Home Schoolers

Kinetic Books provides great solutions to help you teach physics, whether you are comfortable with the subject or not. Each of the textbooks comes with a "professor inside" to explain topics using virtual whiteboards with audio and animations, along with the text, equations and graphics you would expect in a printed textbook. Online Homework, an extra-cost option for the textbooks, allows students to submit answers to instructor-created homework sets, for grading on our servers. And all our products work on either a Macintosh or Windows operating system.

The Virtual Physics Labs is a separate product that provides a lab-like environment where students are asked to form hypotheses and test them using simulations. Each lab is self-contained and runs entirely on the computer.

Best of all, our textbooks start at $24.95 US. The Virtual Physics Labs also start at $24.95 US.

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More information on the textbooks

Interactivity

These textbooks are not just electronic versions of a print textbook. They include the interactivity you expect on a computer: hours of audio, hundreds of simulations, thousands of animations, spreadsheets and videos.

Self-paced

Students can learn the material at their own pace. Whiteboards can easily be skipped or replayed. Simulations can be rerun multiple times to help students internalize the principles being demonstrated. Interactive problems can provide hints if required. And, of course, students can "flip" the pages when they want.

Multiple learning styles

Students learn in various ways. Many of our whiteboards show animations of concepts while they are being explained verbally. We also challenge kinesthetic learners with simulations that require a grasp of the concept as well as hand-eye coordination.

Self assessment for the student

Each textbook provides many ways for a student to self assess. Sample problems show the student step-by-step solutions for a problem. Interactive checkpoint problems follow the same steps as sample problems, but supply hints when requested. Quizboards provide multiple-choice testing on key principles in every chapter and, again, provide hints when requested. We also include the answers to the odd numbered end of chapter problems.

Problem solving & consistency

Developing good problem-solving skills are key in learning physics. Our approach is to do all sample problems, interactive problems and derivations with identical problem-solving steps. We also show all the algebraic steps in the solution. "It is intuitively obvious that . . ." is not a part of our vocabulary.

Three levels of textbooks

We offer three levels of the textbook to suit your needs:

• Conceptual Physics: Clearly presents the concepts without stressing the mathematics.
• Principles of Physics: Requires algebra and trigonometry to apply the equations presented. This book is appropriate for those planning on taking the AP/B exam.
• Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Requires an understanding of calculus. This book is appropriate for those planning on taking the AP/C exam.

View more detailed information on the textbook levels or view the complete chapter listing of each book.

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More information on the labs

Kinetic Books' computer-based labs consist of 16 self-contained labs that are designed to take 60 to 90 minutes each, during which time the students complete 6 to 10 exercises that consist of:

• An explanation of the necessary physics, including equations that must be used. Students may be asked to use the provided equations to derive others to accomplish particular goals.
• Detailed operational instructions on how to conduct the simulated laboratory activities.
• Simulations in which students can vary parameters to accomplish a particular goal or simply observe physical phenomena.
• Questions that ask the student to make hypotheses, record data, explain the data or justify their solution.

You can learn more by reviewing our summary of all the labs.

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More information on Online Homework

First, we will set up your school and class on our servers. As a home school instructor you will follow an intuitive process to set up assignments that may include reading, test dates and problem sets.

Students then log in, work the assigned problems and submit the answers to our servers.

The servers will check the students' answers. Reports will be available to instructors showing the percentage of problems a student answered correctly as well as results on each question. In addition, the instructor will be able to create reports that summarize the right/wrong percentages for each question and how the class performed as a whole with the questions they answered. These reports are in a format that is conveniently transferable to spreadsheets or other programs.

Pricing

Individual Purchase

The Individual Purchase pricing model allows you to buy copies for your student(s) which can be installed on a single computer. This product is not transferable - it cannot be transferred to another computer. The products do not time out.

Web Access

The Web Access pricing model allows students to access the textbook and/or labs over the Internet. No CD is required (or supplied). A broadband connection to the internet is suggested. This license is valid for one calendar year from the date of purchase. The access is limited to a single student (students must supply a name and password).

* Pricing for Online Homework is good only with the purchase of a textbook. The number of students is limited to two (2). Call 1-877-4kbooks to order.

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