The Physics Classroom is an online, free to use physics website developed primarily for beginning physics students and their teachers. The website features a variety of sections intended to support both teachers and students in the tasks of learning and teaching physics.
The Physics Classroom Tutorial is among the most popular sections of the website. The Tutorial covers basic physics topics using informative graphics and an easy-to-understand language. Each unit is divided into lessons and sub-lessons. A lesson resembles the type and extent of coverage typically given to that topic in class. The sub-lessons are accompanied by Check Your Understanding sections, providing an opportunity to assess one's understanding of the lesson material. The Tutorial, when combined with other sections at this site, provides a student of physics a great opportunity to learn and to test their physics understanding.
Other popular sections of the website that promote and deepen a student's learning include the Minds On Physics Internet Modules (commonly referred to as MOP), The Calculator Pad, and The Review Session. The MOP modules provide a student with an intense, interactive exercise in answering questions that target common conceptual misunderstandings. Instant feedback to student answers is provided. When a pattern of missing is observed, students are directed to question-specific help that will assist in correcting misunderstandings. The Calculator Pad provides students an exercise in solving physics word problems. Each problem is accompanied by an answer and an audio file that provides detailed direction on how to solve the problem. This section is ideally suited to serve those students who need guided practice with solving physics problems. The Review Session serves as a test review tool for students who are preparing for an upcoming physics test. The questions are provided on one page and the answers, explanations and solutions are provided on a different page. A link (or several links) accompanies each question; the links direct students to a page at the Tutorial that addresses the topic.
Finally, The Physics Classroom provides help for teachers. It is packed with classroom-ready and teacher-friendly resources. Many cross-over teachers, new teachers, and teachers returning to the profession after a lengthy detour in life, have found the Tutorial to be an invaluable resource in catching up on their physics and lesson preparation. Others have found that the Minds On Physics Internet Modules to be a rich source of homework assignments and use it with their classes both in and out of the classroom. The MOP modules provide a means for teachers to make online assignments; by purchasing an annual teacher account, teachers can verify that their students have completed the assignments. The Curriculum Corner was written specifically with teachers in mind. This section of the website consists of numerous classroom-ready worksheets that teachers can print and use with their classes. And now for a small fee, teachers can purchase The Solutions Guide - a CD packed with answers, solutions and explanations for each of the questions. The Laboratory provides teachers with a source of more than 150 lab ideas that are centered around a testable question. And finally, The Photo Gallery is an ongoing effort to mine physics gems from one of the web's most prolific source of photographs - Flickr. The Photo Gallery links teachers to photos on Flickr that portray physics principles presented in the Tutorial.
