Vector64 Home Education Science Page
This page contains my comments on science education and related
resources, both in print and on the web.
Aerospace
MIT Open Courseware has a set of video lectures from Aircraft Systems Engineering, Fall 2005 which has a bunch of videos around the Space Shuttle.
Anatomy
UC Berkeley IB 131 General Human Anatomy (Fall 2006) Course Video
.
Astronomy
We used to borrow books on astronomy from Boston College for our son
when he was at the elementary grades and he used to go through them.
These were frequently college-level introductory texts. There are a lot
of web resources for pictures these days that may be engaging for
children. At some point, I should grab the resources from my old pages.
For now, I'll just post a few links to video courses.
Biology
Our son took AP Biology from PA Homeschooler using Campbell Biology (AP
Edition). The course involved a lot of work and he fell very ill during
the class and was able to study the materials but had problems with
doing many of the assignments. The text seems to be commonly used in
university biology courses and I was happy with the level of material
that our son went through in the course.
MIT Open Courseware has a set of video lectures from 7.012 Introduction to Biology, Fall 2004.
I think that the videos here in combination with their recitations and
a good textbook like Campbell make for a good introduction to biology
for the homeschooled student. I've only viewed the first lecture but
the presenter is a good presenter, engaging, and a good lecturer. MIT
has three introductory sessions that cover the same core material but
the courses focus on different things. 7.012 focuses on current
research in cell biology, immunology, neurobiology, genomics and
molecular structure. 7.013, Spring 2006
focuses on the application of fundamental principles towards
understanding human biology and provides only a few video lectures and
many audio lectures. 7.014 Spring 2005 "focuses on the application of these fundamental principles, toward an
understanding of microorganisms as geochemical agents responsible for
the evolution and renewal of the biosphere and of their role in human
health and disease."
OCW also has some videos from Introduction to Bioengineering (BE.010J), Spring 2006 which I haven't looked at yet but I think that it provides some introduction to the discipline.
UC Berkeley has videos for Bio 1A General Biology Lecture (Spring 2007), Bio 1B General Biology (Spring 2007) and Bio 1AL General Biology Laboratory (Spring 2007) which is a normal one-year sequence in biology.
Chemistry
- MIT Open Courseware has a set of video lectures from 5.111 Principles of Chemical Science, Fall 2005 which is an introductory course to chemistry. OCW also has a set of videos that constitutes their Digital Lab Techniques Manual which goes over lab techniques.
- UC Berkeley has their Chem 1A Introduction to Chemistry (Fall 2007).
Berkeley has many sections of this class and I liked this one and the
one from Fall 2005 in terms of presenters. Berkeley also has one
section for Chem 1B General Chemistry (Spring 2004). I think that the Berkeley presentation has a bit less in terms of expectations of the knowledge of chemistry coming in.
- Sample
Movies from Chemistry Comes Alive! provides a number of free
quicktime chemistry movies. They also sell multimedia materials for
learning about chemistry.
- Chemistry, A Course For 'O' Level, Federal
Publications, Singapore, high-school. Quick and to the
point.
- Chemistry: The Central Science, by Brown, Lemay
and Bursten, Prentice Hall. Common college introductory
text. Text looks pretty good.
- The Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things,
Carl Snyder, John Wiley and Sons, 1995. College-level text
for the non-major. Quite interesing and fun reading.
- Chemistry by Zumhdahl. A book that I picked up many years ago which was a standard university text.
Earth Sciences
Geology
Physics
- MIT Open Courseware has a set of video lectures from 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999, 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002, 8.03 Physics III: Vibrations and Waves, Fall 2004. I haven't reviewed these materials yet.
- UC Berkeley has a conceptual physics course on video at Physics 10 Descriptive Introduction to Physics and another called Physics 10 Physics for Future Presidents (Fall 2006).
- learner.org videos The Mechanical Universe and Beyond 52 half-hour videos for college and high-school learners
- Motion Mountain: Online Physics Textbook This appears to be a complete physics textbook. I haven't reviewed the pieces yet but it's on my todo list.
- Light and Matter Physics online textbook (Algebra-based)
- Simple Nature Physics online textbook (Calculus-Based)
- Yale University Fundamentals of Physics (video) Good, clear explanations and humor. Covers a lot of material.
- Explaining Physics, GCSE Edition, Oxford
University Press, high-school. Somewhat dry.
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers, by Paul Tipler, Worth Publishers. We borrowed an earlier
edition via Interlibrary loan and it looked great.
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Raymond
Serway, HBJ, 1995. Classic introductory calculus-based
college text. Our son has been working his way though this book for a while and finds it an enjoyable text.
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. I,
R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, M. Sands. Addison Wesley,
1963. Recommended by other homeschoolers.
- Prisons of Light by Kitty Ferguson,
Cambridge University Press, 1996. Found this at the public
library. It's a nice layman's text for black holes.
- What do you care what other people think?: further
adventures of a curious character, by Richard P
Feynman, as told to Ralph Leighton. BC Bapst QC16.F49 A3
1988.
- No ordinary genius: the illustrated Richard Feynman,
by Christopher Sykes. BC QC16.F49 A3 1994
- Six Easy Pieces : Essentials of Physics Explained by Its
Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard P. Feynman, et al.
BC QC21.2 .F52 1995.
- QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter,
Feynman. BC QC793.5.P422F48 1985.
- Physics Over Easy: Breakfasts with Beth and Physics,
by Leonid V Azaroff, World Scientific Publishing, 1996.
A book containing 18 breakfast conversations between a
physicist and his wife on physics. Geared for those with
some college background but probably adaptable to use with
children.
- Where Puddles Go: Investigating Science with Kids
by Michael Strauss, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 1995. This
is an engaging book on topics of physics aimed at children.
Each chapter contains a dialogue between a parent and a
child, a description of the topic, related experiments and
questions to write and draw.
- Physics for kids: 49 easy experiments with
acoustics, by Robert W. Wood, Tab Books, 1991.
BC ERC QC 225.5.W66 1991. Lots of drawing and lots of
easy experiments for young kids.
- Physics for kids: 49 easy experiments with electricity
and magnetism, ERC QC527.2 .W66 1990.
- Physics for kids: 49 easy experiments with heat,
ERC QC256 .W66 1990.
- Physics for kids: 49 easy experiments with
mechanics, ERC QC127.4 .W66 1989.
- Physics for kids: 49 easy experiments with optics,
ERC QC381 .W88 1990.
- From Alchemy to Quarks: The Study of Physics as a
Liberal Art, Sheldon Glashow, Brooks/Cole, 1994.
Used as a physics course for non-science majors at
Harvard University. Covers history and laymens information
on physics. There are some problem sets too that require
algebra.
- Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a
curious character, Richard P. Feynman as told to Ralph
Leighton. BC QC16.F49 A37 1985.
- No ordinary genius: the illustrated Richard Feynman,
by Christopher Sykes. BC QC16.F49 A3 1994
- The Character of Physical Law, Feynman, 1965.
A fun readable book with a lot of interesting things that
doesn't require a physics degree to read. Also provides
quite an interesting chapter about the relation of
mathematics to physics.
Oceanography
Psychology
General Online Resources
- The Free Science Online blog
has links to multimedia (video and audio) courses and course material
on math, science and many other subjects. I've found the blog useful
for locating useful materials.
Last updated on February 2, 2008 Return to
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