Physics News from the AIP No 2, Term 1 2005



VicPhysics News: Term 2, No 2 2017

Dear ,

Table of Contents

1. How do you start teaching the topic of electric circuits?

2. PhysicsWorld Magazine: Focus on Nuclear Energy - Free download

3. Forthcoming events for Students and the General Public

a) VCE Lectures for Students, Relativity, 4th May, University of Melbourne

VCE Lectures for Students, Practical Investigation, 18th May, University of Melbourne

b) Small, Medium, Large: What Galaxy Sizes Reveal About Their Past, 6:30pm, Friday 12 May, Swinburne University

4. Forthcoming events for Teachers

a) ASELL Schools Workshops on Laboratory Learning, various dates and venues

b) Professional Learning Programs for STEM Teachers, full day, various dates from May to Dec, La Trobe University

c) The Sound of Science, 6pm, 14th June, Melbourne Recital Centre

d) ANSTO PD for teachers, Tuesday, 20th June, Australian Synchrotron

5. Physics News from the Web

a) How hurricanes replenish their vast supply of rainwater

b) Drawing water from dry air

c) Three-photon interference measured at long last

d) Review of David Bodanis' book 'Einstein’s Greatest Mistake: the Life of a Flawed Genius'

The next meeting of the Vicphysics Teachers' Network will be at 5pm on Thursday, 18th May at Melbourne Girls' College. All teachers are welcome to attend this or any other meeting. If you would like to attend, please contact Vicphysics at vicphys@

Regards,

Frances Sidari (Pres), Jane Coyle (Vice Pres), Barbara McKinnon (Sec) and Dan O'Keeffe (Treas).

The executive of the VicPhysics atTeachers' Network

1. How do you start teaching the topic of electric circuits?

In the UK when teachers are applying for a new job, they are often asked to give a short lesson on a specific topic to a class at the school, a class they have never seen before. As you would imagine, this is a demanding task. To ensure they present an engaging lesson, such teachers often seek some suggestions on 'Talkphysics', the UK's physics teachers' forum. Many ideas are offered within hours.

These were some of the ideas offered to a teacher who had to present a 15 min lesson of electric circuits to a Year 9 class.

• A model light globe. A pencil lead is held between two crocodile clips and placed or taped inside a jar. The jar is then turned upside down and put in water. The inversion in water means that once the initial oxygen has burnt off, the bulb can continue to glow.

• A 10 minute Youtube video from a webinar on modelling electric circuits that was followed by an online discussion with about 100 contributions,

• A link to descriptions of 12 different analogies on the furry elephant website, There is link at the bottom of the page to the section on 'Teaching and Learning Electricity'. It has comments on i) the order we teach things, ii) the misconceptions students already have about electricity, iii) the electrical analogies we use and iv) the language we use when we talk about electricity. There is also a section on radioactivity with the same four sections. This is a commercial operation by a UK teacher. There is a free preview of the animations, but to use them with a class, an individual teacher can subscribe on a monthly basis for ₤5 per month.

• The IOP website, Practical Physics, has a webpage on 'Electric Circuits and Fields' at , which has 16 collections of activities and advice under 14 different headings.

2. PhysicsWorld Magazine: Focus on Nuclear Energy - Free download

An in-depth, but accessible, coverage of some of the longer-term matters affecting the nuclear industry, including safety, reactor design, waste management and environmental concerns.

Highlights in this focus issue include:

• How green is nuclear energy? – Policy and technology expert Gail H Marcus assesses the industry’s environmental credentials

• Chernobyl’s hidden legacy – Historian Kate Brown argues that scientists should re-examine Soviet-era evidence of health effects from radiation

• The long road to ignition – A report on the status of efforts to reach the “break-even” point of inertial confinement fusion at the US National Ignition Facility

• Keeping it safe forever – an interview with nuclear-waste management expert Charles McCombie about his career and some of the latest thinking in waste science and technology

• Maintaining high standards – Karl Whittle, Mahmoud Mostafavi and Philip D Edmondson explore the materials-science challenges of monitoring nuclear reactor components.

The resource can downloaded here.

3. Forthcoming events for Students and General Public

a) Physics Lectures for VCE Students: Relativity, 6pm Thursday, 4th May, University of Melbourne

The upcoming lectures for the remainder of Semester 1 are:

May 4th Relativity with Prof. David Jamieson

May 18th The Practical Investigation with Dr. Syd Boydell

June 1st Electric Power with Assoc. Prof. Jeff McCallum

The lectures are held in the Laby Theatre in the Physics Dept at the university.

Youtube videos of teh frst two lectures on Motion and Thermodynamics are available here.

b) Small, Medium, Large: What Galaxy Sizes Reveal About Their Past, 6:30pm, Friday 12 May, Swinburne University

Please click on the link below to register: 



Presenter: Dr. Rebecca Allen, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing

Abstract: Galaxies are the largest structures of matter in our Universe. Our own Milky Way has been studied in glorious detail. We know it has billions of stars, around most of which planets are likely to be found. There is a super massive black hole at its center where anything that gets too close will be consumed. There are intricate dust lanes that obscure the main disk of the galaxy. There is the life-force of stars, hydrogen gas. Finally, there is the mysterious dark matter that acts as a gravitational glue holding the ordinary matter together. But our galaxy is just one of many, and since their discovery, understanding how these complex objects form and evolve has been a focus of astronomers.

There are many pathways to reveal more about the nature and evolution of galaxies. In my talk, I will share how I use the sizes of galaxies to understand more about their growth.

Date: Friday, 12 May 2017

Time: 18:30 - 19:30

Venue: Swinburne University, Hawthorn Campus, ATC Building, ATC101 (enter from Burwood Road)

Map: 

4. Forthcoming events for Teachers

a) ASELL Schools Workshop on Laboratory Learning, various dates and venues

ASELL: Advancing Science and Engineering through Laboratory Learning

Workshops are FREE, however, participants are requested to commit to sharing their learning from the workshop with colleagues within their school.

The program includes hands-on sessions exploring exemplary practical activities targeted at the 7 – 10 science curriculum, as well as sessions investigating ideas for optimising science learning in the laboratory.

Morning tea and lunch provided together with comprehensive notes.

CRT funding support is available.

19 May 2017 Mary MacKillop College, Leongatha.

Online registration

24 May 2017 Gippsland Grammar School, Sale

Online registration

1 June 2017 Oberon High School, Geelong

Online registration

7 June 2017 Mercy College Camperdown

Online registration

21 June 2017 Emmaus College, Vermont South

Online Registration

The ASELL practical activities include integration of the Science Inquiry Skills, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Understanding strands of the Australian Curriculum, and link to contemporary science.

For further information contact Ian Bentley i.bentley@deakin.edu.au

b) Professional Learning Programs for STEM Teachers, full day, various dates from May to Dec, La Trobe University

In 2017 La Trobe University is offering science teachers in Victorian high schools a suite of Professional Learning Programs (PLPs). The PLPs support and up-skill secondary teachers by reinforcing content knowledge and understanding of new technologies and teaching tools to build confidence in the delivery of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. The programs are designed to support teachers at all stages of their careers, from those just starting out to more experienced teachers. The emphasis is on Years 7 - 10.

Typically, the PLPs include an introductory lecture, practical workshops and opportunities for interaction with practising scientists and researchers. The presenters address current educational and industry context, new initiatives, and global trends, with a practical emphasis on classroom relevance. Teachers will return to their classrooms with fresh insights, renewed confidence, new ideas, and tools and techniques for communicating with their students.

Sessions run for a full day (9:00 to 3:30) and cost $250 per person. For more information on each program go to or contact Madeline Toner, the Professional Learning Programs Coordinator on 9479 8922 or m.toner@latrobe.edu.au

Dates: Chemistry: 26th May, Physics: Friday, 16th June, Psychology: 21st July and 8th Dec (Bendigo), Engineering: 18th August, Maths: 24th November, Biology: 30th November

Venues: Melbourne campus at Bundoora, except for Psychology on 8th Dec in Bendigo.

c) The Sound of Science, 6pm, 14th June, Melbourne Recital Centre

In this exploration of sound and space, Cameron Hough, Senior Acoustic and Theatre Consultant with Arup, illustrates the science of sound. Find out how acoustic engineers design spaces for performing and listening to music, from the people who designed the Salon and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall at the MRC. Curt Thompson, Head of Strings at the University of Melbourne will supervise a string quartet to offer practical music and commentary during the session.

Cost $10.

To book

d) ANSTO PD for teachers, Tuesday, 20th June, Australian Synchrotron

Get some fresh ideas for teaching key areas of the Year 9 science curriculum and VCE Physics. Organised by the ANSTO Discovery Centre.

When: Tuesday June 20, 2017, 9am-3pm, Thursday November 16, 2017, 9am-3pm

Where: Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Rd, Clayton, Victoria

Cost: Free

Program: Coming soon

Registrations: For June: , For November:

5. Physics News from the Web

Items selected from the bulletins of the Institute of Physics (UK) and the American Institute of Physics.

Each item below includes the introductory paragraphs and a web link to the rest of the article.

a) How hurricanes replenish their vast supply of rainwater

b) Drawing water from dry air

c) Three-photon interference measured at long last

d) Review of David Bodanis' book 'Einstein’s Greatest Mistake: the Life of a Flawed Genius'

a) How hurricanes replenish their vast supply of rainwater



The mystery of how tropical cyclones deliver colossal amounts of rainwater over long periods of time may have been solved by an international team of atmospheric physicists. The team suggests that – rather than relying on ongoing evaporation to replenish rainwater – these powerful storm systems suck pre-existing moisture out of the air through which they travel.

b) Drawing water from dry air



A new solar-powered system that can extract water from air in arid regions of the world has been unveiled by researchers in the US and Saudi Arabia. Led by Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, and Evelyn Wang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the team created the device using a metal-organic framework (MOF). The device is powered by heat from sunlight.

c) Three-photon interference measured at long last



Quantum interference involving three photons has been measured by two independent teams of physicists. Seeing the effect requires the ability to deliver three indistinguishable photons to the same place at the same time and also to ensure that much more common single-photon and two-photon interference effects are eliminated from the measurements. As well as providing deep insights into the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, three-photon interference could also be used in quantum cryptography and quantum simulators.

d) Review of David Bodanis' book 'Einstein’s Greatest Mistake: the Life of a Flawed Genius'



Albert Einstein’s persistent opposition to quantum mechanics is a familiar, if still somewhat surprising, fact to all physicists. It was first voiced in 1926 in his famous comment written in a letter to Max Born that “Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not bring us any closer to the secrets of the ‘old one’. I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing dice.”[pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]

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