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Summary: A fast-paced, yet catching video that gives a brief overview of various scientific views regarding theories of Realism and Materialism, which were popular around the turn of the 20th Century. With the advent of Quantum Mechanics in 1925, those theories were literally put to the test by the likes of Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger. An animated version of the Schrödinger experiment is included with explanations by Michio Kaku, Theoretical Physicist. Amazingly enough, the video concludes by pointing to an architect behind the design of Quantum Mechanics; an Intelligent Design, if you will. Quality: The content may be a bit much at first, but students will enjoy the quick pace, animations, and graphics associated with this lesson on Quantum Mechanics. This is a well done video, however, because it covers so much in such a short time, it would be important for students to have some foundational knowledge of these concepts before presenting this video as it would be best as a supplemental source.

Summary: University of New South Wales presents a series of flash animations and lectures to explain Einstein's theory of special relativity and how it determines our understanding of time and space. The first animation is a demonstration of Galileo's observations about relativity is using the person on the train and the person on the platform scenario we saw in Colin Stuart's TED-Ed animation. This animation was made the difference clearer for me. Next the idea of how electromagnetism varies with movement and relativity is animated and explained. Then, it is shown how Einstein built on Galileo and Maxwell's work applying it to the speed of light. The final flash animations show how this theory leads to time dilation, how relativity manifests in the physical world, and the continue efforts to prove or disprove the theories of gravity and relativity, though Einstein's definition of both remain the standard in use. Evaluation: A more complex text than the others, the flash movies provide useful visuals for teaching these scientific concepts that are the fundamental theories behind time travel. The vocabulary of the narration presupposes some familiarity with scientists such as Galileo, Maxwell, and Newton and concepts such as gravity and electromagnetism. The videos also move quickly through each concept, but at the end of each there is an option to replay just the animation, which could be useful for a teacher to re-explain each theory in more comprehensible langauge for students. Since it is freely available, students may review each module on their own. Finally, the site contains links and resources for further study of the content presented. Since this comes from a university, the information is accurate and reliable.

Summary: In this short video, Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist from City College of New York, discusses the reality behind the theory of time travel. Dr. Kaku states that there really is no law preventing time travel and describes how Einstein likened time to a river, which may fork, or have whirlpools, or even bend. He gives the example of time travel with a wormhole defining it as a shortcut between two points in time using Alice in Wonderland's Through the Looking Glass as a potential example of a wormhole. Quality: Educated at University of California Berkeley and Harvard University, Dr. Kaku is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at City College in New York. He has written numerous books, appeared on TV shows and been included in a variety of documentaries. He shares concepts of physics in ways lay people can understand using examples to which high schoolers can relate. It would be a nice tie-in to have the high school English class read Alice in Wonderland's Through the Looking Glass and then discuss the physics of the story in science class.

Podcast of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity: Summary: This podcast with Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today, and Astronomer, Dr. Pamela Gay, discusses examples of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity to help us understand the concepts. The illustrations contained within depict the relationship between time and the speed of light or better yet, how time is affected by travelling at the speed of light. A little bit of a history lesson is included to share the evolution of these types of theories. Quality: The quality of this resource is at a high level. Dr. Gay is a credible, well-known Astronomer from the University of Southern Illinois Edwardsville. She has participated in panel discussions with the likes of Astrophysicist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and Theoretical Physicist, Lawrence Krauss. A transcript of this podcast is included making it easy to follow along, which can bring greater understanding of the subject matter as well.

Summary: This is an animation of a lesson narrated by Colin Stuart, educator. Stuart asks the question, "is time travel really possible," and give an example of actual time travel (albeit only .02 seconds) by Sergei Kirkalev. He then goes back to the discovery of the constancy of the speed of light and Einstein's theory of relativity. The animation show how the point of perception changes the experience of time and how we experience this time dilation with trains and planes in miniscule amounts. Thus, the perception that time is universally constant is an illusion. Thus, the closer we can get to the speed of light, the further we could travel into the future. Stuart closes with why this is so difficult to achieve. In addition to the video, this site contains a comprehension quiz, links for further investigation, and discussion questions. Evaluation: As the TED brand is know for, this talk is visually engaging, accessible to a wide audience, and entertaining while also being informative. Thus, it would be a good lesson to use to introduce the idea that time travel into the future is possible (this site, unlike others, does not address travel to the past). The lesson starts off with a real examples of small steps into the future and builds the concept in a way that is easy to follow. The section about special relativity offers animations from the two perspectives and visuals of the equations. Since it is a video, students, like me, may go back and re-watch if the content was not grasped on a first viewing. The comprehension and discussion questions also provide students a chance to review the material and refer back to the video if needed to be sure that all concepts were learned as well to hear the ideas of others through discussion and application.