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1. PHYSCON 2024: 23rd February, 2024. Registration is open

Victorian Physics Teachers' Conference Friday, 23rd February, 2024 at Swinburne University of Technology

The Conference website is now live. Click here for the landing page with details of workshops, the program and the link to register. A copy of the program can also be downloaded here.

For PHYSCON 2024 we are scheduling four workshop sessions, each with 12 workshops on offer, in addition to innovative and inspiring keynotes from quantum specialist Dr Liam Hall and astronomer Dr Sara Webb.
One of the workshop presenters (A3) will be Joe Cossette from the US. Joe has just been named as 2023 Teacher of the Year by the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), which is a partnership of the American Physics Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). This is his webpage. Another is Prof Alan Duffy from Swinburne (B9) on 'Exploring radiation and relativity with classroom muon detectors'.

We will be live streaming 36 of the 48 workshops as well as the keynote addresses, so that the experience is accessible to all physics teachers. Participants will also be able to attend important VCAA update sessions and presentations from the Chief Assessor of the VCE Physics examination.

Conference fees:

Type	Early Bird	After 20th Dec
In Person	$320	$350
Online	$270	$300

Discounts:

Individual Vicphysics Subscribers: $50
Student and Retiree Subscribers: $100
School Vicphysics subscribers: $10

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2. AIP 60th Anniversary Lecture: Prof Geraint Lewis, 6pm, Weds 11th Oct, University of Melbourne
Topic: Most of our Universe is Missing! Adventures in the dark side of the cosmos

Speaker: Prof Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics, Sydney University
Abstract: Most of the cosmos, astronomers tell us, appears to be missing! They say it is dominated by an invisible dark side, dark matter and dark energy that have shaped the evolution of the entire universe. But why do astronomers believe there is this mysterious invisible cosmos surrounding us?
In this talk, we will take a tour of the dark side, and explore the observations that reveal its presence. To understand the true nature of dark matter and dark energy, we will delve into the wealth of ideas and theories, and the current experiments underway to separate the true contenders from the scientific also-rans. Finally, we will peer into the future to reveal the next steps physicists and astronomers will take in their quest to shine a light into our cosmological dark side.
Venue: Hercus Theatre, University of Melbourne
Time: 6:00pm.
To register: click here.

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3. The Nobel Prize in Physics: Who have been overlooked, Behind the scenes and Recent winners
This year's Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced in a few days. This link to Physics World features articles on:

Those who have been overlooked: Meitner, Bell-Burnell, Wu, CERN scientists who discovered the Higgs boson,
How winners are selected,
Physicists who have received Nobel Prizes in other areas including the Nobel Peace prize, Literature, Chemistry and Medicine,
A quarter of physics laureates are migrants,
Which disciplines pick up the most prizes and how has that changed over the century,
Articles on Nobel Prize in Physics awarded in the last six years

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4. Halliday and Resnick: Recordings of the authors?
We have received a request from a Halliday and Resnick aficionado to ask the newsletter readership if they have heard of or have a copy of an audio or a video recording of either David Halliday or Robert Resnick. If you have any information, please email vicphysics.

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5. Events for Students

a) Physics Days at Luna Park in 2024
Earlier this year over 2800 students attended the four days at Luna Park, so Luna Park has offered five days for next year. The dates are Monday 4th March to Friday 8th March.
Luna Park bookings will not open until December, but schools can now seek approval for their school administrations. The student fee has not been finalised, this year it was $29.50.
Aerobatic displays have been requested, but confirmation is not received until February.
The worksheets have not been updated since they were first written in 2004. The terminology for forces has changed and there have been some content changes, so the worksheets will be updated in Term 4.

There are several phone apps that can be used to record motion at Luna Park including Physphox, SparkVue, EasySense, Vernier and Physics Toolbox. For safety reasons phones cannot be held during the ride and must be securely pocketed. A vest for a phone or datalogger can be booked, more details later.

Ann-Marie Pendrill from Lund University in Sweden has written a number of articles on amusement park physics that are available on 'open access'. This one is on 'Smart phones and Newton's First Law in escalators and roller coasters'. Over 20 more can be found by going to the search key at the top of the article, typing in her name and clicking 'open access only' down on the left.

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6. Events for Teachers

The Force and Motion Workshops: John Monash Science School and Christian College Geelong
The intensive module steps teacher through the key concepts and skills to successfully teach the relevant Year 7 - 10 curriculum content.

Why your colleagues should participate:

Deepen their conceptual understanding of key concepts in electric circuits
Engage in practical activities that they can directly deploy in your classroom
Unpack typical student misconceptions and learn best practice pedagogy for combating them
Improve their ability to differentiate curriculum and assessment student achievement
Access materials to support your classroom practice prepared by experienced teachers and science education academics associated with the Vicphysics Teachers' Network
Become part of a network like-minded teachers who are striving to improve their practice

These two events are this term. They will be six two-hour sessions with the JMSS event on Thursdays from 26th October and the Geelong event on Tuesdays from 24th October, starting at 4:30pm for both venues.
Cost $240 per participant for each workshop. A discount is available for teachers from low ICSEA schools.
For more details and to book click here.

Course Planning Day for Units 3 and 4 in 2024, Friday, 10th November. Online and in person at Swinburne University of Technology.
Vicphysics is organising a Course Planning Day for Friday, 10th November, the day after the Physics exam and the day before the assessors' meeting. It will be held at Swinburne University of Technology and also online. The program is:
9:00       Welcome
9:15       Presentation on new content in the Study Design, in particular additions to Special Relativity with Theo Hughes, Cornish College
10:00     Small Group Discussion on Course Planning: teaching order, weeks per Area of Study, etc.
10:40     Morning Tea
11:10 School-based Assessment for Unit 3 and 4 with Maria James, VCAA Science Manager
12:00      Small Group Discussion on Assessment Tasks: consideration of examples, completion of a draft,
12:45 Lunch
1:30     Presentation on styles of practical activities with Rachael Gore, Albert Park College
2:15 Small Group Discussion on selecting practical activities.
3:00       Finish
Lunch will be provided for in-person participants.
Cost: $90 non-subscribers, $80 subscribers in person. $50 non-subscribers, $40 subscribers online.
Registrations are open at the Vicphysics website.

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7. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position?
There are thirteen (13) schools seeking a physics teacher, for some, the applications closed at the end of last week, but the schools may take late applications. The Vicphysics webpage has a link to the Government schools' jobs website. The following Gov't Schools are seeking a physics teacher.

Koonung Secondary College (closes 4th October)
Kyabram P-12 College (closes 4th October)
Wangaratta High School (closed 1st October)
St Arnaud Secondary College (closes 5th October)
Gladstone Park Secondary College (closed 29th September)
Mt Ridley P - 12 College (closed 1st October)
MacRobertson Girls' High School (closed 1st October)
Keilor Downs Secondary College (closed 28th September)
Hawkesdale P - 12 College (closed 28th September)
Geelong High School (closed 29th September)
Emerald Secondary College (closed 28th September)
Surf Coast Secondary College (closed 28th September)
Kaniva College (closed 28th September)

The webpage is updated every weekend. The webpage also has a link on how schools can register a position and lodge a payment for this service.

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8. Vicphysics matters

i) Vicphysics Forum: Tips and Questions for the Physics Teaching Community

The Vicphysics Teachers’ Network has set up an online Forum for teachers to raise issues, seek ideas, offer suggestions, etc. The link is on the top line of our website’s home page: https://www.vicphysics.org/ We hope it will be an opportunity for mutual professional development.

The forum is open to all teachers. If you are a subscriber you can login in the usual way. If you are not a subscriber you can register to just use the forum at ‘My Account’. Given the purposes of this Forum, we ask that you use your real name when generating a topic or a lodging a post.

We hope this Forum will become a valuable medium for the exchange of ideas as we begin planning for the new study design.

ii) Subscriptions: A Vicphysics subscription gives you access to the Teachers section of the website. The subscription will last for a year from the day payment is received. Both individual and school subscriptions are available. Check the homepage for subscription link.

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9. 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) Towering egos and careening space junk: why the new era of space exploration is a disaster in the making
The list of items the Apollo astronauts left on the Moon is long, surreal and disturbing. In addition to the plaque announcing that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin “came in peace for all mankind”, it includes six American flags, two golf balls, a Bible and a nauseating 96 bags of faeces, urine and vomit. All told, the one-dozen men who walked on the Moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s left behind an estimated 200,000 kg of rubbish. Throw in a handful of Soviet craft, the Chinese rover Yutu-2, and the (probably) dead tardigrades from a failed 2019 Israeli mission, and the situation becomes clear: the Moon is a mess, and landing more people on it is only going to make it worse.
b) Handwritten LEDs Light Up the Page
Using a ballpoint pen filled with specially formulated inks, scientists have designed LEDs that can be drawn on everyday materials.
c) BBC radio program on Einstein with Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg interviews three science historians and einstein experts about his academic pursuits and the state of physics leading up to Einstein's 'annus mirabilis' as summarised by Kelvin and Poincare at the end of the 19th century, as well as the 1911 Solvay Congress and finally his combination of intellectual daring and moral courage.
d) Marie Curie - Lifelong teacher
An article in 'The Physics Teacher' about Marie Curie's innovations in university education: teaching classes, establishing laboratory sessions and managing a department. It also refers to her war-time activities. The article adds another dimension to our understanding of her contribution.

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