1. Talk, Dinner and Catching Up: Space Weather. 6:30pm, Wednesday, December 11, at the Hawthorn Hotel and online
To celebrate the end of the year, there will be a networking event on Wednesday, December 11th, at the Hawthorn Hotel on Burwood Rd. As part of the evening, Paul Butler will speak on Space Weather: Auroras and Solar Maxima. 
Paul's talk will also be available online. Your science colleagues will also find his talk of value.
The cost to attend in person is $40 ($35 for Vicphysics members), which includes food and drinks.
Registration: to book a seat or request online access, click here. The abstract is also available online.
For a copy of this flyer click here
Speaker: Paul has been teaching VCE and IB Physics for many years. He is actively involved in radio astronomy using his own radio telescope at home and through online radio telescopes around the world. Paul was recently elected as a Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers Director and Board member.
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2. Newsletter and Website Readership Survey
Teachers are now accessing information and resources by a variety of technologies, each with their benefits and constraints.
To assist with presenting our material in the most useful way, we are interested in identifying which technologies you use. For example, how many read the newsletter on their smart phone.
Also over January we will be modifying the website to make it easier for you to find the resources you want.
So we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to answer a few questions in this survey.
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3. Physics in Advent: A daily competition in December for students or just fun at home!
Physics in Advent is an initiative of Georg-August Universitat in Gottingen. It is a competition for students. Each Christmas, on each day of December until Xmas Day, they release a short video (2 min) introducing a practical activity, like the ones below, each with four possible outcomes. The students have 24 hours to do the activity and register the outcome online, before a video of the full activity with the answer is uploaded and the activity for the next day is also uploaded. After Xmas, prizes are awarded.
Students can enter as individuals, teachers can enter and also upload their class details and adults can also enter for their children.
Each of the activities can be done with items around the house or in schools, such as a sheet of paper, a paper cup, scissors, water, plasticine, sticky tape, straws, table tennis ball, balloon, etc.
When you register you will receive a file of items needed for each activity. In the past a few activities have used the Phyphox app, this year there is only one, on 6th December.
Some examples from previous years:
- Drop a table tennis ball and note the rebound height. Take a paper cup, one-third fill it with water and put the ball in the cup. Now drop the cup. What happens to the ball?
- Cut 2 - 3 m of string. Attach one end to a solid object. Now make a small loop in the string near the object, then further along a large loop, then a small loop and finally a medium sized loop. Now gently pull on the string, which string loops close first?
- Use an inclined plane and two glasses. Warm one glass with hot water, discard the water, then dry the glass. Place both glasses upside down at the top of the inclined plane and release. What happens?
The activities can be used to introduce a concept at any level from upper primary to senior secondary, improve students' practical skills or even suggest investigations. They cover a wide range of everyday physics.
To assist you with finding suitable activities for a topic, Vicphysics has prepared a spreadsheet of the activities with:
- worksheets for many of the years, each with 24 rows, one for each day, with the physics topic and a description of the task and the four possible outcomes,
- another worksheet with a list of the physics topics covered and the year and date of activities for each topic.
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4.Holiday Reading
a) Classroom Physics is a quarterly magazine for UK physics teachers that is delivered to schools, but digital versions are available online a few months later. The magazine is obviously focussed on events and schooling in the UK, however there are articles and practical activities that will be of interest to any physics teacher.
This link gives you access to each quarterly edition going back to 2007. Each edition has a title for the main story, but that does not give you the full picture of what is in each edition.
These are some articles of interest from recent editions:
- June 2024: Humanising physics explanation videos - hands down the best learning?
- Dec 2023: The physics of floating and sinking
- Dec 2023: The persistence of misconceptions
- June 2023: Balance and stabillty, the physics of staying upright
- Dec 2020: The physics of the bounce
b) Physics Education: the IOP Journal: Open Access articles
'Physics Education' is the leading journal on Physics Teaching. Many of the authors of the articles in the journal decide to make their article available to anyone, others prefer to support subscribers only.
This is a list of some of the 288 articles on open access:
- Educational device for demonstrating Lenz's Law
- Wind as a context for Newton's 1st and 2nd laws and force diagrams
- The 'Universe in a box' a hands-on activity to introduce primary students to cosmology
- Introducing modern particle detectors in the classroom: a slice-by-slice view
- Teaching quantum mechanics with Ant-Man
- The role of mathematics in physics teaching
- Circular motion of a ball in a shallow dish
This is the link to Physics Education. Click on 'Open Access' down on the left of the page to see the list.
5. AMOS Free Public Event - State of the Climate Report 2024 - Overview and in-depth analysis, 3pm - 5pm, Thurs, 5th December, online by Zoom
AMOS is the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. The State of the Climate 2024 report,
jointly released by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO on 31 October 2024, provides a comprehensive analysis of Australia's evolving climate. It highlights critical trends in temperature, extreme weather events, rainfall, ocean conditions, greenhouse gas concentrations, and future climate projections. This event offers an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of these findings and their implications for Australia.
AMOS is proud to host this expert-led event, where some of the nation’s top scientists will share insights and provide a platform for questions and discussion.
For details of the panellists and to register for this event and receive the zoom link, click here.
6. Events for Students
Physics Days at Luna Park: Dates and Cost and Synchrotron Tours
Bookings will open in late December once Luna Park's end of school year activities are over. Check their website about 13th Dec.
The cost next year will be $35 per student with teachers free. In 2025 Physics Days at Luna Park will be on from Monday, 3rd March to Friday, 7th, March
In the past, Luna Park invoiced the school after the event. Once the actual student numbers are known, they will now require a deposit of 30% to confirm the booking, which must be paid four weeks prior to the event. ou can now seek your school's approval for the activity.
Synchrotron Tours: As an add on and also a benefit to regional schools for whom the trip to Melbourne is a major commitment, the Australian Synchrotron is offering Synchrotron tours at 3pm. Each tour runs for one hour and has a limit of 24 students. The tour is free, with ANSTO covering the cost for two days and Vicphysics the other two days. Tours will be available from Monday to Thursday. Tours can be booked now.
Note: The website, see link below, displays the number of spots still available, so bookings cannot be confirmed until the numbers from that day's bookings are tallied.
An aerobatic display has been requested, but confirmation will not be received until February.
It is expected that the RAAF flight simulators will be back.
Information on the day and worksheets as well as booking for a Tour can be found here
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a) AIP Congress 2024: Teachers' Day, Weds, 4th December, Melbourne Convention Centre:
The Australian Institute of Physics Congress will be held from December 2-5 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The program on Wednesday, 4 December, will focus on education.
Sessions of interest to teachers include:
Tuesday Public Lecture 7pm. What you shouldn't know about Quantum Physics
Presenter: A/Prof Chris Ferrie. He is at the University of Technology Sydney, where he researches and lec
tures on quantum physics, computation, and engineering. He is the co-founder of Eigensystems, a quantum computing start-up with a mission to democratise access to quantum computing through education. As the #1 best-selling science author for kids, he has written over fifty children’s books about science and a few for adults. You can find Chris online at csferrie.com.
(No registration is required; this is a public lecture).
Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Date: Wednesday, December 4
Normal one day Cost: $130, which includes lunch and morning tea
To register: AIP Congress 2024 website
Wednesday will have a focus on education.
8-9am: Education Breakfast (additional registration required) Artificial Intelligence in Physics Education
9:45am: Plenary by Prof Manjula Sharma Declining physics student numbers: Can we reverse the trend? Prof Sharma is Professor of Science Education at the University of Sydney and Director of the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy.
11am-12:30pm Focus Session - 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
2:30pm-4:00pm: Education presentations: Education Across Settings. A series of invited and contributed talks will look at effective approaches to physics teaching and physics education across settings.
5-6pm: Education presentations: Effective Approaches to Teaching
Thursday
3-4pm: Education presentations: Labs and Hands on Learning
c) 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 give the 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 and the opportunities that quantum technologies present for those with 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.
Flyer Program
To check out the Conference fees and to Register click here Early bird discounts for bookings before 18th Dec and payments later.
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There are seven 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.
- Thornbury High School (closes 11th December)
- Wangaratta High School (closes 10th December)
- Fountain Gate Secondary College (closes 10th December)
- Mount Erin Secondary College (closes 10th December)
- Viewbank College (closes 8th December)
- Wallan Secondary College (closes 8th December)
- McKinnon Secondary College (closes 1st December)
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.
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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) Triboelectric device reduces noise pollution
Scientists have developed a fibrous polypropylene/polyethylene terephthalate (PP/PET) composite foam
that uses the triboelectric effect and in situ electrical energy dissipation to absorb low-frequency sound waves. In this foam, sound is converted into electricity through embedded electrically conductive elements, and this electricity is then dissipated into heat and removed from the material.
The energy dissipation mechanism requires triboelectric pairing materials with a large difference in charge affinity (the tendency to gain or lose charge from/to the other material). The larger the difference between the two fibre materials in the foam, the better the acoustic absorption performance due to the larger triboelectric effect.
b) Martin Rees, Carlo Rovelli and Steven Weinberg tackle big questions to mark Oxford anniversary
A collection of papers to mark the 10th anniversary of the St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of physics (HAPP). It includes articles by Rees on the search for ETI over the centuries, by Rovelli on scientific thinking across the centuries and Weinberg on the greatest physics discoveries of the 20th century
c) Cloudy with a chance of warming: how physicists are studying the dynamical impact of clouds on climate change
One of the biggest uncertainties in predicting future climate change is the impact of clouds. Michael Allen speaks to the physicists and atmospheric scientists studying the properties and processes of cloud physics – from structure and phase-transitions to modelling and manipulations
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