Notes from Saturday

TAPT,

We had a great talk last Saturday at our annual U of A breakfast. Many thanks to Dr. Sam Gralla for a fascinating talk, and for introducing us to the subtleties of imaging a black hole. Thanks also to the U of A Physics Department for a delicious breakfast

In the talk, we learned a lot about the black hole in our galaxy and in others, especially the one in M87, which was the source of the image. Also discussed: the jet from M87, interferometry, radiation from black holes. There was a fascinating discussion of what the constructed image that was released last spring may represent, as well as what it probably doesn’t represent. We also got a sense of how much coordination and cooperation was necessary to make this extraordinary image, and also the best way to transfer terabytes of data between observatories (hint: it’s not by having a good wifi or data connection.) Dr. Grall graciously answered all questions. He also offered to share his slides, and I think I will be able to send those along soon. Thanks to everyone for coming.

Also, Fritz brought two books:

Deep Medicine: Artificial Intelligence Can make Healthcare Human Again, by Eric Topol et al.

and Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, by Sean Carroll, whom Fritz called a “great explainer.” Both highly recommended.

Please join us for our next meeting on November 9^th at J.D. Garcia’s house, with our usual format. We’ll meet at 9:00 at J.D.’s for potluck breakfast. The topic is energy. We will discuss the latest representations of energy here and in the UK, as well as when and how different instructors work it into the curriculum. Please bring your favorite demo, extra credit if it is energy-related.

Hope to see you all there.

Best,

Karie

PAS Breakfast Meeting

Hi TAPT-ers,

This is just a quick reminder that our U of A breakfast meeting is Saturday, October 19^th. We will meet at 8:30 am in the PAS Building, Room 218. Only the West doors will be open. Breakfast is generously supplied by the University of Arizona Physics Department. 

Our speaker will be Dr. Sam Gralla, of the U of A Physics Department. He will talk about the recent exciting picture of a black hole:

Understanding the Photograph

Sam Gralla, Department of Physics, University of Arizona

In April of this year, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first ever horizon-scale observations of the environment surrounding a black hole.  I will present the basics of light bending by black holes and discuss how to understand the observations.  This involves time dilation and the concept of  'event horizon'.

Hope to see everyone there!

Best,

Karie

Meeting on Saturday

We are holding a special meeting Saturday, Sept. 7, to discuss how TAPT can best support physics in the K-12 schools, including middle school. We will be considering the new state standards and a model of professional development for physics and physical science teachers, especially those who have come to physics teaching through varied paths.

We'll meet at 8:30 (notice it's a half-hour earlier than our usual time) at J.D. Garcia's house. I'll bring some snacks, bring something if it's convenient for you, but don't make that the focus. We want to work on bringing physics into the curriculum.

Please reply to this email if you have any questions. 

Future meetings: this conversation may continue to the next Saturday if we so desire. Our regular September meeting has been postponed in favor of the AzAAPT meeting September 28th at Phoenix College. More on that soon. Our TAPT breakfast meeting, with a great speaker, will be October 19th at the U of A. Our speaker is Dr. Sam Gralla, of the U of A Physics Department, and he will talk about the latest imaging of a black hole, and how to interpret the image.

Thanks for all your participation and suggestions and interest. See you Saturday, or one of the Saturdays this month.

Best, 

Karie

Meeting Notes and Semester Schedule

Hi Tucson-Area teachers,

We had an interesting meeting Saturday, and I will give a few takeaways. First, here is a schedule that you can put into your calendar.

September 14^th: Regular meeting, subject tba

October 19^th: Regular meeting, possibly our yearly U of A meeting. Still being worked out.

November 9^th: Regular meeting. The discussion will be new AZ science standards. Antonio  Solazzi has worked on some of the state committees and will be sharing the information that he has.

Other dates of interest:

September 7^th: Working meeting on helping non-physics teachers, including middle school teachers, meet the new standards. Anyone who is interested in this topic is welcome. Helen Reynolds and I are both part-time this semester, and we hope to develop a mechanism to reach teachers. As most of you know, Helen had the job of educating physics teachers in England.

September 28^th: AZAAPT meeting at Phoenix College. The theme is amusement park visits, including Castles and Coasters and Magic Mountain. There will be talks on logistics as well as the physics that can be illustrated and measured. Bruce Bayly would like to have a group to carpool to the meeting. Start thinking about whether you would like to attend.

Our discussion Saturday had a few interesting points. First of all, it’s not that easy to find a physics teaching job in Tucson or Arizona. That’s because a lot of schools have taken physics out of their curriculum. If a physics teacher leaves, and they can’t replace her/him right away, they often stop offering physics. It’s kind of a feedback effect. We had some discussion about whether to this can be remedied. If you’re in a school that has physics, it’s nice if you can chat up the counselors, and let them know how important it is. Many counselors advise against physics as being too hard.

Our other discussion was about the new science standards and the end of AIMS science testing. A new exam is being rolled out in 2 years. I don’t fully know the details, but Antonio is up-to-date and was very informative. More at our November meeting.

More information will follow about the various dates above. Hope you all are having a great start of the school year.

Best,

Karie

Planning Meeting on Saturday

I hope everyone is happy to be back at school! Or at least still willing. Come have a casual potluck breakfast with the TAPT crowd Saturday morning, August 17th. We will plan a semester or so of activities, and have some time to talk and catch up from summer. 

Hope to see everyone there. We'll meet at 9:00 at J.D. Garcia's house, [redacted]. Bring a dish to share if you can manage it, otherwise just bring yourself and maybe a fellow teacher. We aim to end by 11. New members welcome!

Best,

Karie

End of Year Party

Hi TAPT-ers,

We are having an end-of-the-year party Saturday, May 25th, at J.D. Garcia's house. We'll cook burgers and have some fun demos. The time is 5:30 pm, friends and family welcome. There is a pool available if you or your kiddos are interested. J.D.'s address is [redacted for the internet]. 

I need a rough count of burgers, and what type you prefer, beef, chicken or veggie. We plan to get really good burgers, so I recommend beef if you're not a vegetarian. Please bring a dish of any sort to share. J.D. and I will supply burgers and fixins and drinks.

Hope to see you there!

Remember, let me know your burger order!

--Karie

Meeting on Saturday

TAPT-ers,

We meet Saturday, April 13, at Pima CC West Campus at 9:00 am. We’ll be in room F130 - I’ll send directions later in the week. 

I will be demonstrating the use of Vernier video analysis. This program is something I’ve used quite a bit in my Conceptual Physics class as well as my Engineering Physics. Students can take a video of some phenomenon, then analyze the motion using Vernier software. No equipment is needed except a camera or phone, and the software, which is free.  I hope it will be useful – I have found that the students do well with the visual representations. I’ll have some cameras and we can take videos to analyze. We have some laptops, or you can bring your own. If you don’t have LoggerPro, you can download it there.

We meet at 9, I’ll bring coffee and a snack. Hope you can join us. Please rsvp for my snack count.

Best,

Karie