This is the absolute best, most complete high school level Physics course designed for kids who not only want to learn what physics is by doing it themselves, but also have greater ambitions and need to know this physics stuff so they can get paid in the real world to launch rockets to distant moons, build real working robots, develop new kinds of lasers, break the sound barrier several times over, and so much more.
The Introductory Physics course helps students recognize the nature and scope of physics and its relationship to the other sciences. Students will learn about basic topics such as motion, forces, energy, momentum, heat and heat transfer, waves, electricity, and magnetism. Students will be engaged in scientific inquiry, investigations, and labs so that they develop a conceptual understanding and basic scientific skills. The mathematics prerequisite skills are based on middle school mathematics topics such as data analysis, measurement, scientific notation, ratio and proportion, and algebraic expressions.
This course will not only prepare you for the ACT, SAT, DSST, and AP exams, it will also give you more than a solid foundation when you hit the college level. You can save time and money by finishing part of your college degree right alongside your high school work by testing out of classes using this physics course. You don’t have to be a genius in order to do this – anyone can do it that works through this course, and I am here to help you every step of the way.
Beware! Physics is based in math. Now before you panic or roll your eyes, note that you don’t need a high level of math in order to complete this course. I am going to walk you through every step of the way, and it’s best if you learn the math right alongside the science so that you can really understand why you’re learning that math stuff in the first place.
Step 1: Get organized.
You’ll need a three-ring binder, a pencil, and a printer, because this course has a lot of physics experiments, many of which have downloadable worksheets and data sheets that you can print out. I recommend building your science notebook incrementally as you go along, using a three hole punch on the worksheets you print out and complete and sticking it in a binder. You can also print out the individual homework sets that accompany each section, complete those and also stick them in the binder. Snap photos of yourself doing the experiments and paste them in, and you’ll have one amazing science notebook journal at the end of the year!
Download your Schedule Outline here.
If you’d like to keep a more rigorous science journal, you’ll want to check out my complete How to Keep Scientific Journal instructions. These are the ones I had my college students prepare with every lab they performed.
Step 2: Watch videos below in order.
You can jump around within this course, however it’s important to watch the first couple of videos in order before you launch into the course. There’s over 500 videos, about half of which are instructional content-type of videos, and the rest are experiment videos. They are both interspersed together so you get to do experiments as you learn about the concepts and academics at the same time.
You’ll also learn how to design experiments so you can measure and take data, make sense of your data and turn it into not only results to a problem, but make solutions and recommendations based on scientific evidence through the experiments they set up themselves. You can start by clicking on the links below, which will take you to a section of reading, instructional videos, and hands-on experiment labs, where you’ll see these concepts really come to life. You can go in any order, but it’s best if you do it from top to bottom as these concepts build on each other.
Here’s how to navigate through the website. Note that we’re re-structuring the navigation shortly, now that the bulk of the content is complete and published, so look for easier to use navigation soon! In the meantime, I made a quick video to show you how to get around in this area:
How to Get Started Right Now:
NOTE: There are 500+ videos embedded in the 50 sections that make up the 14 chapters listed below. Plan to spend about one week per 1-2 sections. You can do as many of the labs as you have equipment for (there are a lot to choose from!).
I. One-Dimensional Kinematics |
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1. Introduction
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3. Describing Motion with Equations
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2.Describing Motion with Diagrams
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4. Free Fall and the Acceleration of Gravity
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II. Newton’s Laws |
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1. Newton’s First Law of Motion
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3. Newton’s Second Law of Motion
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2. Forces
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4. Newton’s Third Law of Motion
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5. Applying Newton’s Laws of Motion
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III. Two Dimensional Kinematics |
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1. Vectors
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2. Projectile Motion
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IV. Conservation of Momentum |
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1. Momentum
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V. Work, Energy, and Power |
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1. Basic Concepts
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2. The Work-Energy Relationship
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VI. Circular Motion |
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1. Characteristics for Circular Motion
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3. Planetary and Satellite Motion
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2. Universal Gravitation
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VII. Thermodynamics |
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1. Thermal Physics
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VIII. Static Electricity |
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1. Basic Terminology and Concepts
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3. Electric Force
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2. Charging Methods
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4. Electric Fields
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IX. Current Electricity |
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1. Electric Potential Difference
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3. Electrical Resistance
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2. Electric Current
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4. Circuit Connections
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X. Waves |
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1. Vibrations
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4. Behavior of Waves
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2. The Nature of a Wave
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5. Standing Waves
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3. Properties of a Wave
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XI. Sound Waves |
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1. The Nature of a Sound Wave
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4. Resonance and Standing Waves
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2. Sound Properties
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5. Physics of Musical Instruments
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3. Behavior of Sound Waves
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XII. Light Waves |
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1. How Do We Know Light is a Wave?
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3. Two-Point Source Interference
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2. Color and Vision
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XIII. Reflection |
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1. Reflection and its Importance
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3. Concave Mirrors
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2. Image Formation in Plane Mirrors
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4. Convex Mirrors
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XIV. Refraction |
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1. Refraction at a Boundary
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4. Interesting Refraction Phenomena
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2. The Mathematics of Refraction
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5. Image Formation by Lenses
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3. Total Internal Reflection
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6. The Eye
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XV. Test Practice Sessions |
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Click here to go to your VERY LAST lesson… Dream BIG! |