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

Notes From Last Meeting + Upcoming Dates

TAPT,

Here are some notes from our last meeting.

We agreed to meet on February 6^th at J.D.’s house so that we can see Jim Housley. Jim is a friend of TAPT from Alaska, where he is retired from physics teachers, and where he manufactures and develops physics demonstration equipment.  Jim is interested in visiting some classrooms, so if you are able to host him during the week, he would appreciate it. You can contact him atjmhousley@aol.com if you have a time that he can visit your classroom. He is especially interested in physics and physical science. I think he will be here for most of the week after February 6^th, but am not sure of his travel dates.

The next meeting date after Feb. 6 is TBA – we are working on a speaker for early April.

The Festival of Books is March 12, and on that day all of the physics labs at the University are open to visitors. It’s a good day for your students to see all of the cool stuff going on there.

The Arizona section of the AAPT meets April 16^th in Prescott at Embry-Riddle University.

There is a transit of Mercury on May 9 at 6:00am – 11:45. Chris Ubing is making his astronomy students come to see it as part of his final. I think we can go too, or maybe there will be some telescopes available closer to home. It’s a Monday, so I guess it would be a school day.

We will have our end-of-the-year party on May 14th. 

I showed some of Derrick Muller’s videos from Veritassium. He was one of the speakers at the recent AAPT meeting in New Orleans.

A website that is useful for contextual problems is: http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/materials.html

Fritz had been sick and had too much time to read, and he brought way too many books, but here’s a list.

The Evolution of Everything, by Matt Ridley. The title says it all.

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Steven Greenblatt. It sounds great.

The Nature of Things, by Lucretius. I think this is an old one.

Wolfram Language, by Stephen Wolfram. It’s a tutorial. Several people tried to steal this at the meeting.

How to Read a Page, by I.A. Richards. Something about 100 important words.

Thing Explainer, by Randall Monroe, author of xkcd and everyone’s favorite, who also explains things in simple words in this book.

Thhe Invention of Science by David Woolton. A history of the scientific revolution.

Fritz’s illness is hard on us all. Way too much to read.

Dave Katz was nice enough to summarize his knowledge of the gem show. I have attached his hints and advice.

Next meeting: February 6^th at J.D.’s house, 8:30 am. Hope to see everyone there.

Best,

Karie

Meeting Reminder

Just a quick reminder - we meet Saturday, Jan. 23, at 8:30 am at J.D. Garcia’s house, directions attached [use the contact form on this blog if you need directions]. Bring a breakfast item if you can, if it’s not convenient, don’t worry about it. We’ll have coffee and something for everyone. No agenda, except: Set our semester meetings and activities, show off your holiday physics-related gifts, and I’ll give a rundown of the most recent AAPT meeting. Keep a couple of possible activities in mind: We could meet again in two weeks, February 6th, and host TAPT friend Jim Housley, who has generously donated lots of equipment to Tucson teachers - he’ll be in town for the gem show. Also, we want to consider arranging a trip to the TAAA observing site in the Chiricahua mountains. It would be an overnight observing trip for teachers. So we will need to consider dates.

Hope to see you there,

Karie

Meeting this Saturday

TAPT,

Happy New Year! 

We meet Saturday, January 23, at 8:30 am at J.D. Garcia’s house for potluck breakfast. We usually use our January meeting to plan the next semester, so bring all of your ideas. Also, if you happened to get any physics toys, or other cool toys, for Christmas or other holidays, this is a great time to show them off. Bring all of your show and tell. 

Bring a dish to share if you have time, if not, come anyway, we always have plenty of food. We start at 8:30 and aim to end around 10:30.

I’ve attached directions to J.D.’s. Hope to see everyone there. 

[Use the contact form on the this blog for directions.]

Karie

Particle Fever on PBS + Updates

TAPT,

Happy New Year! TAPT meets January 23rd. I’ll send reminders, but you can put in on your calendar: 8:30 am at J.D. Garcia’s house.

Here are a few reminders that I’m passing along from Jane Jackson:

PARTICLE FEVER
   Wednesday, January 6, at 9pm on KAET channel 8.
  http://www.azpbs.org
Follow six brilliant scientists for the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, built to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang and search for the Higgs boson.

(Also Fri. 1/8 at 3 a.m.; Sun. 1/10 at 2 p.m.)

Jane's note: On the PBS website, you can view a new 8-minute video, produced in summer 2015:   Particle Fever: Extra Dimensions.
Physicists Daniel Whitestone and Jonathan Feng update us after finding the Higgs Boson.
      http://www.pbs.org/video/2365551825/

The official website for Particle Fever is http://www.pbs.org/wnet/particle-fever/ . The director and producer are both PhDs in particle physics.

Also from Jane, details about the Physics Bowl, which is a fun exercise for your students:

2016 AAPT  PHYSICS BOWL

Each year, approximately 10,000 students take a 40-question, 45-minute timed, multiple-choice test under their school's supervision. The 2016 exam will be given between March 30 and April 15, 2016.

To enhance the distribution of awards, Division I is for first-year physics students and Division II is for second-year physics students. Each Division has 14 regions. Regions are listed at
    http://www.aapt.org/Programs/PhysicsBowl/codes.cfm  (Specialized math and science schools compete in a separate region, just for them.)

The deadline to register is FEBRUARY 29, 2016.

You, the teacher, can register a team of your students. Register at http://www.aapt.org/Programs/PhysicsBowl/howto.cfm (online or mail or FAX)

Your team of students take a 40-question, 45-minute timed, multiple-choice test under your school's supervision.

Exam questions are based on topics and concepts covered in a typical high school physics course.

School Team scores are determined by the sum of the scores of the top five students.

Info at http://www.aapt.org/Programs/Physicsbowl/

JOIN AAPT
One more thing: If your New Year’s Resolution is to join AAPT, here’s some information:

WHY?
*  AAPT advances the greater good -- through physics education.
*  AAPT promotes best practices for physics education -- through teachers.
*  AAPT membership CONNECTS you with physics teachers worldwide.

Watch physics teachers tell why they value AAPT (a 2-minute video) at  http://www.aapt.org/Membership/Connections_Matter.cfm

AAPT BENEFITS:
* eNNOUNCER each month: many opportunities
* online journals:
       American Journal of Physics (my favorite, for PER!) and
       THE PHYSICS TEACHER (great short articles -- useful in the classroom)
* PHYSICS TODAY magazine: keep up with physics

*eMentoring, for high school teachers

* Summer meetings, often at universities with affordable dorm housing.
      Focus on high school and college.
      Insightful talks
      Fun to make new friends and share ideas

* Winter meetings, that focus on college physics

* AAPT staff are friendly and helpful.

*  Much more!  Watch this 4-minute video by AAPT President Steve Iona:
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXlYWy84OtI

It is easy to join AAPT, at http://www.aapt.org .

Hope to see you January 23rd!

Karie

Notes From December 12th Meeting

To TAPT,

Once again, I know I’m late with meeting notes from our meeting of December 12th, now over a week ago. The last week of school is always a bit busy for me.

We had lots of interesting visitors at the last meeting. We had a surprise visit from Erik Herman, who was driving the original Physics Bus. It was fantastic! We all got to have a quick tour before they headed off to the street fair. Erik, who graduated from the U of A teacher prep program, is now working in physics education outreach at Cornell University. The bus was amazing. 

Many thanks to our two guests from the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Jim Heasley and Mike Magras, who gave a wonderful presentation. They have a dark site about two hours from Tucson. They will host school groups there. To see pictures of their site, google Chiricahua Astronomy Complex. They have a 14” Celestron with a rolling roof. We are hoping for a TAPTouting to the site! It will be awesome. DaNel Hogan and I are going to work on it in for next spring. With professional development credit.

Meanwhile, if you would like to work with the TAAA for your class or your school, you can contact Jim Heasley at jnheasley@gmail.com. They will be happy to come visit your club or class, and brainstorm some activities that the group might like. They can do a star party, and then move on from there if you have a group that becomes interested in astronomy and would like to camp out at the TAAA dark site. This is a great group with lots of resources that they would love to share in order to get people interested in science. 

In addition, Jim Heasley, who is a former University of Hawaii astronomer, suggested a project that he thinks would make a good science fair project. People mentioned dry labs from Project CLEA and MatLab, which has a dry lab on measuring the speed of light. Jim Heasley suggested a photographic project: take a digital photo of Jupiter every night for some period of time. Using the photos of the moons of Jupiter, deduce Kepler’s law of period vs. orbital radius. The site Ugly Hedgehog was mentioned - it’s a photography site, so I think Jim was referring to it as having some hints for taking pictures of Jupiter.

Some other news: DaNel Hogan of the STEMAZing project (you should be on her mailing list) has macro lenses for 10 cents each. Also, she showed us a cool hologram viewer that you can use to see holograms from the YouTube pictures that people post. It’s amazing. Instructions, and much more, are on her site stemazing.org. Go there for some great demonstrations, sign up for the STEMAZing newsletter, sign up for workshops, lots of other great stuff. Also, DaNel visited Chernobyl. Stay tuned, she will be talking to the group about it next semester.

I am planning a Modeling Workshop for June 13th through July 1st. I’m working on getting some outside funding, so can’t tell right now how much it will cost. If you are interested, please let me know.

Our January planning meeting will be January 23rd at J.D.’s house. We are also planning a meeting in February during the Gem Show, hoping Jim Housely, our friend from Alaska can join us.

Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday! See you next year!

Karie