Thames & Kosmos Physics Workshop
Best Product From Thames & Kosmos
Excellent teaching kit
I bought this kit to support a home-based learning program for a fifth-grade boy (11 years old). It is EXACTLY what I was looking for - there's the fun of building the labs, then the fun of trying the experiments. The included documentation is very good, as it describes not only how to build the equipment, but also how to conduct the experiments, and it also discusses the related scientific concepts. I'd suggest that parents/educators read through everything ahead of time if they plan to use this kit as a teaching tool, to become familiar with the flow of the material. You can easily jump around between topics within the book, as the labs generally do not depend on each other (with the exception of force scale).
The suggested age range for this kit is 8 - 12, but I'd be inclined to increase the upper limit, as some of the concepts are clearly in middle school territory.
Thames & Kosmos Physics Workshop
- Kit includes more than 300 building pieces
- Build a windmill, two-speed crane, force scale, sail car, mars robot, hammer machine
- Experiment with simple machines: gears, levers, screws, inclined planes, pulleys, wheels and axles
- Learn and understand the most fundamental physics equations
- It is a 64-page, full-color experiment manual
- Centrifuge, pinball game, centrifugal switch, ship's lantern, and dozens of other models
Getting tired of Legos? Try this.
My son is always tinkering, building contraptions, etc. We could tell that the Legos were getting "old" for him, so we bought this. He really likes it, and is always building stuff like cranes, windmills, etc. Everything in the set is sturdy, with quality similar to Lego, but with more gears and pulleys.
Not for the classroom enviornment
To start, I'm an assistant teacher who has been given the task of implementing a small "club" where kids can use their hands and learn about basic physics concepts, mechanics, and other knowledge they might acquire through the experience. Right, I'm not a certified teacher, but do have a minor background in mechanics as an amateur bicycle mechanic. I've also taken college level physics classes.
This set is nice. The pieces are durable and easily identifiable. But this kit is lacking in so many other areas.
First, the instructions are poor. There are pictures, but no explanation how to get from one step to another. Sometimes, the manual just shows you the completed mechanism, and you're expected to fabricate it on your own. I bought a few of these kits in order to have about 3 kids per kit in a group of about 15 kids. I ended up running around the room having to explain the same thing or show how to build the structure over and over again...
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