1. Resources from the recent Beginning Physics Teachers' In-Service
The In-Service was held last Thursday at Kew High School.  The focus was on practical activities, planning and assessment issues.
The following material was distributed and is available on our website. It included:

• A resource package (38 pages of possible practical Activities for each Area of Study, Teaching programs for Years 11 and 12 and teaching strategies) and
• Prac notes (31 pages of worksheets and links to many others,. Also included is an equipment list with sources and costs as well as photos of equipment set ups)

2. Thoughts on the facilities for a Physics Classroom
Many of the resources described in these newsletters in recent months have come from a UK Physics Teachers Forum called 'Physics Teaching News and Comment' (PTNC), you can join here .  As with other forums, a teacher may request some suggestions for starting a topic, seeking a Youtube video or a source of revision problems, and several replies follow in days.
A recent message was from a teacher seeking advice on what to include in the design of a new physics lab at their school. 
These were some of the useful suggestions, that you don't often think about:

• Decent blackout blinds with silvered outer coatings, with a light switch arrangement that allows one light to be left on,
• A beam in the ceiling or a couple of eyebolts,
• Benches with an overhang for bench pulleys and G clamps,
• Heat detector not smoke detector for fire alarms,
• Physics labs need gas, but not every bench needs a sink,
• Bench-based power supplies with central control of voltages to prevent damage to sensitive components,
• Touch sensitive screen rather than a data projector,
• A hard floor for easy cleaning that doesn’t dent easily when things are dropped on it,
• A book shelf.

A very good reference on planning and designing school laboratories is this CLEAPSS document.
If you have any suggestions, please email Vicphysics.

3. VCE Revision with Monash University's Virtual School
The Monash Virtual School is offering a series of free online experiences and revision classes for Year 11 and 12 VCE students studying the VCE Science and Maths subjects including Physics

Revision classes are delivered by Monash pre-service teachers under the guidance of experienced and qualified educators at Monash Education.

The focus of this initiative is to support young women’s learning and engagement in STEM by providing them with opportunities to engage with outstanding female educators who develop and deliver STEM programs in the Monash Virtual School. That being said, students of all genders are welcome to participate.
Students can register at this website .
The program is supported by the Invergowrie Foundation which also supports of Girls in Physics Breakfasts.

4. Physics of Lawn Bowls
Investigating the motion of a lawn bowl would be a challenge for students, but the physics of lawn balls is intriguing to teachers, so here are a few sources of information.

• This page from a lawn bowls club website contains the formula: mgd = mv²r/R, where d is the bias caused by 2mm missing from one side of the ball, r is the radius of the ball and R is the radius of the curvature of the track.  The page also has a link to a simulation applet of the path, where you change the delivery speed and the initial line as well as the pace of the green.
• An article in Amer J Phys by Rod Cross of University of Sydney.  In his list of references he includes two articles on ten pin bowling, i) Paths of a bowling ball and ii) what makes bowling balls hook?   Another useful source is the Physics of Sports by Cliff Frolich, which provides a guide to the literature on the physics of sports. It has 8 pages of annotated entries, 252 in number, covering every sport from archery to winter sports.

5.  Short practical activities for home: Answer to the last Activity
Activity from the last newsletter: You need a candle and a funnel.  Light the candle. Place the funnel at the level of the flame with the open end about 5 to 10 cms from the flame and directly facing the flame.  Now blow through the narrow end of the funnel.  What happens to the flame? 
Answer: The flame leans towards the funnel.
Also check the entry, titled Physics of Advent, at the bottom of this webpage, on our website for information about the source of these activities.
6. Events for Students

Girls in Physics Breakfast for 2024
Bookings are open and flyers are available for confirmed events.

• Traralgon, 17th May, Speaker: Natalie Clements, Medical radiation physicist, Topic: Using physics to treat cancer.
• Central Melbourne, 9th May.  AIP Women in Physics Lecturer for 2024, Prof Susan Coppersmith, UNSW, Topic: What do Theoretical Physicists do?
• Wodonga, 30th May (TBC), Speaker Dr Renee Goreham, University of Newcastle, Topic: Nanobiotechnology: Building the Future of Medicine and Beyond
• Bendigo, (Term 3).  Speaker: Dr Nadia Zatsepin, La Trobe University, Topic: Making molecular movies with X-ray lasers.
• Geelong, 15th August.  Speakers:  Prof Bre-Anne Sainsbury, Prof Wendy Timms, Deakin University, Topics: a) The Gentle Art of Breaking Stuff, b) Locking Carbon in the Ground: How, When, Where?

The cost this year is $25 per student inc GST with the first teacher free.  A discount is available.
Please check the website for more details.  Bookings can now be made for the ones with confirmed dates.  The others will open for bookings as venue and speaker details are confirmed.
 

Live-Streaming of Breakfast Talk, 8:15am, 9th May
You and your students can view the talk by the Aust Inst of Physics Women in Physics Lecturer for 2024, Prof Susan Coppersmith, on the morning of Thursday, 9th May as she speaks at the Girls in Physics Breakfast in Central Melbourne.
They are many ways for you to use the talk from the simple to the grand. These include:

1. Record the presentation and show it to the students at another time.
2. Invite students to view the presentation live and so be able to contribute questions for the speaker.
3. Offer the students a light breakfast at the school before viewing the presentation.
4. Invite people who have a career in STEM or are studying STEM subjects at university to join the students for an informal light breakfast before viewing the presentation. Your school alumni are a good source.
5. Make the event more structured by including some careers-based activities or a small panel from among your guests.
6. Contact a nearby school and make it a combined event.

Check our website for advice and suggestions for the above options as well as to register for the Zoom link. Prof Coppersmith's topic is 'From Grains of Sand to Quantum Computers'.  The website also has further information on Prof Coppersmith and her talk.

The Girls in Physics Breakfasts Program has a limit on the number of students per school to maximise the number of schools able to attend. Live-streaming enables more students to be involved.  Last year Kew High School organised their own in-house breakfast with their alumni as the principal source of guests.  It is their planning and experience of that event that is the basis of the advice on the website.

7. Events for Teachers 

a) The Final Countdown? Preparing for the Quantum Age. 6pm, Weds 24th April, University of Melbourne and on-line.
Speakers: Host: A/Prof Suzie Sheehy, Speaker: Prof Lloyd Hollenberg, Panellists: Profs David Jamieson and Kate Smith-Miles
Date, Time: 6pm - 8:30pm, Weds, 24th April
Venue: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Connect.  Check link for location
Cost: Free
Abstract: In the first Science at Melbourne public lecture for 2024, a panel of experts represent a range of perspectives on Quantum and will discuss the applications of quantum computing, and its impact on society and our planet.
To Register: click here and go to Book Now to obtain an in-person ticket.  Click here for online access.

b) Out-of-Field PD for Science Teachers: Forces and Motion, Electricity: Both In-person
The Out-of-Field PD program continues in 2024.
The next one is on Forces and Motion, it is in person and at Wangaratta on 2nd and 9th May.  The cost is $220 and there is CRT coverage for Government schools.

There is also one on Electricity, done in person in the after-school format at John Monash Science School, on Thursdays, 16th May to 20th June from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

Check here for details for both events.

Material is being developed for PD on Light and Sound, and Energy which are expected to be conducted in the 2nd half of the year.

c) Special Relativity: On line PD Term 2
Theo Hughes will be repeating of last year's online PD on Special Relativity in Term 2.  It will be on Thursdays, 9th May to 13th June, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. 
The cost is $265 with discounts for Vicphysics subscribers
Check here for details.


d) Inspiring Students to Think Like Physicists with Hands-On Data Collection and Real-World Modeling
A US webinar on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7:00 PM US Time. This corresponds to Friday morning Melbourne time.  However, if you register, you will be sent the video link after the event with access to all the resources presented.  You can register here.

Summary: In the first half of this workshop, we will highlight how your students can investigate physics in the world around them. Discover how you can use your students' surroundings to introduce the concept of "goals-less problems," helping your class learn—and think—like physicists. We will identify real-world learning opportunities that encourage your students to think about what they want to know and what piques their curiosity. Using sensors, we will demonstrate how students can investigate real-world phenomena while collecting data.
In the second half of the workshop, we will explore connections to physics outside the classroom. This includes the analysis and modeling of real-world situations and not-so-real events from popular media. Create physics models with simple data collection, video analysis, and numerical calculations. These types of real (and not-so-real) calculations can be used in physics classrooms and as inspiration for physics students.

Speakers: Fran Poodry, Director of Physics with Vernier Science Education and Rhett Allain, Southeastern Louisiana University, his website has links to his articles and Youtube videos.

e) Wind Farms and Turbulent Flows, 5:30pm, Weds, 17th April, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Professor Charles Meneveau, John Hopkins University, USA
Venue: Woodward Conference Centre, Law Building (106), University of Melbourne, Check link for location
Abstract: In this presentation, we will show how fundamental knowledge about turbulent flows that has accumulated over decades of fluid dynamics research sheds light on the design and operational parameters of large wind farms.
Light refreshments will be served following the lecture.
To Register: click here.
f) Kids in Crisis? The promotion of well-being in schools, 6pm, 30th April, Monash University
Prof Neil Humphrey from the University of Manchester will highlight and discuss the wellbeing challenges faced by children today, and their impact on learning.  School-based responses, including the deployment of evidence-based interventions, will be showcased, with a particular focus on incorporating well-being into the curriculum.  Future directions and areas for improvement will be raised with time also for Q&A. Light refreshments available.
For more information, click here.

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10.   Physics News from the Web
Items selected from the bulletin of the Institute of Physics (UK).
Each item below includes the introductory paragraphs and a web link to the rest of the article.
a) Drinking bird toy generates usable electricity
Rather than being a perpetual motion machine, a dippy bird is a heat engine. It comprises two glass bulbs that are connected by a glass tube. The tube is attached to the axle so the dumbbell-like configuration can rotate. A “beak” made of absorbent material such as felt is attached to the bulb that forms the head of the bird.  There is also a link to the original research article.
b) Climate change will affect how time is corrected using ‘negative leap seconds’
Every few years, a second-long discrepancy builds up between time as measured by Earth’s rotation and time measured by an atomic clock.  Since 1972 this deviation has been corrected by the insertion of 27 leap seconds into co-ordinated uniaversal time (UTC), but none have been inserted since 2016.
Indeed the Earth’s rotation appears to be speeding up. This bucks the long-term trend of the rotation slowing, and is probably related to interactions deep within the Earth. As a result, metrologists face the unprecedented prospect of “negative leap seconds” . However the melting ice caps is shifting mass towards the equator and increases the earth's angular momentum with a slowing effect on the rotation.
c) Entangled entities: Bohr, Einstein and the battle over quantum fundamentals
A review of  Quantum Drama: From the Bohr-Einstein Debate to the Riddle of Entanglement by Jim Baggott and John L Heilbron by Philip Ball.  The review provides a very useful overview of the differences in interpretation of quantum physics and how they have changed over time.

 

 

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