1. Perimeter Institute: Resources (Free downloads)
i) The Nature of Science: The Nature of Science is an inquiry-based resource with six activities and seven mini activities. The activities demonstrate how science is a process of building, testing, and refining models, using observational evidence. Students explore how technology extends our senses and investigate how scientists look for patterns in the world around us. The activities include actual scientific problems and data with rich opportunities for hands-on exploration.
While you are on this page, check the headings for other resources.
ii) Teaching Tips for Demos: A Youtube play list of 10 videos, each no more than 3 minutes. Topics include Rutherford scattering, climate change, light, dark matter, etc.
2. AIP Public Lecture on the 2023 Novel Prize in Physics, 4pm, Friday, 10th November. Online and in person at Swinburne University.
Topic: This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.
Details: At this public lecture you will hear from local experts about the exciting physics of ultrafast laser science underpinning this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. The talk will also be streamed online with access link emailed to those who register.
Speaker: Prof Jeffrey Davis, Swinburne IUnversity
Venue: Rm 202 Auditorium Building AGSE, Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn, Melbourne
Afternoon Tea: from 3:30pm
For catering purposes and online access, please register here.
If you are already attending the Units 3 and 4 Course Planning Day earlier that day, either in person or online, you will still need to register.
3. Chemistry Survey for your Colleagues
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has funded a survey of high school science/chemistry teachers on what practical activities they use in the classroom (lower and upper secondary) and why, and also why not. The survey also covers practical activities related to green and sustainable chemistry, and the circular economy.
Currently over 50 countries plan to implement the survey.
If you or your fellow teachers are be interested, click on this link or use the QR code to access the survey.
More details can be found on the project website (https://eschemistry.org/iupac-survey/) or you can contact the project team at eschemistry@deakin.edu.au.
5. Network Evening: Talk, Dinner and Catching up. Weds 13th December
The next Network Evening is on Wednesday, 13th December, at the Auburn Hotel, starting a t 6pm.
Topic: What does the 2023 Nobel Prize mean for School Physics?
Speaker: Prof Jeffrey Davis, Swinburne University. Prof David leads the ultrafast spectroscopy group.
Abstract: The 2023 Nobel prize for developing attosecond pulses of light and associated technologies offer contexts to enrich the teaching of quantum physics at the secondary level.
Cost: $45, (40 for Vicphysics subscribers)
To Book: Click here . For Flyer.
6. Events for Students
a) Physics Days at Luna Park in 2024
The dates for 2024 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 will be $31.50 and a deposit of 30% is required to confirm the booking.
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.
b) DARK MATTERS: Interactive Tour, Science Gallery University of Melbourne
In this facilitator-led experience, students will be guided through the DARK MATTERS exhibition. In collaboration with Arts at CERN and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, DARK MATTERS explores the fundamental essence of life and the universe, and how so much of it remains a mystery to us. This exhibition deep dives into the unseen, the unknown and the unspoken – will we ever fully understand the forces at play in our own lives, both on an individual level and on a planetary and universal scale?
Duration: 1 - 1.5 hours.
Times and Dates: Between 11am and 5pm, Tues to Friday until 2nd Dec
Cost: $50 service fee plus $8 per student or $4 for low-SES and regional schools
Venue: Science Gallery, 700 Swanston St, Carlton
To Book: Click here.
c) STEM Schools Roadshow, 27th Nov - 8th Dec
University presenters will travel to low SES and regional schools, delivering activities to inspire high school students to study science.
Science Delivery aims to encourage students from a diverse range of backgrounds to study science and go to University, and ensure any barriers they are facing do not stop them from achieving their career goals. The program is presented by Bachelor of Science students from the University of Melbourne, who have all overcome challenges to achieve success in their studies.
The program is aimed at students in Year 7 – Year 10
Dates: 27th Nov - 1st Dec (Melbourne), 4th - 8th Dec (Warrnambool region)
Cost: Free
Duration: 1 - 1.5 hours for 1 to 2 classes
Style: Students will firstly gather together to watch the science demonstrations, and then break off into small groups to work through science activities. They will then gather together again to hear more from the presenters and to wrap up the session.
For more details, click here.
7. Events for Teachers
This free course on Isotopes, Radioactivity and Nuclear Medicine aims to build teacher understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with the production of nuclear medicines. ANSTO will also model new ways to teach Year 9 and 10 students about isotopes and radioactivity using ICT, real data and science inquiry skills.
Dates: Wednesday 8th, 15th, 22nd November from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, except 15th which runs until 9:00pm
For more details and to register, click here.
b) Course Planning Day for Units 3 and 4 in 2024, Friday, 10th November. Online. In person closed.
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. Online closes on Weds.
The program is:
9:00 Welcome
9:10 School-based Assessment for Unit 3 and 4 with Maria James, VCAA Science Manager
10:0 Small Group Discussion on Assessment Tasks: consideration of examples, completion of a draft
10:45 Morning Tea
11:15 Presentation on new content in the Study Design, in particular additions to Special Relativity with Theo Hughes, Cornish College
12:00 Small Group Discussion on Course Planning: teaching order, weeks per Area of Study, etc
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: Online: $50 non-subscribers, $40 subscribers
Registrations are open at the Vicphysics website.
Resources for the Small Group Discussions are on this webpage of the Vicphysics website.
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
Also note the webpage for PHYSCON 2023 with the conference proceedings and the results from the small group activity of assessment tasks has been moved from the 'Events' section to "Teachers', under 'Previous events'.
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8. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position?
There are eight (8) schools seeking a physics teacher. Brentwood Secondary College has placed on the website. This Vicphysics webpage has a link to the Government schools' jobs website. The following Gov't Schools are seeking a physics teacher.
- Werribee Secondary College (2 positions) (close 5th, 6th November)
- Glenroy Secondary College (closes 9th November)
- Mentone Girls' Secondary College (closes 9th November)
- Mooroolbark College (closes 9th November)
- Brentwood Secondary College (closes 13th November)
- Grovedale College (closes 15th November
- Glen Eira College (closes 5th November)
- Echuca College (closes 16th November)
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.
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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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) Sound waves in air deflect intense laser pulses
In their experiment, the researchers mounted an ultrasound transducer opposite a planar sound reflector. This establishes a high-pressure standing ultrasound wave in the air gap – a wave that features sharp, periodic variations in air density. The index of refraction of air increases with density, so the standing wave acts as a Bragg grating that can deflect light using optical diffraction. While this technique is used to create gratings in solid media such as glass, the team says that this is the first time it has been done using air.
b) Plug me in: the physics of brain–computer interfaces
A brain–computer interface (BCI) functions as a bridge between your brain and an external device, typically a computer. BCIs collect, analyse and translate electrical signals from your brain into commands that can be understood and executed by a computer. They can also apply external signals to modulate the brain. Thanks to a combination of neuroscience, biomedicine, physics and technology, BCIs can change the lives of people with serious medical conditions. They also have applications across robotics, neuroscience, technology, gaming and computing.
c) Curing the Curie complex
In an interview with Physics World, Curie’s granddaughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, reveals a much more down-to-Earth picture of Marie, or “Mae”‘ as she was known by her family. Daughter of Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 87-year-old Hélène was a professor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the University of Paris and is an emeritus director of research at the French national research council (CNRS).
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