1. PHYSCON 2025 - Making a Quantum Leap: Registration open
                       
Vicphysics Teachers’ Network Inc is excited to announce that “PHYSCON 2025 – Making a Quantum Leap,” a hybrid conference for all teachers of Physics, will be taking place on Friday, 21 February online and at Swinburne University of Technology’s Hawthorn Campus with the support of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

2025 is the international “Year of Quantum” and we are very fortunate to have Professor Nicolas Menicucci from RMIT giving a keynote address at the conference.  He is an outstanding communicator who is leading the Australian national campaign to raise awareness of the ubiquity and importance of quantum phenomena as well as the opportunities that quantum technologies present for those who have physics knowledge and skills.

The other keynote speaker is Prof Manjula Sharma from the University of Sydney.  Prof Sharma is a professor of Science Education and is active in STEM and teacher enrichment.  She will speak on 'Curiosity, inquiry and emotional engagement'. .

Program features:

• Inspiring keynote speakers: quantum physicist, Prof Nick Menicucci and physics education expert, Prof Manjula Sharma, see details above.
• Four sessions encompassing more than 40 workshops relevant to secondary Physics teaching and learning, many livestreamed and available post event on demand,
• Presentations by the VCE Physics Chief Assessor and the VCAA Science Curriculum Manager,
• Includes networking opportunities, exhibitors, cutting-edge laboratory tours and Saturday excursions.

Click here of a copy of the flyer. Click here for a copy of the program.

Conference Fees.

	Early Bird before 18th Dec
	Student/Retired	School member	Individual member	Non-member
in person	$120.00	$310.00	$290.00	$330.00
online	$80.00	$140.00	$120.00	$160.00
	Regular
	Student/Retired	School member	Individual member	Non-member
in person	$150.00	$340.00	$320.00	$360.00
online	$110.00	$170.00	$150.00	$190.0

To Register click here.

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2. Nobel Prize in Physics 2024
The Nobel prize was awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their “foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning and artificial neural networks”. Hinton is known to some as the “godfather of artificial intelligence (AI)”.  The Hopfield Machine, a key element of AI, was developed by John Hopfield.

Hopfield began his career as a condensed-matter physicist before making the shift to neuroscience. In a 2014 perspective article for the journal Physical Biology called “Two cultures? Experiences at the physics–biology interface”, Hopfield wrote, “Mathematical theory had great predictive power in physics, but very little in biology. As a result, mathematics is considered the language of the physics paradigm, a language in which most biologists could remain illiterate.” Hopfield saw this as an opportunity because the physics paradigm “brings refreshing attitudes and a different choice of problems to the interface”. However, he was not without his critics in the biology community and wrote that one must have “have a thick skin”.

In the early 1980s, Hopfield developed his eponymous network, which can be used to store patterns and then retrieve them using incomplete information. This is called associative memory and an analogue in human cognition would be recalling a word when you only know the context and maybe the first letter or two.

A little later on in the 1980s, Hinton was exploring how algorithms could be used to process patterns in the same way as the human brain. Using a simple Hopfield network as a starting point, he and a colleague borrowed ideas from statistical physics to develop a Boltzmann machine. It is so named because it works in analogy to the Boltzmann equation, which says that some states are more probable than others based on the energy of a system. Although Hinton is not a physicist. Indeed, he was once introduced at an academic conference as someone who had “failed at physics, dropped out of psychology and then joined a field with no standards at all: artificial intelligence”

Useful articles are:

• PhysicsWorld article of which the above is an extract.
• Text of an interview with Amanda Barnard, ANU, about research at the interface of computational modelling, applied machine learning and artificial intelligence
• Popular science background article prepared by Nobel Prize Committee, more accessible, with some challenge
• Scientific background article prepared by Nobel Prize Committee, much more challenging.
• The Guardian, article by John Naughton, their IT writer

Nobel Prize Posters (Free from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences)
Every year, the Academy produces Nobel posters to explain the prizes in an easily accessible manner. These posters can be ordered, free of charge, in two formats: 70×100 cm and A3.
These attractively designed posters are effective classroom decoration.
You can order up to 6 posters at this link for Physics, Chemistry and Economic Sciences.
The larger format is not distributed until December.
Posters from 2023 can also be ordered as above at this link.
Posters from 2013 t0 2023 can also be downloaded as a pdf and then printed up to the size you want.

3. A Framework for Teachers of Physics: Reprised
VicPhys News 1/T4/24, arriving on the first day of term, did not get the usual large number of readers.  There was an item of some value in that newsletter.  It was about a booklet that provides a framework for teachers that supports their professional learning by providing a structure that can be used to evaluate, reflect on and improve their own practice.

To access the item, check your inbox for 7th Oct or go to our website for links to previous newsletters.

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4. Short Videos on Continuing Professional Development
STEM (UK) has packaged their professional development activities into a large number of short videos (3 - 15 min) called Bites.
There are currently 32 bites available.  You need to register with STEM (UK) and set up a password to access their resources.  Each Bite has links to other resources. Recent Bites include:

• Doing Demos with others (Having the lab tech do the demo while you talk) (3 min)
• Visualising the wave nature of Light (4 min)
• Metacognition: What? Where? How? (40 min)
• Adaptive Teaching (14 min)
• Feedback for Learning (12 min)
• Questioning Techniques (11 min)
• Planning for Learning (14 min)
• Waves (7 min)
• How to use AI to generate lesson content (5 min)
• Demonstrating the greenhouse effect (13 min)

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5. Physics Days at Luna Park: Dates and Cost
In 2025 Physics Days at Luna Park will be on from Monday, 3rd March to Friday, 7th, March.
The cost next year will be $35 per student with teachers free.
Bookings will open in late December once Luna Park's end of school year activities are over.   
In the past, Luna Park invoiced the school after the event once actual student numbers are known, they now require a deposit of 30% to confirm the booking, which needs to be paid four weeks before the event.
You can now seek your school's approval for the activity.
An aerobatic display has been requested for one or more days, but confirmation or not, is not received until February.
It is expected that the RAAF flight simulators will be back.
Information on the day and worksheets can be found here. 

6. Events for Students 

a) Curious minds: A STEM program for girls in Years 8 - 10 at low ICSEA schools. Applications close 21st October
This program was created with the intention of providing opportunities to students with the ability, knowledge and power to dive into the world of STEM.

It is an eight-month hands-on extension and mentoring program with two camps (a 5-day residential camp in December in Canberra and a virtual camp in July), and a mentoring program for girls in years 8, 9 and 10 who have limited opportunities because of where they live, including regional and remote locations, their socio-economic background, and/or their indigenous status.
In between the camps, there are online Connect Events that feature guest lectures, interactive sessions and networking.

The mentoring program matches each student to a female STEM coach working in the student’s area of interest. Through regular catch ups, the student and coach work on personal goals, discuss study options and career pathways and work on a project together.

Cost: Participants are asked for a financial contribution of $200 to help meet costs incurred for delivering the program. A fee waiver is available for all applicants unable to make this contribution as part of the application process

Applications close Monday, 21st October

More details click here .  Students can register online at this link.

b)  Quantum Computing for students: 2pm - 5pm, 24th November, University of Melbourne
    Enter the QUANTUM COMPUTING WORLD - learn to code the new FRONTIER.
As part of the international conference “Quantum Techniques in Machine Learning 2024” to be held at the University of Melbourne from 25th to 29th November, Lloyd Hollenberg is running an activity for students on the Sunday afternoon before.
The 3-hour activity is specifically designed to introduce you to the world of quantum computing. Students will be guided through the concepts underpinning how information is represented and processed in a quantum computer. 
Using the interactive web-based Quantum User Interface (QUI) system, they will gain first-hand experience in visualising quantum logic and coding quantum computers to carry out basic programs.

Who: VCE students and those who enjoy mathematical thinking
What: Students will need to bring a laptop with access to the Chrome browser.
Where: The University of Melbourne, Room G18 – G21, Alan Gilbert Building, 161 Barry St, Carlton
Click here for a copy of the flyer.
Click here to register, which close on 10th November.

c) Swinburne Innovation Challenge: Register your team for program on 20th November.

Places are now available for high ability students in Years 10 to 12 from Government Schools to participate in the latest iteration of the Swinburne Innovation Challenge. In this program, free for Government Schools, students will:

• Form teams of 4-6 and identify a problem they’d like to solve, framed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  It is expected that the teams will be cross-disciplinary, see below.
• Visit the Hawthorn Campus of Swinburne University of Technology
• Extend their learning through hands-on workshops and build key skills in teamwork, ways of thinking, problem solving and communication
• Build a prototype solution for their chosen problem and create a 3-minute video pitch in their teams, to win fabulous prizes for themselves and for their school

The Swinburne Innovation Challenge runs over four weeks utilising a blended model of delivery, commencing with a teacher-led Discovery Phase at school (30 min), followed by the Develop Phase excursion to Swinburne Hawthorn (all day on 20th Nov), and finishing with the student-led Deliver Phase due four weeks later. The program includes 10 - 12 hours of student-led work and requires minimal teacher involvement.
Places are also open to Non-Government Schools for a nominal fee per student. Please inquire for details at schoolprograms@swin.edu.au.
Download the flyer with details of the three stages.
To register interest, click here.
There are prizes to be won, but not specified.
The team's interests can include: Engineering, Physics, Applied computing, Psychology, Product design, Business management, Media, Sociology, Legal Studies and Phys Ed.

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7. Events for Teachers 

a) Shaw-IAU Workshop by the IAU Office of Astronomy Education, 12-14 Nov, Free online conference 
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) have been running this three-day workshop for several years. Sessions are held at times to suit most of the global community.  For example looking at last year's program, Sessions were held in the following Melbourne times: 6pm - 7pm, 7pm - 8:30pm, 9pm - 10:30pm, 10:30pm to 12:00am until 3:00am.  So four of the seven sessions are accessible.
The session titles from the last Workshop were: Teaching methods and tools, Astronomy Education in Practice, Planetary Climate, etc with sessions repeated at different times over the three days.
This year's program has not been released yet but you can register here.
Robert Hollow from Parkes Radio Telescope and Jackie Bondell from OzGrav are the Australian Coordinators of this international event.

b) Out-of-Field PD for Science Teachers: Wyndham Vale (Forces and Motion), Hamilton (Light and Sound),
The next PD events are:

• Wyndham Vale on Weds, 6th November and Friday, 15th November, 9:30am to 3:30pm. Morning tea and lunch provided.  Forces and Motion: at Manor Lakes P-12 School
• Hamilton on Wednesday, 13 November and Tuesday, 19th November, 9:30am to 3:30pm. Morning tea and lunch provided. Light and Sound at Monivae College
• Kew High School Light and Sound has been postponed to 2025

Check here for details for these events and to book.

Costs: Hamilton ($220 per participant), Wyndham Vale ($330 per participant).  Discounts available for teachers from Government schools and for teachers from schools with a low ICSEA rank. CRT coverage is available for teachers from Government schools.


c) AIP Congress 2024: Teachers' Day, Weds, 4th December, Melbourne Convention Centre
The Australian Institute of Physics Congress is running from 2nd-5th December at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and will have a focus on education in the program running on Wednesday 4th December.
The program will start with a physics in education breakfast on the topic of 'AI in Physics Education', followed by a plenary presentation from Professor Majula Sharma, Professor of Science Education at the University of Sydney and Director of the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy.
A focus session on 'Bridging High School and Tertiary Physics' will bring together secondary and tertiary educators with lightning talks and table discussions on laboratory learning and university-secondary outreach programs in physics.
After lunch, a series of invited and contributed talks will look at effective approaches to physics teaching and physics education across settings.

Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Date: Weds, 4th Dec
Cost: $130
To register: AIP Congress 2024 website
Stay tuned for more detailed program information.

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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) Rotating cylinder amplifies electromagnetic fields
Physicists have observed the Zel’dovich effect in an electromagnetic system – something that was thought to be incredibly difficult to do until now. This observation, in a simplified induction generator, suggests that the effect could in fact be quite fundamental in nature.
In 1971, the Russian physicist Yakov Zel’dovich predicted that electromagnetic waves scattered by a rotating metallic cylinder should be amplified by gaining mechanical rotational energy from the cylinder. The effect, works as follows: waves with angular momentum – or twist – that would usually be absorbed by an object, instead become amplified by that object. However, this amplification only occurs if a specific condition is met: namely, that the object is rotating at an angular velocity that’s higher than the frequency of the incoming waves divided by the wave angular momentum number. In this specific electromagnetic experiment, this number was 1, due to spin angular momentum, but it can be larger.

b) Fusion, the Web and electric planes: how spin-offs from big science are transforming the world
Spin-offs from big science are everywhere and some are bigger – and more unexpected – than you might think,

c) How to rotate your mattress like a physics Nobel prizewinner
Physics World editor, Margaret Harris, remembers a tongue-in-cheek e-mail exchange with 1973 laureate Brian Josephson.

Amid the hype of Nobel Prize week, it’s important to remember that in many respects, Nobel laureates are just like the rest of us. They wake up and get dressed. They eat. They go about their daily lives. And when it’s time for bed, they lie down on mattresses that have been rotated scientifically, according to the principles of symmetry group theory.

Well, Brian Josephson does, anyway.

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1.  Benefits of Vicphysics Membership and Access to the Teachers Resources on the website.
Vicphysics has changed its membership structure, benefits and fees.
Membership benefits are:

• 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 the discounts, which will cease when the subscription expires.  At which point subscribers will need to choose between the two options above for continued access to the Teachers resources.

By linking the discounts to the Membership, we hope to encourage more teachers to be more involved in the extensive range of Vicphysics activities.
Members can:

• contribute to reviews of VCE exam papers,
• assist with assessing competition entries,
• participate in curriculum discussions,
• introduce presenters at conferences

 

2.   VCE Physics Revision Lecture, School bookings are now available. Sunday, 15th September, On-line and at Swinburne University of Technology
Update: Some schools wish to pay for the students to attend the revision lecture by EFT, rather than by credit card.  Booking on the Students webpage only accepts credit cards. So in the Teachers section behind the paywall, a Revision Lecture: School Bookings webpage has been set up that accepts EFT payment as well as credit cards.

Also teachers who accompany their students, either online or in person, do not have to pay.  If you have already paid, a refund will be issued.  Also check the information below on the Government support for attending revision lectures.

This year's Revision Lecture will be held on Sunday, 15th September from 10:00am until 2:50pm.
It will be offered as a hybrid event, on-line and in person at the Hawthorn campus.
The presenter will be Colin Hopkins.  The on-line chat room will have experienced teachers available to answer questions.
Lunch will be provided by Swinburne University for the students.
Swinburne University will also provide campus tours and their Astro tour at lunchtime. These can be booked at Registration on the day.
The cost is $27.50 inc GST and participants will get access to revision material.
Students can book at this webpage on the Students of the Vicphysics website, where there is additional information.

State Government Initiative: Revision Lectures
The VCE Revision Lectures initiative recognises that rural and regional students face unique barriers in attending VCE revision lectures due to additional travel and accommodation costs.

Targeted funding is available to support rural and regional students from government schools to access VCE revision lectures and other exam revision supports across Victoria. Click here for information for schools.

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5. Events for Students 
a) National Science Week (NSW) Events
This is a list of some NSW events in Victoria.  Check here for details of this and many others.

• Dark Matter road trip  6:30pm, 30th August, Carlton

b Gymnasium Lectures (in person and online): 6pm Wednesdays, fortnightly in Term 3, University of Melbourne
This popular series is back in 2024, the remaining lectures are listed below.

• September 4: Light and Matter (Prof. Harry Quiney)
• September 18: Special Relativity (Prof. David Jamieson)

All lectures will be held in the Hercus Theatre at the School of Physics, University of Melbourne and will begin at 6 pm sharp, with snacks beforehand.  Whilst this is an in-person event, a Zoom link will be sent out to all participants in the hour before the lecture.

To register, click here.

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6. Events for Teachers 
a Lab Tech Workshops on Years 7 - 10 Physics,  17th September
Vicphysics is again running an in-service for lab technicians on practical activities for Years 7 to 10 Physics. There are nine workshops to choose from. There are workshops on improving skills with CROs, Ruhmkorff coils and Van de Graaff generators, as well as workshops by Harvey Edwards, Ciderhouse, Modern Teaching Aids, Haines Educational and Man Lam from Lyndale Secondary College.
Cost: $85 includes lunch and morning tea.
To register and for more details of the program: click here.


b) Global Hands-On Universe Conference 2024, Online 23 - 27 September
This international conference is online from anywhere in the world.  Sessions will be offered in three time zones.  The cost to participate is only 10 €.  The program has not been finalised nor keynote speakers announced, but topics include: Astronomy education research, Best practices in Astronomy education, Citizen Science, Research in the classroom with robotic telescopes, etc.  The program will be announced in early September.

It plans to offer:

• astronomy/data activities that are ready for the classroom
• a chance to join a group of similar innovative educators who want to help you
• an opportunity for your students to use networks of remote telescopes around the world, to measure the characteristics of planets around other stars and undertake well-developed and tested activities, such as measuring the mass of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way, from genuine data.

To register an expression of interest and for more detail, click here.
This link to the 2023 conference will give you some idea of their program

c) PHYSCON 2025 - Making a Quantum Leap: Call for Presenters
Next year's Physics Teachers' Conference will be held on Friday, 21st February, 2025.  It will again be a hybrid event, online and in person at the Hawthorn campus of the Swinburne University of Technology.  We invite teachers to present a workshop at the conference.  It can be on Senior School Physics or Middle School Physics.  Your format can be in person, online or pre-recorded.  You can have a co-presenter.
Both you and your co-presenter will get free registration for the conference.  If you would like to present a workshop, please complete this google form.
The closing date for lodging workshops is Friday, 20th September.
We are looking forward to another conference of innovative ideas, inspiring speakers and invigorating conversations.  We welcome your contribution.  If you have any queries, please get in touch.

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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.

 

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