quantum physics, black holes, time travel...

[Farrar]

So, one of my boys wants to learn about "all the weird stuff in physics" as one of his topics this year. He'll be in 7th grade. I don't know how extensive a topic this will turn out to be - sometimes we do things for a few weeks or a month and move on and I suspect this might, at this age, end up in that category.

 

But I seem to recall people posting some books that would be good for these topics - a series of some kind? Anyone have any other resources?

[Chrysalis Academy]

Are you thinking of Lucy Hawking's series - the George books?  Shannon really enjoyed those.

 

ETA: and just for fun, she liked Margaret Peterson Haddix's series - The Missing series in particular deals with time travel and the effects of changing the past on timelines, and various physicists through time as characters.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Miss Tick]

Have you already read A Wrinkle in Time?

 

Crash Course probably had some videos, but those are better for review after you've covered a topic.

 

We are heading into a science museum, I'll check out the bookstore for you!

[lisabees]

Neil Degrasse Tyson's Great Courses are very approachable for a 7th grader.

 

Fabric of the Cosmos was well received here too.

[8filltheheart]

Not sure what exactly you are looking for, but the images in this book are fabulous and it covers a lot of cosmos type topics in a non-technical way (which is going to be necessary for a 7th grader when it comes to quantum and black holes.) https://www.amazon.com/Wonders-Universe-Brian-Cox/dp/0062110543/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468940140&sr=8-2&keywords=wonders+of+the+universe

 

He also has a book on quantum, but I haven't seen it personally.  https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Universe-Anything-That-Happen-ebook/dp/B006U6IBEU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468940455&sr=8-1&keywords=quantum+brian+cox

Edited July 19, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[TKDmom]

I used to thumb through Alice in Quantumland at the bookstore--before I could afford actually buying books. :lol: I haven't read through, but it seemed very accessible before I studied quantum.

[shawthorne44]

I have a Physics degree and a trial period of Kindle Unlimited.   I found these the other day.       Quantum Physics: Superstrings, Einstein & Bohr, Quantum Electrodynamics, Hidden Dimensions and Other Most Amazing Physics Theories - Ultimate Beginner's Guide - 3rd Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Physics-Superstrings-Electrodynamics-Dimensions-ebook/dp/B00WPFOYKA/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468943689&sr=1-5&keywords=physics

 

 

Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities and Thought Experiments (For Kids series) 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Albert-Einstein-Relativity-Kids-Experiments-ebook/dp/B009K8NOHY/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468943771&sr=1-3&keywords=physics+kids

 

Teaching Quantum Physics and Dimensional Field Theory to Kids (Teaching Kids About Our Universe Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Quantum-Physics-Dimensional-Universe-ebook/dp/B00LT2TLRG/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468943849&sr=1-4&keywords=physics+kids+quantum

 

 

There is another one that *gasp* there is a charge for.  $1.99.  The title tickles me, though

 

Quantum Physics for Babies

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Physics-Babies-Chris-Ferrie-ebook/dp/B00KUZ7WDS/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468943966&sr=1-2&keywords=physics+kids+quantum

 

[Spryte]

Seconding Neil de Grasse Tyson's Great Courses.  The Inexplicable Universe would be a good start, and My Favorite Universe is a close second.  You could watch some episodes of Star Talk, too.  

 

Sort of springboarding off of that:  DS also enjoys listening to Michio Kaku.  

[Farrar]

Cool. Good ideas, guys, thanks.

 

We have read the George books already and Wrinkle in Time.

 

I hadn't thought about the Great Courses, but that could be cool. And some of these books look promising. He's gotten to where he can definitely read some adult nonfiction that's aimed at a wide audience (like nonfiction bestseller type stuff). I've been concerned though that some of the things on this topic, even when aimed at a wide audience, might still get too technical for him. I know this is a field of science that I often find overwhelming to read about.

[SanDiegoMom]

We are doing physics this year and I've amassed a list (okay a small list) of physics that we won't actually use because we are just going to use Newton at the Center and a few supplementary docs and shorter readings. Mine just aren't ready for that much information. :-)

 

Some were for me and some for them:

For the Love of Physics by Walter Levin

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku (my oldest daughter's favorite documentarian- Netflix had a lot of his shows a long time ago)

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel

The Physics of Superheroes by James Kaklios

 

Then of course my oldest' favorite show when she was in fifth or sixth- Strange Days at Blake Holsley High - about a boarding school with a wormhole. It was aimed at preteens and was a lot of fun and had a lot of science from what I can recall. For a tv sitcom at least. It might be on Netflix or YouTube.

[8filltheheart]

According to 2 of my kids, the ultimate wormhole series is Stargate (Atlantis is a fav with my physics geek. It was that and his physics class in 8th grade that led to majoring in physics.) :)

[8filltheheart]

Fred Bortz's subatomic particle books are another option.

http://www.fredbortz.com/Subatomic2004.htm

Edited July 20, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[Farrar]

I can't imagine I could ever convince my kids to watch Stargate. Sigh. Totally one of my guilty pleasure old shows.

 

Lots of good book options. I think if ds could read Kaku, that's exactly the sort of stuff he'd like to read about. We'll see what he can handle I guess...

[SparklyUnicorn]

Are you thinking of Lucy Hawking's series - the George books?  Shannon really enjoyed those.

 

ETA: and just for fun, she liked Margaret Peterson Haddix's series - The Missing series in particular deals with time travel and the effects of changing the past on timelines, and various physicists through time as characters.

 

We loved the George books.

[Alte Veste Academy]

My kids love Hazel Richardson's books, including How to Build a Time Machine. https://www.amazon.com/How-Build-Time-Machine/dp/0531139999/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1469037390&sr=8-5&keywords=How+to+build+a+time+machine

 

On another note, we all found the movie Interstellar very interesting regarding black holes and time. :lol: The science may or may not have been junk, but it inspired some interesting discussions.

[Farrar]

I think the book Alte Veste linked was one of the ones I'd seen and was trying to find again. He can definitely read that easily.

 

I'm starting to get sort of excited about this. Maybe I'll have him read HG Wells's The Time Machine for literature. I'm pretty sure he could tackle that and I needed some classics for his list...

Edited July 20, 2016 by Farrar

[Farrar]

Also, the logic board rocks. :D  I posted for other ds's next year's topics on the general board because I thought they were more... general. And I got way less help.

[Roadrunner]

My DS says Physics of the Impossible is the easiest to understand among Green and Kaku books.

[Kathleen.]

How the Universe Works on the Sci channel talks about these topics. Also, if your library has Hoopla you can check out their Great Courses titles and watch them from your computer.

[hellen]

Check out the Kurzgesagt videos on YouTube. There are some astronomy ones he might enjoy. He also might like the subatomic particle videos.

[shawthorne44]

How the Universe Works on the Sci channel talks about these topics. Also, if your library has Hoopla you can check out their Great Courses titles and watch them from your computer.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!    

 

I library that I am a member of is getting Hoopla in about a month.   I am beyond excited about that!   Great courses for download for free!    

 

I'd been pretty excited about Hoopla even before you told me that.   Someone here told me Hoopla had the Boxcar Children audiobooks.   Then while I was nosing around to see what they had, I found that they also had three e-books of later books in a series that are/were only available 30 miles away from home.   Now you add Great courses!   I am tingly.   

[Farrar]

Yeah, I looked and we don't have Hoopla. One of the neighboring systems does. I could probably go get a card from them - they are reciprocal with us. But then I have to go out there. And resist checking out physical books.

[SamanthaCarter]

Have you watched the movie Interstellar? Dimensions, black holes, passage of time - good one. Suitable for that age. 

 

My dh would have a lot of suggestions in answer to your question, but it looks like you've got a bunch of good stuff to work with already.

 

And off topic: I wanted to tell you how much I like your blog. Your tone and your voice are just perfect. :)

[Runningmom80]

I took extensive notes, thank you to all who posted and to Farrar for starting.  I don't know if my DS is ready for physics, but he loved A Wrinkle Time series so I'm going to get some of the lighter books and see what he thinks.

[SanDiegoMom]

I took extensive notes, thank you to all who posted and to Farrar for starting. I don't know if my DS is ready for physics, but he loved A Wrinkle Time series so I'm going to get some of the lighter books and see what he thinks.

If your ds likes Wrinkle in Time, check out "When You Reach Me". It references the book and is tied together with time travel. My kids loved it.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Listening in.  My oldest two kids are interested in these areas, too.  They've read a few of the books that have been mentioned but not many.  Time to order books from the library!

[Nicholas_mom]

My ds in Grade 6 used "A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo: A Guide to Particle Physics" https://www.amazon.com/Tour-Subatomic-Zoo-Particle-Physics/dp/1563966174?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

Totally accessible for middle school and high school.

 

We used Alice in Quantumland to supplement.  It was very good!  My son loved the book.

 

Then my ds wanted some these particle zoo characters from here http://www.particlezoo.net/shop.html

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

 

 

Then my ds wanted some these particle zoo characters from here http://www.particlezoo.net/shop.html

 

I better not show that website to my kids...

Edited July 22, 2016 by Lisa in the UP of MI

[hellen]

NOVA has short physics videos called What the Physics!? You can find the video on the PBS website or youtube.

 

Bill Bryson's book The Short History of Nearly Everything has a lot of physics.

[Nicholas_mom]

Oh, I forgot to add.....The Tour of the subatomic Zoo was found in the Library.  We live in Maryland. :)

[Tillmalo]

You might want to look at the Uncle Albert books by Russell Standard. (Black Holes and Uncle Albert, Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest) They are short reads similar style to the George series by Lucy Hawking. They have a fun "test" at the end that goes over the topics covered.

[RebeccaMary]

"The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics" by James Kakalios (written for adults) is another good math-lite intro to the topic - great for kids who like sci-fi and comic books.

 

I second the Kurzgegast suggestion - also check out the MinutePhysics quantum physics playlist and the SpaceTime videos (good but definitely more advanced).

 

For Black Holes, we liked "A Black Hole Is Not a Hole" by Carolyn DeCristofano and the Socratica video, "Intro to Black Holes" -- both are perfect for middle school.

 

One more adult book to check out is Stephen Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell," which deals with black holes, quantum physics, general relativity, time travel, and more. The illustrations are really good.