1. Units 1 and 2 Course Planning Day: Proceedings
The Course Planning Day was held last Monday.  The material prepared for the events is available on the Vicphysics website.  It includes:

• Planning document with questions and resources to assist course planning with a proposed week by week program for each Area of Study identifying new dot points. (10 pages)
• Tasks to analyse the new set of assessment tasks, in particular those for Units 3 and 4. (4 pages)
• Powerpoint Presentations by
  • Dr Barbara McKinnon on ‘Putting Energy to Work’.  Contexts for the transfer of energy are explored for each Area of Study in Unit 1. The various models for electricity are also discussed in depth. * (28 slides, each slide has notes).
  • Jane Coyle on Teaching Multiple Options concurrently.  Strategies for option selection, classroom management, work outline, assessment strategies and rubrics plus link to Jane’s resources. (18 slides)
  • Emma Barnett on Indigenous Contexts in VCE Physics.  Possible contexts and an extensive list of online resources. (10 slides)
  • Maria James on assessments tasks, log books, options: teaching strategies and assessment rubrics, description of possible assessment tasks for Units 1 and 2, Unit 2 Area of Study 3. (31 slides)
• Videos of each of the above presentations

Notes from the discussion groups are being compiled and will put on the website later this week.

* VicPhys News 3/T4/22 included an item on Derek Muller's video on the electric field model for current electricity, along with a number of supporting articles.  Another useful article is one from a few years ago by Bernie Hobbs for ABC Science, which Barbara recommended in her discussion of the field model.

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2. 3D Animations by Jared Owen
Jared Owen mainly produces 3D animations on how machines work, but he also has a few that are more science related.  The distinctive features of his videos are three-fold:

• sufficient detail to make the animation fully represent the mechanism, 
• the pacing, with one aspect being shown and described, which then leads on to the next,
• a narration that clearly and simply explains each aspect.

You cannot fail to be impressed by the quality of the animation and the structure and language of the explanation.
The Science related ones include:

• How does a DC Motor work? The video could also be used with Year 10's as he begins with magnetic repulsion between like ends.  He describes the coil inside the motor as an electromagnet, whose ends are repelled by the permanent magnet around the coil which produces a turning effect.  The explanation does not refer to the action on the current by the field of the permanent magnet.
• How Small is an Atom?  Starting with a button, the video uses 3D animation to progress down to an atom, giving dimensions on the way.  At the level of electrons orbiting a nucleus, he says 'this is a good starting point, but there are a few things that don't agree with modern science'. He then proceeds to show shells and orbitals and finally mentions that we cannot know for certain the path an electron will travel.
• Phases of the Moon and Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Technology related videos that fascinate are: How does an Escalator work? What's inside a Rubik's Cube? How does a Door Handle work? How did the Orbiter Vehicle work? (Space Shuttle)
3. The vastness of the universe showcased in new stunning map. Poster available
Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have produced a new map of the universe that spans the entire known cosmos with unprecedented accuracy. To create the map, which depicts the position and real colours of 200 000 galaxies, the researchers mined some two decades worth of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey located in New Mexico, US.  Each dot on the map is a galaxy, which contains billions of stars and planets, with the Milky Way being one of these dots at the bottom of the map.  The top of the map, meanwhile, reveals the first flash of radiation emitted soon after the Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago.
Four different posters are available for A$30 each, one of which is an educational poster. 4. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position?
The Vicphysics Teachers' Network has a Job Ads page to assist schools in finding a physics teacher.
There are six (6) schools are seeking a physics teacher: The Vicphysics webpage above has a link to the Government schools jobs website. The following Gov't Schools are seeking a physics teacher

• Staughton College (closes 6th Dec)
• Melton Secondary College (closes 7th Dec)
• Tarneit Senior College (x 2) (close 28th Nov)
• Gleneagles Secondary College (closes 29th Nov)
• Mt Ridley P-12 College (closes 28th Nov)
• University High School (x 2) (close 27th Nov)

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. 6. Events for Students

a) Physics Days at Luna Park.  2023 Dates: Monday, 6th March and then Wednesday, 8th to Friday, 10th March
There was a prior booking for the Tuesday 7th, hence the different dates for next year.  To make a booking with Luna Park, click here. You can make a tentative booking this year with indicative numbers.  Once your timetable for next year is confirmed, please advise Luna Park if there is a change of date or if there is a change in the number of students coming.  This should be done at least two weeks before the event.

Luna Park tallies your number of students on the day and then invoices the school accordingly.  An aerobatic display has been requested, but this is not confirmed until about February next year.

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7. Events for Teachers and Lab Techs

a) International Conference for Physics Education (ICPE 2022) 5th - 9th December
This year's conference will be an online conference based in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia, which mean it will be held in our time zone. 

It is an event for physics teachers both secondary and tertiary, teacher educators and teaching researchers.  As an online conference, the registration fee is quite low, $60.  Currently the program features many speakers including Dr Derek Muller with details of workshops to come.  

The conference proceedings will be available prior to the event so that you can decide which lectures and workshops to attend that fit around your working day.  Local academics are on the planning committee so there will be sessions relevant to Australian Physics Curricula.

For more details and to register, click here.

b) PHYSCON 2023: Victorian Physics Teachers' Conference: 24th February, 2023.
Vicphysics Teachers' Network will be presenting PHYSCON 2023 with the support of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Swinburne University of Technology.  PHYSCON 2023 will be held at their Hawthorn Campus in Burwood Rd on Friday, 24th February.

The conference will be a hybrid conference offering both face to face and on-line sessions.  
The Conference website is now live and registrations are open.

The conference program includes:

• Live-streamed keynote addresses,
• 3 sessions with over 40 workshops in person and online,
• Access to exhibitors
• Round table activities on course planning of Units 3 & 4 for 2024,
• Networking lunch,
• In-depth review of the 2022 VCE Physics exam, with Andrew Hansen, the Chief Assessor
• VCAA presentation by Maria James, Science Curriculum Manager,
• Laboratory tours of cutting-edge facilities and visits to the Virtual Reality theatre,
• Saturday morning Excursion Tasters and Peter MacCallum Medical Physics In-Service.

Conference fees:

Type	Early Bird	After 18th Dec
In Person	$300	$330
Online	$240	$270

Discounts:

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

For information about the workshops on offer, please click the link above or download a pdf of the conference program here.

8.   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) The long battle to reach for the stars: the life and times of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
“I have reached a height that I should never, in my wildest dreams, have predicted 50 years ago. It has been a case of survival, not of the fittest, but of the most doggedly persistent,” remarked Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, before her death in 1979. The trailblazing astronomer had many firsts to her name – she discovered that stars are mainly made up of hydrogen and helium.
b) Early stages of an ancient supernova observed using gravitational lensing
Light from a supernova that was emitted just six hours after the initial stellar explosion has been observed along with light emitted two and eight days later. The observation was made by an international team using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The supernova is also notable for having occurred around 11.5 billion years ago when the universe was in its relative infancy. The faint light could only be seen because of the gravitational-lensing effect of a galaxy that lies between Earth and the supernova.
c) Climate tipping points: retreating from the brink and accelerating positive change
Climate change is no longer a distant threat but is already making us face perilous “tipping points” that could alter our daily lives forever. James Dacey finds out how new research into human-climate systems could help us to avert disaster.

d) Sticky tape, static charge and a design for a triboelectric nanogenerator

Many of us who have experienced a nasty shock touching a metal doorknob after walking on a carpet have probably wondered “could this seemingly unlimited energy source could be harnessed for good?”.

Well, it turns out that scientists have been working on this for decades, developing triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). These harvest static electricity that is created by rubbing two surfaces together.

TENGs are usually made using sophisticated equipment, but now Gang Wang and colleagues at the University of Alabama have created triboelectric generator that is made from two low-cost materials: double-side sticky tape; and aluminium-coated plastic film.

Described as uncomplicated and easy-to-fabricate, the device can power up to 400 LEDs. Indeed, its output of 169.6 watts per square metre is 47% higher than other devices, the researchers claim. It sounds like a great way to power your Christmas tree lights. The team describe their generator in ACS Omega.