Unschooling Resources: Physics

Books

Archimedes and His Wonderful Discoveries by Arthur Jonas (Illustrated by Aliki)
This delightful book, originally published in 1963, explores specific gravity, levers and other simple machines, balance and center of gravity, astronomy, large numbers and more. Aliki's whimsical illustrations make this an enjoyable classic!

Websites

The Museum of Unworkable Devices
"This museum is a celebration of fascinating devices that don't work. It houses diverse examples of the perverse genius of inventors who refused to let their thinking be intimidated by the laws of nature, remaining optimistic in the face of repeated failures." Includes the physical principles of unworkable devices.

The Particle Adventure
"An award-winning interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter, extra dimensions, dark matter, accelerators and particle detectors." Cool site.

The Physics Behind Four Amazing Demonstrations
Ever wonder how people walk on broken glass or lie on a bed of nails? This article explains the physics behind these and other seemingly amazing activities.

Rainbows
"Rainbows take many forms. Multiple bows, bows that cross, red bows, twinned bows, coloured fringes, dark bands, spokes and more. Find out about them here."

Skateboard Science
From the Exploratorium website.

More skateboarding science
From PBS's Dragonfly TV.

Miscellaneous

Gear sets
These were popular a few years back and are still being sold. Usually colorful and chunky, they do a good job illustrating the way gears work.

A pulley and some rope

Ramps of all sizes