1. Beyond Bohr: The Quantum Approach to the Atom.  New from Perimeter Institute
This inquiry-based educational resource equips high school physics and chemistry teachers with activities that take students beyond the Bohr model to a deeper quantum description. The resource leads students through the development of the quantum model of the atom with activities that explore wave-particle duality, discrete energy levels, orbital shapes, electron spin, and IR spectroscopy.
Throughout the resource, students are challenged to examine the limitations of the Bohr model of the atom and to construct a more robust model.  The resource is designed to excite learning in STEM, with an emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, and communication. 
Free download is available here. 

There is also a poster that compares the Bohr model and the quantum model.  It can be downloaded from here.

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2. PhysCon 2023: Victorian Physics Teachers' Conference: 24th February, 2023.  Call for Presenters
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 program will include:

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

If you would like to present a workshop, please click here to register preferably by Friday, 16th September. 
Presenters have the conference fee waived.

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3.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 is nine (9) 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:

• Glen Waverley Secondary College (closes 8th Sept)
• Williamstown High School (closes 8th Sept)
• Hawkesdale P-12 College (closes 7th Sept)
• Warrnambool College (closes 7th Sept)
• Melton Secondary College (closes 6th Sept)
• Brighton Secondary College (closes 5th Sept)
• Wantirna College (closes 30th Aug)
• Surf Coast Secondary College (closes 29th Aug)
• Elevation Secondary College (closes 28th Aug)

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. 5. Events for Students
a) Online Physics Revision Lecture, Sunday, 11th September

The lecture will be presented by Sandor Kazi of Melbourne Girls' College and Paul Cuthbert of University High School.  The format will be the same as last year's lecture. The lecture will be presented as a Zoom webinar for which the students will need to book.  The cost stays at $25 per student.  Teachers making a group booking will need to provide the students' name and email addresses. Each student will be sent the Zoom link before the lecture. Teachers can also include themselves in the booking.  For more details and to book click here. Note: The Vicphysics website is now using Stripe as the gateway to our bank account.  Stripe does not accept Internet Explorer, so if paying by credit card, use another browser to access the website.

The structure of the program is that Sandor and Paul will each take it in turn to present a 45 min talk on an Area of Study with a 15 minute gap in between.  The program starts at 9:00am and runs until 1:45pm.

There will be course summaries available.  During the webinar there will be a panel behind the scenes answering the students' questions in the chat room.  The chat room comments will also be saved and forwarded to all participants.

b) Physics Gymnasium: Lectures for students - University of Melbourne
The last of the lectures is this week.

• Thursday, 1st September, 5:30pm.  The Future of Optics with Prof Ann Roberts

Check here for more details and to book. Recordings of previous lectures are now available.
These are Covid-safe events. The lectures will be delivered to a live audience in the School of Physics. The lectures will also be live streamed. The Zoom link will be sent two days before the lecture.

c)  Vicphysics Competitions

• Poster Competition for Unit 2 Practical Investigation   The Poster Competition is designed to award quality student work and to provide exemplars of quality investigations. Check this webpage.
• Physics Photo Contest For details click here
• Physics Video Contest For details click here.

d) Free AstroTours for Year 10 – 12 students

Swinburne's Hawthorn campus is offering free Astro Tours to school groups of students in Years 10 - 12.  The tours are hosted by a professional astronomer, students learn about astronomy using innovative virtual reality technologies developed by Swinburne's Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing.

Students will have the opportunity to ask questions, and discover the universe through movies, animations and simulations — all produced by the in-house team of astronomers, visualisation researchers, animators, artists and programmers.   Teachers are also invited to customise the AstroTour to suit the interests of their students. 

The session runs for 50 minutes and the venue can take 55 students. Click here for more details and to book.

e) New Scientist Festival of Ideas and Discoveries.  Weekend 8th and 9th October.  Online and On Demand
New Scientist is organising an event with over 50 speakers across four stages over two days.  The event can be viewed live (held during the day UK time) or viewed on demand for 12 months afterwards.
The four stages are: Universe, Mind and Body, Our Planet and Future, each with five 40 min presentations each day.
The Super Early Bird online price of 20 pounds gives you on demand to all talks for 12 months.

For more details of the speakers and to book click here.

f) Prof Brian Cox. Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey, 7:30pm, 15th October
Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Cost: Full time students $56
To Book: click here

6. Events for Teachers

a) Talk, Dinner and Catching Up. 6:00pm, Weds 7th Sept, Auburn Hotel
The Vicphysics Teachers’ Network invites physics teachers and others interested in physics education to gather in an informal setting for a series of dinners with a guest speaker. The guest speakers will address diverse topics touching on curriculum, pedagogy and the discipline itself.  Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in discussion and network with colleagues over dinner. 

The first occasion will be Wednesday, 7th Sept at the Auburn Hotel at 85 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn starting at 6:00pm.

The speaker will be Dr Victoria Millar from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne.

Topic: What is the role of physics education and how does that determine the elements of a physics curriculum?

This is particularly opportune with a revised study design to be implemented in 2023.

Dr Millar is a senior lecturer in the Graduate School of Education and has been at the University since 2011. Prior to that she taught Physics in schools in Victoria. Her research interests are in physics and science education, particularly science participation, curriculum and interdisciplinarity.

The cost is $40 ($35 for Vicphysics subscribers) and covers a main course and drinks.  

For more details and to book click here. Closing date is this Friday.  Note: The Vicphysics website is now using Stripe as the gateway to our bank account.  Stripe does not accept Internet Explorer, so if paying by credit card, use another browser to access the website.

b)  Special Relativity course for Teachers
As part of its program of PD support for Out-of-Field teachers, Vicphysics is running a course on Special Relativity during Term 4 this year, it will consist of 6 two hour sessions delivered weekly on Thursdays from 20th Oct to 24th November starting at 4:30pm.  They will be delivered on line.  The intensive module steps you through the key concepts and skills to successfully teach the relevant content in VCE Physics.

Why participate:

• Deepen your understanding of key concepts in special relativity
• Engage in key simulations and activities that you can directly deploy in your classroom
• Unpack typical student misconceptions and learn best practice pedagogy for combating them
• Improve your 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

Cost $240 per participant.  A discount is available for teachers from low ICSEA schools.
The module will be presented by Theo Hughes, assisted by Colin Hopkins.
For more details and to book click here.  Note: The Vicphysics website is now using Stripe as the gateway to our bank account.  Stripe does not accept Internet Explorer, so if paying by credit card, use another browser to access the website.

c)  Supporting out-of-field teachers of Physical Science: Forces and Motion in Hamilton and Bendigo
Vicphysics is preparing intensive PD for out-of-field year 7 - 10 science teachers. The first module covers the teaching of forces and motion.  It runs after school for two hours per week for six weeks  The first program at Kew High School has finished and will be repeated in Term 4 at Monivae College in Hamilton from 19th October to 23rd November and in Bendigo at the Bendigo Senior Secondary College from 20th October to 24th November.

• Do you have colleagues in your Science Faculty who find the teaching of the physics aspects of Year 7 - 10 challenging?  then this course will be of value to them.

The course will be presented by Dr Barbara McKinnon, an experienced science teacher, regular conference presenter and Vicphysics President.  The cost is $240, with a discount available for schools with a low ICSEA rank.
For more details including registration, click here.  Some reviews from the recently completed program at Kew High School are:

• Really engaging sessions with lots of opportunities to get involved and try new activities ourselves. Makes me excited to teach physics! 
• This has been an excellent PD to take part it in. It has addressed multiple misconceptions and I feel significantly more confident in teaching about forces. 
• Was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, despite the fact of having to engage with work related content for two hours after work each Thursday, it was something I looked forward to in the week! 

Other courses are being prepared on other Years 7 - 10 topics: light rays and waves, electric forces and electricity and sources of electricity.  These will be progressively offered over 2023 in metropolitan Melbourne and regional centres.

d)  Lab Techs' Workshops on Years 7 - 10 Physics, 1st Dec, Camberwell Grammar School
The program of workshops for Lab Techs returns.  It will be on Thursday, 1st December and held again at Camberwell Grammar School.  The program includes:

• Learning new skills
• Setting up demonstrations
• Quick Tests on Equipment to see it is working or not plus a few hints on fixing stuff with Harvey Edwards from Principles and Practice
• Electronic data methods with Doug Bail from Ciderhouse, and
• Laboratory management hints

The cost is $70 and includes lunch.
For more information and to book click here.

e) 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 and $50 early bird.  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.

7.   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) Ultrasound-powered implant treats brain cancer using electromagnetic fields
Alternating electric fields are used to interrupt cancer cells’ ability to divide.  Researchers in China’s Guangdong Province have now developed a promising alternative: an implantable ultrasound-powered tumour treating device (UP-TTD). The chip-sized wireless Tumour Treating Field system could be of huge benefit, making the treatment easier for patients to undergo, and potentially also reducing costs.

b) When physicists and philosophers realise they share a noble truth
Physicists and philosophers of science often appear to operate in different spaces. Robert P Crease reports from a meeting where they were, for once, in the same quantum state.

c)  Review of The Invisible Universe: Why There’s More to Reality than Meets the Eye by Matthew Bothwell
The review is on interest if only for the following quote:
In the introduction, Bothwell makes a compelling case for studying the unseeable by use of a striking analogy. If we consider the spectrum of visible light to be a single octave on a piano, with red light being the note middle C and blue light, roughly half the wavelength, being the C an octave above, then how far does the full spectrum of electromagnetic (EM) radiation extend? The answer is 65 octaves, “as much as nine grand pianos standing in a line”.