Barron’s Science 360: A Complete Study Guide to Physics with Online Practice

SET GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

As you use Barron’s Science 360: Physics, it is a good idea to set personal goals to chart and direct your learning objectives. A goal is something that you wish to achieve over a period of time. Objectives are short-term targets that help you reach a particular goal. For example, suppose that your goal is to learn how electricity flows through a circuit and how to direct it to where you want it to go or speed it up and slow it down. You can reach this goal by establishing short-term objectives–such as learning how to build a simple circuit and then making one yourself to try it out–that will enable you to successfully reach your long-term goal of understanding more complex circuits with multiple switches and resistors.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR STUDY

Barron’s Science 360: Physics does not need to be studied in a linear fashion. If there is a particular topic that you want to study or reinforce, just turn to that page or chapter, and all the information along with the features mentioned above will be available to you. There are also some things you can do to optimize your study time and ensure you are retaining the important information you want to learn.

Before You Read

•Review: Review all chapter headings and subheadings and the information in the “What You Will Learn” section.

•Scan: Glance over any illustrations, tables, or graphs in the chapter you’ll be reading.

•Locate Terms and Definitions: Read any bold or italicized words and study their definitions.

•Get Ahead of Yourself: Review the Practice Exercises at the end of the chapter and keep them in mind as you study the chapter.

While You Read

•Predict: Try to predict the answers to the questions in the Practice Exercises. This will help flag important information to keep an eye out for as you read.

•Read Aloud: Hearing what is written on the page leads to better comprehension and retention of information.

•Visualize: Developing a picture in your mind of the information, concepts, or material presented makes it much easier to remember.

Highlighting and Note-taking

•Identify Important Facts: Don’t over highlight. This will have the opposite effect and actually negatively impact your ability to retain the information you need to remember.

•Take Notes: Jot down key ideas and concepts you are having a hard time understanding.

•Draw It Out: Sketch out pictures, graphs, diagrams, or tables to help visualize what you’re reading. This is particularly helpful with complex topics.

After You Read the Chapter

•Talk It Out: Summarize what you have learned from the chapter aloud to a friend or a family member. Explain it as if they are learning it for the first time.

•Answer the Questions in the Practice Exercises: Did you need to look them up, or were you able to answer them from memory?

•Reinforce: If you found yourself having to look up the answers to the questions, go back and read those portions of the chapter again until you feel confident moving on to the next chapter.

Good luck!