By John Hudson Tiner
Master Books
www.masterbooks.net
PO Box 726
Green Forest, AR 72638
870-438-5288
Exploring the World of Physics is a 160-page paperback text/workbook. There are 14 chapters (8-12 pages each): Motion, Laws of Motion, Gravity, Simple Machines, Energy, Heat, States of Matter, Wave Motion, Light, Electricity, Magnetism, Electromagnetism, Nuclear Energy, and Future Physics.
Each chapter follows the same basic format. There are three questions to get you thinking. For instance, the three questions at the beginning of the chapter on light are: Is sunlight pure and colorless? How does the eye see all colors? Is the speed of light the same in all substances? The two-column text is nicely broken up with an appropriate amount of black and white photos, diagrams, and sidebars. Some chapters have experiments to try, suggestions for further study, and biographies of famous scientists. At the end of each chapter are the answers to the introductory questions and a page of questions for the student to answer (a combination of true/false, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and matching). There is also a bibliography divided by reader age which includes Internet sources. Answers to chapter questions and an index wrap up the book.
A short paragraph at the beginning explains how the book is to be used. It is designed for multiple ages: elementary grades can work through the book with a parent, middle schoolers can work independently, and junior and senior high school students "can revisit the book as a refresher course." The "For More Study" sections of the chapters are aimed at advanced students. This book is part of a series, and the publishing company is Christian.
My 12-year-old son found the text a bit dry. The format of the chapters was also kind of confusing. At what point does one read the sidebars? How exactly does the text relate to them? References in the text to the extra inserted material would be helpful for continuity.
Rather than using Exploring the World of Physics as a stand-alone text for the subject, I think it would best be used as an introduction, review, or a spine on which to attach other books and teaching resources.
Product review by Kathy Gelzer, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, November 2007
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