2015 Nobel Prize for Physics

TAPT,

Below is a message AAPT members received, and it looks like a great resource on neutrinos, available free to everyone through October 31st. 

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics has been presented "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass."

In celebration of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, AAPT presents a new resource for members to use in teaching about the physics behind the Nobel Prize, "Neutrinos: Teaching the science behind the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics" featuring articles published in the  American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher.  The articles in this resource are available free of charge through October 31 so please feel free to share them with your colleagues.

AAPT is a member society in the American Institute for Physics (AIP). You will find additional 2015 Nobel Prize resources on AIP's website at https://www.aip.org/science-news/nobel/physics2015/articles.

Sincerely,
Beth A. Cunningham
Executive Officer
 

Karie Meyers, Ph.D.

Meeting Notes and Upcoming Dates

TAPT,

We had a great talk Saturday, maybe the best we’ve had, though I feel disloyal to all the other great speakers by saying so. Dr. Brad Story, who is in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, started with a description of talking, and went on step by step to describe how words and language are formed in the head and neck. There were a slew of amazing videos and animations made using MatLab. We discussed ventriloquists, chimps,  Neanderthals, children and teens, cows, men vs. women, and the aging voice. It was incredible, and I’m not exaggerating.  Many thanks to Dr. Story for a fascinating talk. People were bursting with questions.  If you want to know more about our speaker, you can go to the website sal.arizona.edu and find his name there. 

Also thanks to the Physics Department, who provided, through J.D., a yummy breakfast.

Fritz’s books, which we didn’t have time to hear much about:

A Beautiful Question, by Frank Wilczek, a perennial favorite author of Fritz’s

Adventures in the Anthropocene,  by Vince

Why Information Grows, by Hidalgo

Stuff Matters, by Miodownik

Our next meeting is November 14^th, and I’ll let you know more in the future.

Two future events of note:

The Tucson Pumpkin Toss is October 18^th on the U of A Mall. It starts early, maybe about 8:30. Spectators welcome!

The Four Corners meeting of the APS (America Physical Society is October 16^th and 17^th. I’ll be going on Saturday and would be happy to give anyone a ride. Here is some information from Kelli Gamez Warble, who is Teacher-In -Residence at ASU:

Hello fellow Arizona STEM teachers,

Arizona State University will host the APS 4 Corners Regional Meeting https://aps4c2015a.events.asu.edu/ on Fri-Sat, October 16-17.  There is an entire thread devoted to Education & Equity in Physics & Science, and many prominent science educators will give talks.  This includes Noah Finkelstein from CU Boulder, who will give the plenary talk entitled "Educational Transformation at a Critical Time: why us and why now--the promises of disciplinary engagement".

The registration is $65 for teachers, and waivers and CEUs are available.  A flyer listing all of the sessions involving Education & Equity can be found at this link:  https://sites.google.com/a/asu.edu/aps-4-corners-fall-2015/home

Noah Finkelstein is an amazing speaker, and it is worth the drive to Phoenix to hear him. He is a leader in the field of physics education.

Thanks to all who attended Saturday. Hope to see you all next time.

Karie