Lots of Opportunities

TAPT,

I hope this finds you all well. Remember our next meeting is at Pima West Campus Saturday, April 13th. 

Here are a couple of information items that have crossed my desk. They all look very interesting. I know everyone has a lot to do, but the assessment committee seems pretty important. I applied. Then the Perimeter institute just seems like a great opportunity, and you get to spend time in Canada in the summer. And the last thing is a talk at ASU on Saturday April 20. Students invited too. 

First,this is from Danel Hogan, through Amber Strunk and a few different people. It's about the need for physics input for the state science assessments: (I'm cutting and pasting from Danel's email):

*********************************************************************************************************

Dear Physics Teachers,

I recently had the opportunity to work on the state assessment performance descriptors (what will be used to write the new science assessment questions).

NO PHYSICS teachers volunteered……

You MUST have a say in this, otherwise your assessment questions will be written based off of life sci and chem teacher input only,  and we know what you think of us : )

http://www.azed.gov/assessment/educators/?fbclid=IwAR1f6C2rOL9LuclchTFpgkOyoOEv19RfsPr2_uaY0_ufdCBFw3BbTLWTK_c

Please share within your physics network.

Sincerely,

Marni Landry, M.Ed.

Grand Canyon University

Manager, K12 STEM Outreach 

K12 Educational Development

602-639-8073 Office      480-489-5441 Cell

marni.landry@gcu.edu

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Second, here is a link for some information from the Perimeter Institute. They have a summer teacher program, applications are due April 15.

https://landing.perimeterinstitute.ca/spring-brings-new-posters-new-student-courses-and-teacher-opportunities?ecid=ACsprvuXqrZaw2_uBwisjinnbOcvU_rAHQAhrbqdP2LWHOm3Nr3qzus7UDQAr2wUK5zPeuu7IN5a&utm_campaign=Outreach%202018&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=71381170&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9cI0clIm1GmclvUXVaDuf7hjFej_2k6aibUa17CgH8gew3yir4CXMiZk2uaYsrpMhFKgugW1EVDsZV3jqib6ZgEXVR8Q&_hsmi=71381170

Third, here's some information about a mini-conference at ASU that has some interesting topics (I'm cutting and pasting from the TCHRs list serve):

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The 4th annual Jargon-Free Mini Science Conference at ASU is coming up on Saturday April 20 from 3-6 PM at ASU Tempe Campus (Physical Science Building H-wing).

Short talk titles include:

"Ants and AI: Machine Learning for the Characterization of Alarm Response in California Harvester Ants"

"Listing to the music of cosmos using very cool detectors"
 Keynote Talk:

"Searching for the Laws of Life" - Sara Walker

  

Teachers are encouraged to attend and share with their students!   (most appropriate for ages 13+)

RSVP for free https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plain-english-science-conference-at-asu-tickets-59195997823

This event is presented by ASU Sundial (mentoring group from Dept. of Physics and School of Earth and Space Exploration). Presenters are mentors and mentees in the program. If you have any questions please contact azaniews@asu.edu

See you soon!

Best,

Karie

Modeling Workshop in Tucson

Tucson Area Physics Teachers,

I want to remind everyone that we are offering a workshop in the Modeling Method of teaching physics in Tucson this coming June.  The dates are June 13^th – July 1^st.  Thanks to generous support from Pima Community College and from our HSI STEM grant, the workshop is offered at a cost of just $250. This is a bargain! Workshops across the country are offered at costs of $750 and more, and that doesn’t include the room and board that you would need if you had to travel.

I hope teachers in Tucson will take advantage of this opportunity. This is the first time a modeling workshop has been offered in Tucson in almost 20 years. Also, Kelli Gamez Warble, who will lead the workshop, has had experience teaching at all levels, from middle school to university and teacher prep – she is the best! 

For your $250, you will receive:

·              3 week of exciting, useful instruction in implementing Modeling

·              A printed manual for mechanics

·              Access to the complete curricula of all Modeling Instruction™ content areas

·              A free one-year AMTA membership

·              A set of 8 white boards

·              A set of dune buggies

·              105 hours of professional development

And you will be part of a larger, international community of physics teachers.

I am attaching a flyer for the workshop, with the registration information, and a synopsis of the Modeling Method. Please ask your administrator to sign you up for this great workshop. If you know someone who wants to teach physics, this would be a good workshop for them too – it will develop a deeper knowledge of physics principles to help with certification. It’s also great for math teachers – we all know that physics is a great way to teach math.

Please let me know if you have questions. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in June.

Best,

Karie

Notes From Last Meeting and Upcoming Dates

TAPT-ers,

There is a Star Party this Saturday, Feb. 13, all day at Pima Community College East Campus, sponsored by Astronomy Magazine and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association.  Look here for details

http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2016/01/18/come-enjoy-the-2016-tucson-star-party.aspx

Some notes from our last meeting: It was awesome! Jim Housley came to the meeting and gave away a bunch of great stuff – he brought a suitcase just for us. (I’ll plug Southwest Airlines here – two free bags.) Also, if there are things you need that his company, Transparent Devices, manufactures, you can email him (jmhousley@aol.com) or me and he will send them to you. He is happy to supply free stuff to us, as he has some amount of overstock and scratch-and-dent, and has been able to absorb the shipping cost so far. While he was here, Jim visited Mark Stockwell’s school, and Allison Lemons’s school. He is always happy to see what people are doing and what devices would be useful. Jim is hoping to give over some of his manufacturing responsibilities to a couple of young engineers, so hopefully he will have more travel time and fewer headaches.

Some Physics Factory News: There is a new physics bus! It’s going to be great. Kip Perkins and Bruce Bayly and Dolly Spalding were all at the meeting representing. Kip is especially looking for demos that would interest middle school students. Kip is driving the original physics bus back to Cornell via the Little Shop of Physics at CSU in Fort Collins. You might have heard of Brian Jones, who is a CSU physics professor and runs the Little Shop. Very inspirational.

Some quotes from the meeting: “Things should be beautiful as well as educational.” That’s Jim’s philosophy for physics demonstration and lab equipment. “Human nature is not factored into education.” Basically, the point was that having attractive things makes students want to learn about them. From Fritz: “The nice thing about Russian mathematics is that they think about physics and mathematics as the same thing.” 

Fritz’s books: Lots of math: Vladimeer Arnold, Mathematical Understanding of Nature.

Aleksandrov et al.,  Mathematics, Its Content, Methods and Meaning, apparently three volumes in one. Everyone who had read them agreed that these two books are great.

Bruce’s mother was featured in an article in the Daily Star. She is a champion athlete. Look for Helen Bayly.

Richard also brought a book about nothing, called the Zero.

J. D. had just returned from an advisory committee meeting at the APS. He filled us in on the URM Bridge program, very successful. Also LIGO will have an announcement February 11^th, and CERN will have an announcement soon. Lots to look forward to.

We don’t have a next meeting planned. The AzAAPT meets April 16^th in Prescott at Embry Riddle University. I am trying for an early April AAPT meeting, but the speaker is TBA. I will keep everyone informed.

There will be a Modeling Workshop at PCC West Campus, in our new labs in June, from June 13 – July 1. Here is a link with the latest information: http://www.phystec.org/pd/detail.cfm?ID=6432. I hope you will all consider attending. It changed my teaching. I have a great teacher from Phoenix lined up. I think a PCC grant will cover some of the costs and it will be offered at a reduced rate to teachers. Right now, that rate looks like it will be about $200, which will include an AMTA membership and some other goodies, as well as about 90 or so hours of professional development credit. It will also help teachers prepare to teach physics, so if you know someone who has been wanting to teach physics, this is the way to start.

March 12, as part of the Festival of Books, all U of A physics labs will be open for touring. This is a great opportunity for students to see what is going on at the U. 

See you soon,

Karie

Meeting This Saturday

TAPT,

We are meeting this Saturday, February 6. We’ll meet at J.D. Garcia’s house at 8:30 am for potluck breakfast. We will host friend of TAPT Jim Housley, who will be visiting from Alaska. Jim is interested in talking with the group about demonstrations and things you might like in your classroom. Also, if you can host Jim in your class this week, email him at jmhousley@aol.com. 

So, for the meeting, think about bringing a favorite demo or question about what kind of demo or lab would be best for a subject you are working on. 

Also, I want to remind everyone on the list that I will be hosting a Modeling Workshop at Pima West Campus this June, from Monday, June 13, through Friday, July 1, 2016. I’m working on some funding sources for the workshop, and I think the cost for teachers will be pretty reasonable. I have a great teacher lined up, who has taught many Modeling workshops. So, if this is something you are interested in, please put it on your calendar. If you know a teacher who wants to teach physics, please mention it to him or her. It’s a great training, and helps to prepare teachers for to teach physics. Recertification hours will be available, they should add up to about 100 hours. 

Hope to see everyone Saturday.

Karie

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

Upcoming Meeting and AP Physics C MOOC

TAPT-ers,

We meet Saturday at J.D. Garcia’s house. The meeting starts at8:30 am with pot-luck breakfast. Bring a dish to share if possible. Lynne Gillette will show examples of Direct Measurement Videos. She has developed activities for some of the videos. Bring a laptop if you like to view and bookmark the videos. Also, if we have time, you can work on developing an activity for your class to go with a DM video. We will end around 10:30. Directions to J.D.’s house are attached.

I received the information below from Dedra Demaree, who develops the AP Physics C exam. The class starts March 2^nd, and is aimed at both teachers and students of AP Physics C.

From Dedra Demaree:

I am writing to inform you of the free GeorgetownX MOOC (massive open online course) titled: “Preparing for the AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Exam.” This course is being offered through GeorgetownX, a partnership between Georgetown University and edX, and is funded by a grant from edX as part of their high school initiative, which has received national press such as this report from NPR.

The course features the expert instruction of Physics Education Research (PER) faculty from around the country, each addressing one of the course’s five main content areas: Electrostatics, Conductors, Capacitors and Dielectrics, Electric Circuits, Magnetic Fields, and Electromagnetism.

In addition to expert-led lectures, the course includes extensive use of PhET Simulations, the first edition of the Physics Active Learning Guide (ALG), the UMd Open Source tutorials, the UPitt E&M tutorials, and other free resources such as the OpenStax Physics text and YouTube videos.

The course launches on Monday, March 2nd, and you can register on the course’s edX page.

This course serves two main audiences - teachers of AP Physics C who may benefit from a fresh way to approach the materials and gain familiarity with great PER-based resources, and studentsplanning to take the AP Physics C exam looking for additional practice and review.  Please note that the MOOC also functions as a stand-alone course for each of the featured topics, addressing them fairly comprehensively, and we encourage you to use the course resources and videos in whatever way you may find them beneficial to your instruction.

Please encourage your students to register for the MOOC, and we also welcome your participation in the course! We invite questions and feedback at gux@georgetown.edu.

You can help us spread the word by sharing physics resources on our Pinterest board, and by joining us in conversation through ourFacebook page.

Thank you,

Dedra Demaree

AP Physics C Development Committee Member

Affiliate Faculty of Physics, Georgetown University

and

Learning Design and Research Specialist, CNDLS

Hope to see you all Saturday!

Karie

December 6th Meeting Notes

TAPT - We had a very fun meeting yesterday with DaNel Hogan. Many thanks to her for her presentation. I have almost perfected the chain and loop trick. 

I am a bit short of time this weekend, but Fritz was nice enough to send me a summary of the meeting and websites that are useful, and I am attaching that below. Thanks Fritz! I notice that he did not include his book titles, so here they are:

Teaching with Problems and the Problems of Teaching, by Magdalene Lampert. Ms. Lampert was one of the originators of active learning, and much has been written about her, including a recent NYT article.

Symmetry, the Monster

Arrival of the Fittest - Fritz's second recommendation of this book. It's about biological robustness depending on the robustness of the networks that make up an organism or group..

I didn't get the name of the last book. It was about how we are polluting our water systems with sewage. Maybe Fritz can bring it again.

We meet next on January 10th at J.D.'s house for our annual toy meeting. Ask for physics toys for the holidays, then bring them to show at our meeting. We will also plan our semester at that meeting. So put it on your calendar now.

I am also attaching a sheet of information below from DaNel. She was nice enough to compile a "best of STEMAZing" for us. If you are not subscribed to the STEMAZing newsletter, you should sign up - it's a great source of support for teachers, and includes things you can use immediately in class as well as notice of upcoming events. Go to the link below to sign up.

From Fritz:

http://www.pimaregionalsupport.org/STEMAZing

Ms. DaNel L. Hogan

Director of The STEMAZing Project

200 N. Stone Avenue

Tucson, AZ 85701

(520) 724-8395

DaNel Hogan  was an Einstein fellow and likes Nuclear Energy. She also was Physics teacher in high school.

Ring with chain to drop to create a knot holding the ring.

Puzzles: (1) two paper circles taped together at right angles: make a square bigger than your face. (2) Take square, make two cuts and twist.

Pam and Chris and Mark solved it at our meeting.

Concord Consortium:  http://concord.org/

Community Shares of Southern Arizona Tucson: http://www.faqs.org/tax-exempt/AZ/Community-Shares-Of-Southern-Arizona.html

Donors Choose: http://www.donorschoose.org/

Phet: http://phet.colorado.edu/

Glasses from American Paper Optics, www.holidayspec.com, www.3Dmarket.org

Dolores Gende:

http://www.dgende.net/

Tutorials on Waves: http://cpphysics.homestead.com/wavet.html

http://apphysicsb.homestead.com/tutorial.html

SuperPi Day March 14th, 2015.

Diffusion versus Convection Confusion: The spread of a scent: You can smell it because of convection.

Homopolar Motor     

Neodymian magnet, screw, battery, wire stripped.

The tip of the screw must be on the knob of the battery and hanging straight down.

May turn up to 10,000 rpm

DaNel’s Electromagnetism lab from STEMAmazing

Recommended book:

The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey

by Roger Highfield

$14.97   Bought.

Rob’s Mousetrap Car.  Didn’t get to see it work. Would like him to make a YouTube video and send us a link.

Mentioned: Phet,  American Science Surplus in Chicago,

JD disabused me of the idea that the metaphor of metabolism is like combustion has some value.

From DaNel (Her favorite information from past newsletters):

STEM on the Cheap 

  

How would you like to be able to turn your cell phone or tablet into a close range image taking device for only $1? The image to the left shows a cell phone camera focused on the eye of Abraham Lincoln using just such a lens. Better yet, the lens you need is available in a device you can find at Family Dollar - a key chain laser pointer! Learn more about this $1 LASER pointer macro lens hack today and start taking interesting, close up pictures tomorrow! 

STEM Educator Site (Grades 6-12) 

  

What does innovation look like, and how can one generate innovative ideas in the classroom? The Design Process: From Idea to Solution collection is build around "design thinking" and is intended to help educators and learners explore the invention of real, practical solutions of some of the world's most pressing problems. 

The Design Process: From Idea to Solution collection is made up of four videos, each with an accompanying lesson plan. Young learners can watch college students from around the country engage actively with the design thinking process, and can draw inspiration from them. Teachers can use the lesson plans to easily guide their students through the design process, helping students to develop unique, innovative ideas and strategies of their very own. 

Help your students with lessons on Generating Ideas, Organizing for Innovation, Strategy Mapping and Communicating Ideas!

From NOVA Education, PBS LearningMedia and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

STEM Educator Site, STEM Videos

  

The Math of Energy series teaches math concepts through real-world situations that are based in the energy industry or fundamental energy relations. The series is targeted for high school students, but the concepts are valuable to viewers of many ages. The videos educate viewers about the importance of mathematics in the everyday world, especially with relation to energy topics.

 

The Math of Energy collection has a separate short video to answer each of the following questions:

• How much coal does your cell phone use?
• When will fossil fuels run out?
• How much energy do you use each year?
• How far away is the Annapurna III mountain?
• How fast is my horse?
• What will be the global population in 2060?
• What is the price of gasoline around the world?
• Is a high-speed or low-speed train more efficient?

STEM Educator Site (K-16), STEM Video

 

The mission of Understanding Science is to provide a fun, accessible, and FREE resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works. The process of science is exciting, but standard explanations often miss its dynamic nature. Science affects us all everyday, but people often feel cut off from science. Science is an intensely human endeavor, but may portrayals gloss over the passion, curiosity, and even rivalries and pitfalls that characterize all human ventures. Understanding Science gives users an inside look at the general principles, methods, and motivations that underlie all of science.

 

Check out the Science in Action: How Science Works video from the California Academy of Sciences explaining the process of science with an exciting new spider discovery! One of many Understanding Science Teacher Resources for K-16 educators.

STEM Educator Site (PreK-12)   

 

RAFT Idea Sheets are easy-to-use hands-on experience guides linked to core curriculum topics. Use the Idea Sheets Search Tool to rapidly pinpoint activities perfectly suited to the grade level, subject area, and content standard you want to cover. Idea Sheets are based on readily-available, low-cost materials such as cardboard tubes, bottle caps, old CD's, etc. Over 700 Idea Sheets are available for FREE!

STEM Site

  

If you are trying to teach students about the scale of the solar system, this scale model of the solar system, If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel, is a phenomenal tool! How long does it take you to scroll out to Uranus or Saturn or the dwarf planet - Pluto If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel?

STEM Demonstration Tool

  

Gravity Visualized is a video of physics teacher Dan Burns explaining his space-time warping demo. A 2-kg mass in the middle with rolling marbles show orbits. A large marble rolling with a smaller one next to it will mimic the Earth-Moon system. Two handfuls of marbles thrown in opposite directions will show why the survivors all go in the same direction, just like the formation of the solar system. Imagine how students from K-Gray might play-to-learn with this exceptional space-time simulator! 

 

For additional information on how to build your own, scroll down to the Spacetime Simulator section of thePretty Good Physics - Modern Physics website.

 

STEM Educator Site (K-Higher Ed)    The Concord Consortium STEM Resource Finder features some of the best of their free, open source educational activities, models and software tools. You can search by keyword or filter by subject, grade level and type to find the right resources for your learning goals.

  

STEM Educator Site    PhET Interactive Simulations range in complexity from elementary to university-level and cover subjects like physics, biology, chemistry, earth science, math and cutting edge research.    Check out John Travoltage to teach about static electricity or Color Vision to explore how red, green and blue light can create a rainbow of colors!    Learn More...   STEM Video    Did you know you can light a fluorescent bulb or neon tube using a plasma ball? Plasma balls are fascinating STEM toys. The Best Top 10 Plasma Ball Tricks and Demonstrations video highlights purposeful physics and physical science uses for this classic STEM toy. Explore, experiment and entertain with care while learning about electrostatics and more!    Learn More...