anyone used Georgia Public Broadcasting for physics? [Archive] - The Well-Trained Mind Forums (aka Hive Mind)

Joan in Geneva

07-18-2009, 04:49 AM

This just came up on the hs2coll group...these are science courses developed for rural schools that cannot get qualified science teachers.

There are two semesters each of physics and chemistry with video teacher, student note-taking sheets, and labs for each episode.

http://www.gpb.org/chemistry-physics

I'm very curious if anyone has used these and their analysis of them - level of math required, covery of topics, etc. Also do you know the book that they use? (In the first episode, the teacher is holding up a book but it is too small to see the publisher.)

I'm going to write to see if they will give home ed'ers the teaching materials...

It's amazing this is free on the net.

MyThreeSons

07-18-2009, 08:49 AM

Let me know what you find out about teachers materials for homeschoolers. I'm out of state -- I wonder if they'd share with me? LOL -- I see you're even farther away than I am.

ETA: In the falling objects lesson, they show an astronaut on the moon dropping a hammer and a feather to show they have the same acceleration. I'd love to find that clip separately to show my co-op students.

debbiec

07-18-2009, 10:14 PM

I used it for ME when I was helping teach a class at our tutorial (trying to refresh my memory on long ago concepts. DS is taking Chem this year and I will probably use it as a supplement to his textbook as needed. I really like it.

MyThreeSons

07-19-2009, 08:08 AM

Or did you just view the videos? I'd really like to be able to view the labs, but you have to have access for that.

ETA: I just emailed to request access to the teachers resources. I'll let y'all know what I hear.

oliveview

07-19-2009, 08:54 AM

ETA: In the falling objects lesson, they show an astronaut on the moon dropping a hammer and a feather to show they have the same acceleration. I'd love to find that clip separately to show my co-op students.

Not to hijack the OP, but I saw this video within the last 3 days! There is a great series going on right now on the Science Channel called The 100 Greatest Discoveries and it is hosted by Bill Nye. It was, of course, on the physics episode. I can't say enough about the show, as it is very good! I see on the website that they only have a clip from the episode. Maybe in the next few days they will have more.

http://science.discovery.com/convergence/100discoveries/100discoveries.html

Joan in Geneva

07-19-2009, 02:59 PM

I used it for ME when I was helping teach a class at our tutorial (trying to refresh my memory on long ago concepts.

Did you then notice any topics that weren't covered well in the physics videos compared to the topics your class was covering?

Laura, I was asking about the book because I really want materials that ds can peruse offline without too much juggling (matching up materials) by me. (Though he is signed up for a German course that is all online :-)).

I too have emailed them and even offered to pay for the teacher materials (I am pretty far away as you say and they may consider me a foreigner).

We're supposed to be going camping in the mountains now as the weather has gotten better, so I might not be able to answer this for awhile.:-)

Jenny in Atl

07-19-2009, 06:07 PM

Thank you so much for posting the link! I just may find a way to squeeze these in.

MyThreeSons

07-22-2009, 07:51 PM

For $19.95, you get teachers materials for both the Chemistry and Physics courses!
Chemistry and Physics Resource Materials for Educators

This CD contains over 500 pages of student and teacher print materials in PDF format for Chemistry: A Study of Matter and the same number and type of resources for Physics Fundamentals. Student materials include note-taking guides, work sheets, lab activities, and review sheets. Keys to all are included in the teacher materials, as are quizzes, tests, and their answer keys. In addition, teachers are given daily lesson plans to help in gathering materials for the day and in pacing the lessons.

Go to this site and click on Physics Funamentals:

http://www.shopgpb.com

Combined with the videos available online, this should make an excellent supplement to any textbook. I'm getting ready to order now.

MyThreeSons

07-22-2009, 08:11 PM

It has tons of resources for BOTH Chemistry and Physics on the one disk. (See my other post with the quote from the Shop GPB website.) It was $19.95, plus $9.88 for UPS Ground shipping. I'll let you know how I like it when it arrives.

MyThreeSons

07-28-2009, 05:53 PM

A quick summary:

It has files for both Chemistry and Physics. Each course is contained within a folder on the disk. Within that folder are separate folders for each chapter. Each chapter's folder has a bunch of PDF files -- some have over 60 files. The files include a lesson plan for each chapter, detailing day-by-day which video to watch and which activities to do. Then there are the NTGs -- Note Taking Guides, which are outlines with blanks for the students to fill in. (If I remember correctly, these are on the website.) There are answer keys for each of the NTGs. There are worksheets and solutions for the worksheets (not just answers). There are review sheets, quizzes and tests, all also with solutions. There are labs, some with data sheets, graphs, etc.

I am really pleased with this resource!! I hope to be able to correlate it to Apologia Physics, which I teach at our co-op. I will share the info with our co-op's Chemistry teacher as well.

The CD cost was $19.95 and shipping was $9.88 (as best as I can remember). I ordered it late last week and received it today.

HTH

Joan in Geneva

08-05-2009, 04:01 PM

the teaching disk too. For overseas shipping they wanted $76! So I had to get it sent to my relatives and don't have it yet.

Laura - I'm quite anxious to see the teacher's disk as I'm trying to work out lesson plans....with 28 episodes for the 1st semester, + 7 reviews + 7 tests that only comes to 42 classes....Are you able to estimate other classwork from the disk? You are filling in with the Apologia text - have you found any major gaps in the GPB material?

Oliveview - thanks for the added info.

Best,
Joan

MyThreeSons

08-05-2009, 09:31 PM

I'm swamped this week with Science Camps I'm conducting, both morning and afternoon, and I've spent the last couple of weeks getting ready for them, so I haven't done any detail work yet. I can tell you, though, for instance, that the lesson plan calls for 16 days spent on Unit 1, including one day each for introducing the course, reviewing for the test and taking the test.

I haven't looked for gaps yet.

HTH!!

Laura - I'm quite anxious to see the teacher's disk as I'm trying to work out lesson plans....with 28 episodes for the 1st semester, + 7 reviews + 7 tests that only comes to 42 classes....Are you able to estimate other classwork from the disk? You are filling in with the Apologia text - have you found any major gaps in the GPB material?

KatieO

08-05-2009, 09:42 PM

When the link to this site was first posted, I checked out a couple of the videos and was very impressed. However, I have just revisited the site and can't for the life of me figure out how to access the lessons on video. Can someone please help?

Joan in Geneva

08-06-2009, 03:22 AM

KatieO - last night (we have 6 hr time difference), I was just watching some of the videos!!! Today, the links are all gone!!!

Yesterday, for each episode, there was a tiny little TV icon with a "watch" next to it which is now gone in all the lessons.

On the bottom of the page, it has a link for watching the "streamed" version but for that you need a password. (Aaargh - just reread this and it says for Georgia Educators! Otherwise you have to buy the DVD's which cost a fortune!)

I'm going to write or call (when they get up) to see what is going on since they made no mention of this when asking about their resources and they told me about buying the CD.

Laura - thanks for that Unit information about the 16 lessons, that does give a better idea.

KatieO

08-06-2009, 02:07 PM

Thanks Joan; I thought I was going a little bit crazy when I couldn't find them. Please let us know what you find out. I was so disappointed when I couldn't find the link as the lessons I did view a couple of months ago were excellent.

TejasMamacita

08-06-2009, 04:10 PM

That's weird. I couldn't find them either. I was going to order the teacher's materials next week. I'm for sure going to wait and make sure the free video lessons are available before I spend that money now. Shoot!

I guess too many of us non-Georgia homeschoolers were enjoying them and now they've taken them down. *SIGH*

Let us know if they give you any response. I'll hold off a day or two emailing them. The lady who emailed me the link to purchase the teacher's resources was named Jascenda Pasley.

Joan in Geneva

08-06-2009, 04:18 PM

I tried calling, but when the selection 1 for video questions was a voice mail asking for a phone number or email, I didn't try doing that since we're overseas and I was in a hurry and didn't want to spell out my email several times and it said it would be a week before I got an email. Then I tried selection 3 for video streaming questions and ended up being routed to the discovery.com people...I got a real person but it was a dead end so far. You need to have a Discovery account to deal with them. So I've emailed to ask how much (they sent an email with the "no info" answer).

Going back through their site - the choices seem to have changed overnight. Before when you could watch each episode for free, they were also offering a video of each episode for, I think 29. Which x 56 would be a fortune. NOW they are offering 4 episodes in one video for 29. That still ends up as 420. Still more than I want to spend for something that is "unrated".

I liked so much that it is set up as a course with all the worksheets, tests, and everything, where I could add in anything that seemed to be missing.

I still have one more email contact - the women I wrote to originally about the teacher's materials. She has not answered my query about the lack of videos...

TejasMamacita

08-06-2009, 04:21 PM

I noticed they had changed quickly as well. I've been going through a few of the chemistry ones daily. I really liked it! I'm going to email that lady and see what she has to say.

Thanks for your update. I'll drop in and post if she gets back to me. If not, then I just assume it's a "no go."

Joan in Geneva

08-09-2009, 09:58 AM

it seems that if you are in Georgia, you might be able to get free access, as the website seems to indicate that their streaming program is free for Georgia educators.

I've had several messages with the Discovery Co, but am pretty sure it is a dead end because they do not offer high school physics and on the videos offered on Amazon now, they say they are produced by the Georgia Public Broadcasting people so I'm not sure why I was given the Discovery people and they would never answer my questions directly.

I tried to call the Pasley lady on Friday, as her phone number was on the email, and got a voice message. So I'm hoping that she was just on vacation last week, and will try to call on Monday.

TejasMamacita

08-09-2009, 01:17 PM

I had attempted to call and email the same lady last week. Previously she had returned my emails within minutes, but I've not heard anything back from her. Perhaps she is out of the office, but I suspect she is not in the mood to deal with us, LOL.

I really had been looking forward to using the resource, and honestly what really bothers me is that she directed me to purchase the teacher's resources and then they took the classroom/student resources off line. That seems so sneaky. I was honest and upfront about not being a Georgia homeschooler.

*SIGH* I'll see if she responds next week, but I'm not really holding my breath.

MyThreeSons

08-12-2009, 05:35 AM

Joan in Geneva

08-12-2009, 02:04 PM

Just when I thought my physics problems were sorted out without costing an arm and a leg.

I still haven't gotten through to her either and have pretty much lost hope after calling about 10 times this week so far. I'm going to try to call again next week, (to see if I can fall under a "grandfather" clause since she had directed me to buy the CD), just in case she had a 2 week vacation! :-)

I've been looking at NROC which has worksheets and quizzes, etc but their videos (which are the Hippocampus videos) don't have the teacher like GPB....

Does anyone have experience with these?

College prep high school physics
Semester I (http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/College%20Preparatory%20Physics%20I/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html) & Semester II (http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/College%20Preparatory%20Physics%20II/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html)

or AP physics B
Semester I (http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20B%20I/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html) & Semester II (http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20B%20II/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html)

Maybe this should be a new thread...at least they say they are for everyone!

TejasMamacita

08-13-2009, 04:14 PM

Well, I finally heard back from the lady today:

Thank you for your email. Georgia Public Broadcasting is no longer offering these videos for viewing on our website. If you are a Georgia Educator, feel free to login to the Discovery Streaming website, found here: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/?location=gpb

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this video, it is available at our online store at http://www.gpb.org/shop
Thanks for your interest in Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Thanks, Jascenda

Jascenda Pasley
Administrative Assistant
Georgia Public Broadcasting Education
260 14th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-685-2413

So that's that. I'm definitely not buying the DVDs, they would add up to be way to expensive. So that was fun while it lasted. *SIGH* Back to the drawing board.