Georgia Public Broadcasting's Education Services Division, in partnership with the Professional Standards Commission, developed Chemistry & Physics in response to the lack of qualified chemistry and physics teachers in many school systems throughout the state. Chemistry: A Study of Matter and Physics Fundamentals are innovative teaching tools that provide instructional content delivered through video episodes and integrated classroom materials. The courses can be facilitated easily by certified teachers, even those teaching out of field.

Much of the instruction is done through the thirty minute video episodes. The episodes provide content, while giving video and audio cues for the classroom teacher to pause the video and interact with students, engaging them in discussions, problem-solving, and laboratory activities. The videos are designed to support, not replace, the teacher in the classroom. Video episodes are being delivered to schools now via satellite for taping or can be streamed from this website.

For each unit, daily lesson plans are provided to help teachers prepare for and pace the lessons. Since the courses are designed to be textbook independent, classroom materials, including note-taking guides to accompany the videos, worksheets, classroom activities, quizzes, and tests, are available in electronic format. Student materials can be downloaded from this website. For security reasons, CD's containing teacher materials will be mailed directly to teachers upon request. And support from a certified teacher is just an e-mail or phone call away.

Lab activities are an essential part of learning chemistry and physics, and two types of laboratory exercises are included in these series. Hands-on labs are conducted by students in the classroom using safe and simple materials. Video labs are conducted by student actors on the video episodes, with classroom students observing, collecting data, and graphing, calculating, etc. to make conclusions.

Schools across the state have reported a variety of uses for the Chemistry & Physics courses - serving as the primary curriculum, supporting novice teachers or those teaching out of field, delivering instruction during long teacher or student absences, or providing new resources for veteran teachers. In addition, the courses have been modified for individual instruction and are currently used by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, and Georgia Virtual Schools for on-line instruction.