A list from the Ohio Association for Gifted Children is copied below.
Physics Resources for Gifted Students
• Conceptual Physics text by Paul Hewitt – Many gifted middle schoolers enjoy this as an introduction to physics (helpful for younger and older students also, depending on the interest and ability level of the student).
http://www.conceptualphysics.com/• EPGY’s online AP Physics B course – Many gifted kids have successfully used this course. Introductory college level. Student is prepared to take the AP Physics B exam after successful completion of this course. Visual lectures with animation and color.
http://epgy.stanford.edu/courses/physics/• MIT Open Courseware. Free. Class list available here:
http://ocw.zju.edu.cn/OcwWeb/Global/all-courses.htm#Physics. A popular physics class is taught by the amazing Professor Lewin. All the materials, including video lectures, problem sets, and exams, except for the textbook, are on the MIT website.
http://ocw.zju.edu.cn/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFall1999/CourseHome/index.htm. • Two free AP Physics online courses (B and C) here:
http://www.archive.org/details/ap_courses Click on the course you want, then when you get there, click on the lesson you want, then look to the left hand side of the page where it says "click to start this lesson".
• Physics C lectures/lessons and book recommendations here:
http://www.courserepository.org/.• AP Physics approved sample syllabi example textbook list here:
http://www.collegeboard.com/html/apcourseaudit/courses/physics_c.html• Kinetic Books says on their website that their Physics for Scientists and Engineers digital course has now been approved for AP, and they provide virtual labs as well. It costs $50 for the CD version of the course and $30 for the labs, a little less for the one-year web access version.
http://www.kineticbooks.com/index.html• The College Board answers some questions about AP courses and middle school here:
http://www.collegeboard.com/html/apcourseaudit/faq.html• Physics with Calculus, by Craig Fletcher. The books come in two volumes, designed as a self-teaching course.
http://faculty.polytechnic.org/cfletcher/Particle Physics Resources
• The Particle Adventure - Intro particle physics tutorial with some “activity” sheets (though some are simply quizzes).
http://www.cpepweb.org/particles.html• Handbook of Engaged Learning Projects - a page of primarily science-based projects (some are interdisciplinary) for elementary through high school level students.
http://ed.fnal.gov/help/index.html • Data-based Investigations from Fermilab - data-based investigation such as “Calculate the Top Quark Mass”, “Investigate Special Relativity”, “Search for Higgs”, and “Cosmic Rays”.
http://ed.fnal.gov/data/• Streaming video of the parts of a particle detector
http://quarknet.fnal.gov/run2/boudreau.shtml • Searching For the Building Blocks of Matter On-line Tutorial
http://ed.fnal.gov/projects/exhibits/searching/ • Particle Physics Interactive Timeline
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/inquiring/timeline/index.html Miscellaneous
• "Physics 10: Physics for Future Presidents" by Professor Richard A. Muller of UC Berkeley, a series of 26 lectures, each 1.25 hrs. A good introduction to basic physics concepts. Dr. Muller presents the material in a clear and engaging way. Free on youtube and podcasted on iTunes:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=095393D5B42B2266• Muller also wrote a book for the general public (and also a textbook), same title:
http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Future-Presidents-Science-Headlines/dp/0393066274. • UC Berkeley has many courses available online:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ucberkeley• Richard Feynman's lectures. Streaming videos:
http://freescienceonline.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-feynman-physics-video-lectures.html• The Teaching Company has a course "Physics in Your Life" by Wolfson here:
http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=1260. Enjoyable for all ages, paced in half hour segments, includes demonstrations of classic experiments. Check the library; if not in holdings, wait for a Teaching Company sale. The Teaching Company also has String Theory and much, much more.
• Chad Orzel has a preliminary copy of the first chapter of his book, Quantum Physics for Dogs here:
http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2008/09/quantum_physics_for_dogs_previ.php If you like that, you might enjoy his other blog posts that involve talking about physics with his dog, Emmy:
http://scienceblogs.com/principles/physics/physics_with_emmy/• The Flying Circus of Physics is a text with online supplemental material. “Curious events and effects of the everyday world”
http://www.flyingcircusofphysics.com/index.aspx
DS likes it. Thanks for the recommendation.
