Eureka! A great introductory physics series for kids (any age :) ) -

Back when I was teaching a course in “Conceptual Physics”, I stumbled upon a wonderful series of short animated educational videos that do a great job of introducing basic concepts of physics for kids (or adults!)

Sadly, these do not seem to be available anywhere in high-quality video — only very low resolution copies seem to have survived. To make sure that they remain available (at least to my family 🙂 ) I’ve uploaded the series on this blog (each one is separately linked by topic, and at the bottom is a single link to the directory)

I urge everyone to play these for your kids! Smaller screens will make tolerating the very low quality easier.

The following is quoted from a Wikipedia article…

“Eureka! is a Canadian educational television series which was produced and broadcast by TVOntario in 1980 and 1981. The series was narrated by Billy Van, and featured a series of animated vignettes which taught physics lessons to children.

Each program takes a simple and direct approach to the subject matter; while the basic concepts are explained in a voice-over, cartoon characters and a variety of animated objects demonstrate the principles on the screen. Constant review and reinforcement make the message clear; as a result, the study of physics becomes easy and accessible – even to viewers without a solid background in the subject. Basic formulae and concepts are introduced with a recap of what was learnt in the previous episode to build knowledge on a topic and create connections.

30 episodes were produced. All of the episodes are five minutes in length.”

NOTE: SINCE THE EPISODES BUILD ON EACH OTHER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO WATCH THE SERIES IN ORDER.

Unit 1: Force and Energy

   Inertia
   Mass
   Speed
   Acceleration I
   Acceleration II
   Gravity
   Weight vs Mass
   Work
   Kinetic Energy
   Potential Energy and Speed