High School Science for Homeschoolers: Physics 101
High School Science for Homeschoolers: Physics 101, was made possible with a copy of Physics 101 from The 101 Series for review as part of the Homeschool Review Crew. Affiliate links are used in this post which means we may earn a commission from your purchase at no charge to you.
When you mention high school science in a room of homeschool parents, I can practically guarantee there will be an audible groan.
Not everyone is comfortable with teaching this subject area.
Whether it is something you never mastered in school or a subject you never want to see again, science can be a sticky point.
Some kids have even lost their sense of wonder about God’s creation through the study of science.
Instead, it becomes their own subject of dread.
Today, I get to share with you a program that removes the burden of teaching your child the material.
And, they might even like it!
About Physics 101 for High School Science
Physics 101 is one of three programs from The 101 series. The others are Chemistry 101 and Biology 101.
Wes Olson is a veteran filmmaker as well as a homeschool dad. Using a script carefully put together by real scientists, he walks the viewer through the material. The objective for their productions is to “provide easy to use, understandable and visually rich highschool-level homeschool curriculum.”
For physics, the student is learning about the principles and laws which drive the natural world. The material is always presented with an eye towards God as Creator.
Each of the topics is a separate video segment ranging in length from 20 to 45 minutes.
On one of the discs, you will find a printable guidebook showing how to make this program a one-year high school class as well as quizzes.
The accreditation handbook lays everything out for each unit in checklist fashion.
Beyond watching the segment (twice), the student spends time answering discussion questions found in the guidebook, researching particular topics, conducting labs, and ultimately taking a quiz to assess knowledge.
That checklist also marks an estimated amount of time spent per activity.
Topics Covered in Physics 101:
1. Introduction to Physics
The Physics of Light
2. Light and Color
3. Mirrors and Lenses
4. Invisibility and Speed of Light
The Physics of Sound
5. Introduction to Sound
6. Acoustics: the Sound of Music
The Physics of Heat
7. What is Fire?
8. The Three Laws of Thermodynamics
9. Refrigeration: Hot and Cold
The Physics of Electricity
10. What is Electricity?
11. Outlets and Circuits
12. Batteries and the Electromagnetic Spectrum
The Physics of Motion
13. The Life of Isaac Newton
14. The Universal Law of Gravity
15. The 1st Law of Motion
16. The 2nd and 3rd Laws of Motion
The Physics of The Weird
17. The Life of Albert Einstein
18. Relativity
19. Quantum Mechanics
The Future of Physics
20. The future of Physics
Our Thoughts on Physics 101 for High School Science
Love, love, love….that’s what this science-trained homeschool mother thinks.
I love that they take a conceptual approach to a subject often hated because of the math involved.
This is why the high school physics class I am teaching is more about the concepts than the math.
More people can understand the general ideas of physics without having to work through the underlying math!
As a busy homeschool mom, I love that the student can plug and play with this material.
Pop in the DVD, watch your segment, and then do associated activities to build up to your 180 hours of work for the year.
The overall production is well done, too.
Wes presents everything spot on.
With the full use of multimedia in the production, students can see things in action along with hearing a verbal explanation.
And, if they are following the checklist, each video is watched twice.
While some kids (and parents) might balk at watching the same educational video twice, I firmly believe repetition is a GOOD thing.
The balance of ‘data input’ (from the video and research) with ‘data output’ (in the form of discussion questions, labs, and a quiz) should do an excellent job teaching the major concepts.
How We Have Been Using Physics 101
For this review, I used the material in a supplemental fashion.
We already have a textbook that does a conceptual approach.
However, I know that sometimes you need to have the material presented in multiple ways before it can sink in.
As our main book has a different progression, we’ve skipped around in Physics 101.
One morning as I prepped the house for high school boys to dive into physics experiments, I watched the introductory lesson.
I was BLOWN away with the overall quality.
Not only was everything presented in a friendly manner, but it totally aligned with the approach I’ve used for physics in high school with my boys.
Since we have been working on the “mechanics” end of the things, the later sections on the physics of motion are what we’ve also viewed.
Would I consider using only Physics 101 for a full high school science credit?
Probably not.
But, that’s also because I have a physical text that is loved and fits very well with the Physics 101 material. Rather, I see it as an excellent tool to work in concert with that text to help solidify understanding of the concepts of physics.
And, this homeschool mama can’t wait to keep digging into this resource as the year progresses.
After all, we still have all the fun of light, sound, thermodynamics, and electricity to work through this year.
Do you struggle with teaching high school science?
Would this kind of DVD based program be a fit for your family?
UPDATE: We’ve now used this disc for two boys and still love it. We’ve also used Biology 101 and have Chemistry 101 on order. Amazon offers both of those, too. That is 3 years of high school science.
Don’t just take my word for how we found this to be. Visit The 101 Series post on the Homeschool Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about this course and other ones.
Hello,
I too am interested in the curriculum guide. I like the looks of the Conceptual Physics text, but am needing some help putting a course together.
I am planning on using the Conceptual Physics text as my base and Physics 101 videos as a supplement. Do you have any lesson plans that correlate the 2 resources together? This is my first time through Physics as a homeschool mom, and I could use all the help I can get!
Hi Neisha
I have been working on lesson plans for the high school science subjects I have taught to groups. I am happy to let you know when they are ready.
Please do! This is my first time teaching physics to my high schooler, and I’m a bit overwhelmed.
So if I buy the contextual physics book you recommended, does access to the videos (link to video screenshots in your post to Dawn) come with it, or is it a separate purchase? I realize the lab kit is a separate purchase. Also, why do you have these videos, plus subscribe to Physics 101? Are those vids insufficient? Thanks for your help.
Hi Rachel,
I’ll start by saying that I do like the Physics 101 video set. The material is presented well and I have found that visuals can help cement concepts beyond what reading a textbook can do.
However, the Physics 101 videos and curriculum guide (pdf file) are not as rigorous as most high school science curriculum options. If a student has zero interest in entering STEM fields, then it would be fine. For a student who may be considering math or science fields, they should have a bit more depth.
When I have taught physics for homeschoolers, I use the Conceptual Physics textbook for our base. As the title implies, the focus is on the concepts first, math second. It only needs algebra for math unlike some high school physics classes that go into caculus.
The other videos I reference (Hewitt Drew-It) are by the author of the Conceptual Physics text. They reiterate what is in the text and are a good supplement for some students. I occasionally referenced them for my students to watch between classes (and a few times we watched together.)
When I taught the full-year course, I used some of the Physics 101 videos in class, too. The students benefitted from a different presentation of material compared to the text. And it kept me from talking all the time.
And the QSL lab kits were the basis for most of our lab work. (Not all, though.) While I initially found them expensive, that cost dwindled when I calculated out the per student cost. And most of the materials are reusable. So, I have been able to use those kits with more than one of my boys.
Does that help? I am planning to put together a curriculum plan for teaching physics using Conceptual Physics with the hopes it will be available by the summer.
Help! I have a non math-loving rising 12th grade son who is going into a precision machining career. He is in a 2 year program. He is probably going to pursue an associates in mechanical engineering but we need to get him up to speed in his math first. What is the “conceptual physics textbook” you loved? He loves science but hates textbook curriculum but he loves to read so I’m willing to give it a try! We loved Chemistry 101 and will look for Physics 101 to help with our learning this year. Thank you!
Hi Dawn!
The textbook we use is Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt.
This takes you to a list of several editions of the text, some available to rent.
https://amzn.to/3hAmS5Y
The specific edition we’ve used is this one: https://amzn.to/3llZtav
Screencasts of the author going through concepts can be found here: http://www.conceptualphysics.com/hewitt-drew-it.html
And the lab kit I’ve used for teaching physics was reviewed here:
https://daybydayinourworld.com/quality-science-labs-physics-experiments/
You just need basic algebra for Conceptual Physics.
I don’t know about for an associates degree, but I do know my eldest had a lot of upper level math for his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He actually found that Calculus was easier for him than some of algebra.