Physics

Newton and Physics for Kids*

 

Resources:

The New Way Things Work (own) (could be used as spine?)

Basher Book about Physics (which one?)

Asimov's Breakthroughs in Science

Backyard Ballistics*

Mistakes that Worked (Charlotte Jones)

Rube Goldberg Inventions

Gismos and Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions

Physics for Every Kid

Engineering for Every Kid

Machines: Mind Boggling Experiments You can Turn into Science Fair Projects

Simple Machines: Starting with Science

That Wind at Word

Can you feel the Force?

The Cartoon Guide to Physics

The Physics Coloring Book

Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics

Usborne Book of Science

Simple Machines for Beginners

 

Documentaries:

The Way Things Work by Coursera

Eureka! Series on Physics topics

Mythbusters—Hindenburg Mystery

 

Memory work:

The Way Things Work Game

 

 

Output: Use the Thames and Kosmos set or Exploration Education projects to build what they are studying. Perhaps do an experiment sheet with hypothesis and explaining outcome.. Consider using a Engineering Notebook or 3-Ring Binder to record vocabulary and sketches of projects that have been built as well as in the design phase.

 

Projects:

Thames and Cosmos Set—Physics Workshop, Magnetic Science

Project Based Engineering

Steve Spangler—Sick Science Fast Physics Kit

Geyser Tube with Caps

Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes (own)

Snap Circuits Electronics Kit or something similar

Erector Set

K’Nex Simple Machines Kit (levers and pulleys, gears, wheels, axles and inclined planes

 

Reading:

 

• Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)

• Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Cwiklik

• Isaac Newton: Mastermind of Modern Science by David C. Knight

• Galileo and Experimental Science by Rebecca B. Marcus

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

• What was the Gold rush? , Who was Isaac Newton?, Who was Galileo? Series

• Sky Sailors: True Stories of the Balloon Era

• Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France

• You Wouldn’t Want to be…series. A 19th Century Coal Miner in England

• Book on Thomas Edison

• Book on Albert Einstein

• Magic School Bus Books: The Electric Field Trip

• Castles Under Siege

• How do you Lift a Lion

 

I removed the Fred Borst item to put in my Chemistry class for the previous semester.

Edited January 7, 2016 by julikins

[julikins]

Thoughts, anyone?

[SilverMoon]

We adored Bite-size Physics! It was easy for a kid to run, used hands on projects to teach the concepts, and really inspired a love of science in one of mine. The one who already loved science found it very interesting. I'd totally use it again.

[mlktwins]

We adored Bite-size Physics! It was easy for a kid to run, used hands on projects to teach the concepts, and really inspired a love of science in one of mine. The one who already loved science found it very interesting. I'd totally use it again.

Did you do standard and advanced and for what age? I am interested in this for my soon to be 6th graders. I want them to be challenged, but not totally overwhelmed. They enjoy science, but it is not a passion.

[SilverMoon]

Did you do standard and advanced and for what age? I am interested in this for my soon to be 6th graders. I want them to be challenged, but not totally overwhelmed. They enjoy science, but it is not a passion.

I'm not sure what standard or advanced means for Bite-size. We just opened the book and did what was next. They did nearly every project, all the reviews, but we skipped the occasional math application section. The kids were a precocious 4th grader and a science loving 6th grader who jumped in to "help" his little sister (the advanced 4th grader) do the projects. Previously the younger one had decided any non-nature science was boring; after finishing Bite-size she asked to do chemistry and considered science a favorite. The older one had already covered a fair amount of physics concepts, but had a great time jumping into sister's Bite-size anyway. My goals were expanding the little one's horizons and solid science concepts; it accomplished both.

Edited January 6, 2016 by SilverMoon

[FredBortz]

Thanks for including my 2004 series on subatomic particles.

It has been revised and updated as Exploring the Subatomic World with two new titles and a 2016 copyright date.

The revised titles are

Understanding Protons

Understanding Neutrons

Understanding Electrons

Understanding Photons

Understanding Neutrinos

Understanding Quarks

 

The new titles are

Understanding Higgs Bosons

Understanding The Large Hadron Collider

 

Details at http://www.fredbortz.com/Subatomic.htm

[mlktwins]

I'm not sure what standard or advanced means for Bite-size. We just opened the book and did what was next. They did nearly every project, all the reviews, but we skipped the occasional math application section. The kids were a precocious 4th grader and a science loving 6th grader who jumped in to "help" his little sister (the advanced 4th grader) do the projects. Previously the younger one had decided any non-nature science was boring; after finishing Bite-size she asked to do chemistry and considered science a favorite. The older one had already covered a fair amount of physics concepts, but had a great time jumping into sister's Bite-size anyway. My goals were expanding the little one's horizons and solid science concepts; it accomplished both.

Apparently, I was confused this morning -- LOL. I meant to ask about Bite-Size, but confused it with Exploration Education when I asked about standard vs. advanced.

 

Did you just read the books, do the experiments, and watch some videos? The books are on sale at Currclick at the moment. Did you just print them out and read from there? Did you do all of the books?

[SilverMoon]

Apparently, I was confused this morning -- LOL. I meant to ask about Bite-Size, but confused it with Exploration Education when I asked about standard vs. advanced.

 

Did you just read the books, do the experiments, and watch some videos? The books are on sale at Currclick at the moment. Did you just print them out and read from there? Did you do all of the books?

 

I printed the whole Bite-size Physics book out and put it in a binder. We don't do well with e-curricula unless it's an app or a Kindle book. We just worked through the book in order, and didn't do any videos.

 

Read the descriptions well on Currclick. That's where I purchased ours too. If I recall correctly, the main Physics title is made of a few of the smaller titles (Sound, etc). If you buy them all you'll have duplicates.

[mlktwins]

I printed the whole Bite-size Physics book out and put it in a binder. We don't do well with e-curricula unless it's an app or a Kindle book. We just worked through the book in order, and didn't do any videos.

 

Read the descriptions well on Currclick. That's where I purchased ours too. If I recall correctly, the main Physics title is made of a few of the smaller titles (Sound, etc). If you buy them all you'll have duplicates.

 

Yes, I need to print too :-).  Thanks for this.  I will get the main book first and double check.  I don't think it has Forces in it, but has the other ones.  Thanks again!

[julikins]

Thank you for sharing about Bite-Sized Physics. I will look into it more. It's encouraging that it can be downloaded, cause shipping to South America can be expensive and sometimes it doesn't get here. I've eliminated some of the content as I look it over, but am not sure. I've also been thinking about making it a Science year, having history be included in a study of science (how science developed over time) and reading biographies. Does that sound like overkill? I feel like doing a totally separate history curriculum will not allow my son to delve as deeply as he would otherwise. So those are my thoughts. I'll edit the original post to reflect the items I've eliminated already.

 

So does anyone else have comments about any of the other resources you've used? Why do you love or hate them?

[PeachyDoodle]

We are doing Physics this year using Noeo and have enjoyed the Thames and Kosmos Physics Workshop. For the most part, dd has been able to build the projects herself (dh has had to step in a couple of times), and they give her a good understanding of the concepts.

[julikins]

Is it overkill or helpful to do a Thames and Kosmos Physics Workshop set (or something similar) with Bite-Size Physics? I think I've brought it down to Bite-Size for the spine and just want to add a few biographies, extra reading and kits, if needed. What say you all?

[SilverMoon]

Is it overkill or helpful to do a Thames and Kosmos Physics Workshop set (or something similar) with Bite-Size Physics? I think I've brought it down to Bite-Size for the spine and just want to add a few biographies, extra reading and kits, if needed. What say you all?

Sounds fabulous to me. There are oodles of hands on lessons in Bite-size, but mine would have loved a kit too.

[julikins]

When I looked at Currclick to buy the Bite-size Physics I was confused.  Do I buy the Physics book or the Forces book or the kit that has the videos with it.  I'm just confused as to what we're talking about here.  And is it for real that it's only $7 ish right now?

 

[mlktwins]

When I looked at Currclick to buy the Bite-size Physics I was confused. Do I buy the Physics book or the Forces book or the kit that has the videos with it. I'm just confused as to what we're talking about here. And is it for real that it's only $7 ish right now?

If you go to his actual website, it says the main book (the $7) one contains all the other books except Forces. I did not understand the bundle and the much higher $$$. I bought the main book for $7 and the Forces book for around $4. I just printed mine and had them bound.