DO Physics - how do the labs work?

[Matryoshka]

Dd is taking Zoology at the CC, and probably Chemistry there next year.

 

But I'm thinking if she ends up liking DO (just signed up for Alg2), we might go that route with Physics.  But I worry a bit about the labs.  Do we have to get materials together ourselves?  Are they virtual?

 

I have a baaad track record managing anything crafty or including a lot of materials to gather.  We did a science coop through all of elementary and middle school for just this reason!  I actually have the CPO car, track and timer, but I'm guessing DO doesn't use those - and I'm not doing CPO for high school because she just needs someone else to teach/grade and be accountable to...

 

So, how are those DO labs done??  I know people love the course, so please tell me it's somehow easy-peasy... :)

[quark]

It isn't too difficult. Not sure if he has changed anything since DS took it.

 

We used things we already had at home. A timer/ stop watch is good to have.

 

There was one lab where we needed to buy a small kit from DO (inexpensive). You may also rent it instead of buying it. And another where we had to buy a type of prismy thing.

 

ETA: we collected lab stuff for a while prior to starting to DO so we already had a number of the required/ useful materials.

Edited February 28, 2016 by quark

[quark]

Try this thread:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/344717-derek-owens-physics-lab-equipment/

[quark]

Oh and if IIRC there were 2 labs (or maybe only 1) that required the help of a second person. E.g. to time something or throw something while the other person observed and timed it.

[RootAnn]

We're in the middle of this, but DH usually helps manage the labs. We rented the lab kit that has some of the harder-to-find stuff (electronic circuit stuff, a prism). He sends it for some small charge ($6?) and you mail it back at your expense at the end of the class. (As quark mentioned, you can also just buy it straight out from him.)

 

So far, nothing else has been an issue. You need a stopwatch of some sort for many of the labs. String, a long board (rolling a ball + block for a friction exercise), protractor, small piece of cardboard. Otherwise, they have been clear & easy to do. Agree with the second person thing -- letting something go, throwing something, etc.

 

They are not virtual labs. There aren't a ton of them. Eight chapters have a lab. Some of them have two labs.