Teaching Waves, Electricity, Magnetism, Optics, and Modern Physics with Crash Course Physics

Teaching Waves, Electricity, Magnetism, Optics, and Modern Physics with Crash Course Physics

The later Crash Course Physics episodes are ideal for the parts of a physics course that can feel abstract: waves, sound, music, temperature, heat, kinetic theory, thermodynamics, engines, electric charge, fields, voltage, circuits, capacitors, magnetism, induction, Maxwell's equations, optics, relativity, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics.

Use these lesson sets

What teachers are searching for

  • Crash Course Physics waves worksheet
  • Crash Course Physics electricity and circuits lesson guide
  • Crash Course Physics magnetism questions
  • Crash Course Physics optics worksheet and answer key
  • Quantum mechanics video lesson for high school physics

Why these topics benefit from guided video

Many students can memorize words like voltage, current, field, induction, interference, or quantum without being able to explain what the terms do in a system. A guided video lesson helps students pause at the right moments, connect vocabulary to examples, and answer questions that require explanation instead of copying a definition.

Suggested 1-2 day plan

Day 1: Watch, annotate, and answer

  • Ask one pre-viewing question that surfaces a misconception, such as how electricity moves in a circuit or why light can behave like a wave.
  • Students complete the chronological questions while watching.
  • Pause once for students to explain a diagram, variable relationship, or everyday analogy.

Day 2: Discuss, test, and connect

  • Use one post-viewing discussion prompt for small groups.
  • Assign the challenge questions as written evidence practice.
  • Use the 10-question quiz as a quick standards-aligned check.

Assessment ideas

  • Ask students to write a claim-evidence-reasoning response about a wave, circuit, or field interaction.
  • Have students translate a verbal explanation into a sketch, flow chart, or equation relationship.
  • Use the multiple choice quiz for quick grading, then have students explain why one distractor is scientifically wrong.

Research note

Why this structure works: the NGSS describes science learning as a three-dimensional blend of practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts, while the high school physical science expectations emphasize models, mathematical thinking, data analysis, and explanations. The Common Core science and technical subjects standards also ask students to work with domain vocabulary and translate technical information across words, equations, charts, and visual forms. For video-based instruction, active-viewing research and teacher guidance point toward short, purposeful clips with questions that focus attention instead of passive watching.

Connect to the full sequence

For mechanics first, use Episodes #2 through #16 Crash Course Physics YouTube Lesson Set. To preview the format, use the free Motion in a Straight Line lesson. For the entire paid sequence, use the Episodes #2 through #46 Crash Course Physics YouTube Lesson Bundle.

Return to the Crash Course Physics YouTube Lessons hub or browse the full Crash Course Physics collection.

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