1. Talk, Dinner and Catching up: 28th May. Hawthorn Hotel
Topic: Quantum Physics and the Photoelectric Effect: What we can and can't say about it.
The next occasion will be on Weds, 28th May and again at the Hawthorn Hotel in Burwood Rd.
The speaker is Theo Hughes who will discuss models to explain the Photoelectric Effect and in particular the saturated photocurrent.
The event will also be hybrid so you can join online at no cost.
The fee to attend is $45 with a discount for Vicphysics members and it covers food and drink.
Click here for more details and to book for both in person and online.
Return to top
2. Tennis Ball Towers
How high can you go with towers made from tennis balls? Andria Rogava, a physicist from Ilia State University in Georgia, reveals how simple friction allows bizarre towers to be built using tennis balls
This is his original article .
This is a follow up article where he breaks his own record.
Return to top
3. Events for Students
a) Webinar: Study Skills for Physics Students 29th April, 6pm - 7pm. Closes today.
To students: Science can teach us how to learn. Hear about some strategies to turn information into understanding and revision into better exam performance. Three experienced physics teachers share their tips in an online webinar for VCE students.
Vicphysics is organising a Study Skills webinar for VCE physics students. It will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, 29th April. It will be an online event from 6pm to 7pm.
The cost is $10.00 inc GST per person, which will also include access to prepared material.
Bookings close 3pm today
The program will be of value to both Year 11 and Year 12 students. Here is a flyer to promote the event to your students.
Students can make individual bookings here. Credit card is required.
Schools can make group bookings here. Credit card and EFT are available.
b) Girls in Physics Breakfasts
The support of the Invergowrie Foundation has enabled Vicphysics to increase the subsidy for the student fee for the regional breakfasts. The fee this year is now $15
a) Wodonga, 7th May
Date: 7th May. Time: 8:30am. Venue: The Cube
Speaker: Dr Renee Goreham, University of Newcastle
Topic: Nanobiotechnology: Building the Future of Medicine and Beyond
Bookings open. Closing date: 30th April. Flyer is available
b) Melbourne 20th May and Live-streamed
Date: 20th May. Time: 8:00am. Venue: William Angliss Institute, 555 La Trobe St, Melb
Speaker: The AIP Women in Physics speaker Dr Danielle Holmes, UNSW Sydney.
Topic: Wonders of the Quantum World: from Stars to Quantum Computers
Bookings open Closing date: 9th May. Flyer is available
Live Streaming: Dr Holmes' presentation will be live-streamed. Check here for abstract, ideas on how to use the livestreaming and to register.
c) Synchrotron; 5th June and optional Synchrotron Tour
Date: 8th June. Time: 8:00am. Venue: Australian Synchrotron, 555 Blackburn Rd, Clayton
Speakers: Drs Amelia Liu and Taissa Danilovich, Monash University.
Topics: Shedding new light on glass; The dusty ends of Sun-like stars
Bookings Open. Closing date: 26th May. Flyer is available
This breakfast is generously supported by ANSTO.
There are optional Synchrotron Tours after the talks for an additional cost. There is a limit of 24 students for each tour group. So there will be three tours heading off 15 mins apart with activities before each of the last two groups head off, the activities are also available after the tour.
d) Geelong, 14th August. i) How important are powders? ii) Rethinking Waste: Engineering a Circular Future with Negin Amini and Sirjana Adhikari, Deakin University Bookings open Closing date: 4th August Flyer is available
e) Traralgon, late August.
Starting Times in 2025. This year the metropolitan events will start at 8:00am and the regional events will start at 8:30am.
Return to top
4. Events for Teachers
a) Special Relativity Online PD in seven two-hour sessions
Special Relativity online from 1st May to 12th June in seven two-hour sessions  at 4:30pm. Presented by Theo Hughes.
Cost of the event: $265 per participant with discounts for teachers from Government schools ($55) and from schools with a low ICSEA rank.
To Book the event: Click on the link above. For the flyer click here.
c) Out of Field PD: Forces & Motion, Light & Sound
The Out of Field PD continues in 2025 starting in Term 2. The program starts  with
- Forces and Motion online from 5th May to 9th June in six two-hour sessions at 4:30pm. Presented by Bridget Blackburn. Flyer
- Light and Sound in Moe and Wangaratta in 2 two-hour online sessions after school and one full day in person session in the month of June. Presented by Barbara McKinnon and Pete Furlong. Check the website for dates and venues.
Cost of events: $265 per participant with a discount for teachers from Government schools ($55) and from schools with a low ICSEA rank. A second teacher from the school can register at no cost for the online Forces and Motion PD. Cost for Light and Sound is $220 with discounts available.
To Book an event: Click on the links above.
Return to top
5. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position? 3 positions
There are three schools seeking a physics teacher.
The Job Ads page on Vicphysics website is updated every weekend. The webpage also has a link on how schools can register a position and lodge a payment for this service.
- Mount Rowan Secondary College (closes 30th April)
- Sandringham College (closes 29th April)
- Brauer Secondary College (closes 15th May)
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.
Grete Hermann: the quantum physicist who challenged Werner Heisenberg and John von Neumann
Article on the pioneering work of the German physicist and philosopher Grete Hermann, who sparred with the likes of Werner Heisenberg and John von Neumann – but whose contributions to quantum science have only recently come to light.
In 1933 Grete Hermann upended the famous ‘proof’, developed by the Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist John von Neumann, that ‘hidden variables’ are impossible in quantum mechanics, but it was not recognised, only for John Bell to find the same error again in 1966.
Other resources:
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations is a massive publication of over 1000 pages, but publishers have released several chapters for open access. They are:
Grete Hermann: Between Physics and Philosophy by Elise Crull and Guido Bacciagualuppi. (281 page biography)
Return to top
i) Vicphysics Membership and Access to the Teachers' Resources on the website.
Vicphysics has changed its membership structure, benefits and fees. Previously, a subscription to the website resources was separate from being a member of Vicphysics. Access to website resources is now being included as one of a number of member benefits.
Membership benefits include:
- access to teacher resources section of the website
- discounts to attend conferences, in-services, etc,
- certification for attending each PD event,
- PL certificate for committee meetings supplied at the end of the calendar year and
- voting rights.
Membership fees are: Individual: $60, Retired: $40, Student (tertiary): $40, School: $120.
Vicphysics also offers a Resources Access Only option without the discounts and other benefits listed above. The fees for this option are the same as above.
Existing subscribers currently receive discounts, which will cease when their subscription expires. At that point, subscribers will need to choose between the two options above for continued access to the Teacher resources.
We are looking forward to increasing the membership base of Vicphysics and to fostering member input into our extensive range of activities from Physics teaching professional learning such as our recent SAC PD events or the Physics Teachers Conference to supporting activities for students, such as the Luna Park Physics Days or photo and poster competitions.
You can join us here!
ii) 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.
Link here directly, or look out for it on our webpage where it can be found at the top right of our home page.
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 log in the usual way. If you are not a subscriber, you can register to 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 lodging a post.
We hope this Forum will become a valuable medium for exchanging ideas as we begin planning the new study design.
Return to top
|
|
Copyright © 2024, VicphysicsTeachers' Network Inc. All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is: PO Box 290, Flinders Lane VIC 8009
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list
|
|
|
|
