VicPhysics News: Term 2, No 2, 2016
Dear ,
This newsletter features a story about supporting the staff of the CSIRO, Adrian Alexander's Sound Excursion and a set of engaging video websites. There are also more events for students.
Table of Contents
1. 'Sound in Practice' Excursions for Unit 4 Detailed Study and Unit 2 Option
2. Some Engaging Videos
3. Friends of CSIRO: Meeting and Petition
4. Forthcoming events for Students and the General Public
a) VCE Lecture for Students, Wave Particle Duality, 6pm, 5th May, University of Melbourne
b) Maths, IT and Engineering, 11am - 2pm, Friday, 6th May, Monash University
c) Heavy elements in Red Giant Stars, 6:30pm, Friday 20th May, Swinburne University
5. Forthcoming events for Teachers
a) Australian Synchrotron: Victorian Science Teacher Professional Development Day, Friday, 24th June at the Australian Synchrotron
6. Physics News from the Web
a) Cool 'Saharan ants' silver hairs cause total internal reflection
b) Finding the Earth-bound evidence for supernovae in the galactic neighbourhood
c) How Hard Does The Sun Push On The Earth?
The next meeting of the Vicphysics Teachers' Network will be at 5pm on Tuesday, 10th May at the University of Melbourne. All teachers are welcome to attend this or any other meeting. If you would like to attend, please contact Vicphysics at
Regards,
Frances Sidari, Jane Coyle, Barbara McKinnon and Dan O'Keeffe.
The executive of the VicPhysics Teachers' Network
1. 'Sound in Practice' Excursions for Unit 4 Detailed Study and Unit 2 Option
Sound In Practice is an excursion specifically designed by Adrian Alexander to support the teaching of the Year 12 Physics Detailed study of Sound.
2016 Dates: Thursday 28th July to Friday 5th August.
Sessions are 2.5 hours in length, with morning sessions commencing at 9.30am and concluding at 12 noon, and afternoon sessions commencing at 1.30 pm and concluding at 4pm.
Venue for Sound in Practice delivery is Swinburne Senior SC, 505 Burwood Rd Hawthorn.
Cost of the session is $25 per student (GST exclusive), and no minimum session costs apply, as small class groups are combined with other schools. Further information on content and teacher testimonials is available on the website https://sites.google.com/site/vcesoundinpractice/home .
Bookings and Enquiries can be made by emailing or calling Adrian on 0438 099 036.
Also available in 2016 is a 2 hour session designed to support the Unit 1&2 Option 2.10 'How Instruments Make Music'. Teachers interested in exploring this option are invited to make contact with Adrian to discuss delivery options.
2. Some Engaging Videos
· Quarks. The 'PhysicsGirl' youtube website has a cute 4 min video on the quarks in a proton. The content goes further than our course, but it shows that our picture of particles gets curiouser and curiouser, the deeper you look. https://www.youtube.com/v/LraNu_78sCwhttp://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=eaea39b6442dc4e0d08e6aa4a&id=2412513bfb&e=6bfea880c8 Check also her website for her other videos, https://www.youtube.com/user/physicswoman/featured. The 'Stacked ball drop' is a good topic for a practical investigation, it is in 'Everyday physics'. The 'Space and the Universe' has 9 videos.
· Rocket powered bicycle reaches 333 kph in 4.8 seconds. http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20141110-watch-207mph-on-a-bicycle
· Tennis racket effect: A spinning wing nut in an orbiting spacecraft suddenly flips about its axis of rotation. https://www.youtube.com/v/1n-HMSCDYtM&app=desktop&autoplay=1 http://mathoverflow.net/questions/81960/the-dzhanibekov-effect-an-exercise-in-mechanics-or-fiction-explain-mathemat (Video is in Russian, demo occurs 30 seconds in, but some online discussion of explanation) and https://www.youtube.com/v/4dqCQqI-Gis%26v=4dqCQqI-Gis%26autoplay=1 ( A demo with a table tennis bat)
· World's Simplest Homopolar motor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPzJr1jjHnQ
· Direct Measurement Videos: This website, http://serc.carleton.edu/dmvideos/videos.html is devoted to videos in which students can extract data. Some of the videos are shot at high frame rates. The website has pages on 'What are DM videos?', 'Why teach with them?' and 'How to teach with them?' . There are over 60 videos mainly on Mechanics. There are also detailed teacher notes for each activity.
· US Physics Teacher, Dan Fullerton has compiled an extensive range of videos (877 in number) from various sources including Veritasium, Sumner Miller and Acapella Science. They are categorised by physics topic. http://aplusphysics.com/community/index.php?/videos/
3. Friends of CSIRO: Meeting and Petition
The inaugural meeting of Friends of CSIRO Victoria will be held on Monday 2nd May at the CPSU offices, level 10/440 Collins St, Melbourne at 6pm. A copy of the draft charter is below.
There was a forum in Canberra last week that received some coverage on ABC Lateline, which can be seen on iView.
A petition on the cuts to the CSIRO has been set up, it can be signed at http://www.proudtobepublic.org.au/proudtobeinnovating
The draft agenda for the Monday 2nd May meeting:
* Welcome and introductions
* Progress with establishment of Friends of CSIRO
* Actions to Oppose the CSIRO Cuts - possible forum, rally? Identification of margins seats.
* Actions to formalise the Friends of CSIRO
Draft Friends of CSIRO Charter
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is a critical component of Australia’s research and innovation capacity. The public good research it undertakes contributes enormously to Australian society and a secure future for Australians. Few other organisations undertake the range of scientific long-term research undertaken by CSIRO or give the return on investment to society as does CSIRO.
CSIRO has a long list of successful research outcomes contributing to important developments in medicine, ecosystem management, plant and manufacturing industries and other sectors. It is greatly valued by Australians.
Objectives of Friends of CSIRO are to:
· Oppose the job and funding cuts, actual and proposed, of the Abbott/Turnbull government;
· Promote the work of CSIRO to the community and government, in particular, public good, long-term research;
· Promote an understanding of science and the value of science to the community;
· Support the adequate resourcing of CSIRO to enable the fulfillment of its charter;
· Acknowledge that the crisis of climate change presents particular challenges to all sectors of Australian society and this challenge must be recognised by adequate resourcing of CSIRO, reflecting the scale and urgency of this challenge.
4. Forthcoming events for Students and General Public
a) VCE Lecture for Students, Wave Particle Duality, 6pm, 5th May, University of Melbourne
The next lecture for VCE Physics students for the next term is scheduled for Thursday May 5 at 6 pm in the Laby theatre of the School of Physics at Melbourne University.
The lecturer is Assoc Prof Harry Quiney of the University of Melbourne.
Check http://outreach.physics.unimelb.edu.au/VCE/Lecture-Series for details and notes from previous lectures.
Future lectures are:
May 19 The Big Bang Theory Dr. Christian Reichardt, Uni of Melb. Phys
June 2 How do heavy things fly? Richard Collmann, Uni of Melb. Eng
b) Maths, IT and Engineering, 11am - 2pm, Friday, 6th May, Monash University
The Faculty of IT at Monash University invites students, teachers and the general public to its Claude Shannon Centenary Celebration on Fri 6 May 2016, from 11am-2pm, in lecture theatre S14 at the Clayton campus.
Abstract: Claude Shannon (1916-2001) was a mathematician and engineer, one of the most remarkable in the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the information age, in that he laid down the mathematical foundations of efficient, reliable and secure communication, in the presence or absence of noise or eavesdroppers. He was also a pioneer in the mathematical analysis of switching circuits and in programming computers to play chess, among other contributions.
The celebration consists of a series of short talks, aimed at a general audience, followed by lunch. Talks include:
· Jamie Evans (UoM): Claude Shannon's life and career
· Michael Brand (FIT, Monash): noiseless coding
· Yi Hong (ECSE, Monash): noisy coding
· Ron Steinfeld (FIT, Monash): Shannon and Cryptography
· Reza Haffari (FIT, Monash): Shannon and natural language
· Rebecca Robinson (FIT, Monash): the Shannon capacity of a graph
· Graham Farr (FIT, Monash): Shannon's switching game
· Amin Sakzad (FIT, Monash): data compression
The event is free but registration is essential. To register, go to
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19bdG4bVtJo3hFr-98bUBqvdFDyoL4CLkcCiuVaXdCdM/viewform
For further information: contact Prof. Graham Farr, , 0409 942 922.
c) Heavy elements in Red Giant Stars, 6:30pm, Friday 20th May, Swinburne University
Speaker: Dr Amanda Karakas from Monash University
Abstract: Most of the elements in the periodic table heavier than hydrogen and helium were forged in stars. Through the combined studies of stellar spectroscopy, nuclear physics, geochemistry, and astrophysics, humans have been able to work out the origin of many of the chemical elements that naturally occur in our Solar System. We know for example that most of the oxygen in the air was forged in ancient supernova explosions, which are the end product of very massive stars. The carbon in our bodies was synthesised instead by stars covering a wide range of stellar masses, from solar-type stars like our Sun through to massive stars. The biggest mystery today concerns the origins of the elements heavier than iron. In this talk I will take you on a journey through the origin of the elements, with a special focus on where the heaviest elements in nature are formed. In order to do this, I will discuss some basics about the life cycle of stars, which is intimately connected to the story of the origin of the elements through the nuclear reactions that occur deep in their interiors.
Date: Friday 20th May 2016
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Swinburne University, Hawthorn campus, ATC building, ATC101
Map: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/media/swinburneeduau/about-swinburne/docs/pdfs/hawthorn-map.pdf
Program details: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/outreach/?topic=freelectures
To register for the next lecture on Friday 20 May using this link, which works best via Google
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EgH2h4VcgoXY8D63mA6dV3P-_TTWFcEYM4jEtnKbGKs/viewform
Check here http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/outreach/?topic=freelectures for details of future lectures on 17th June and 22nd July.
5. Forthcoming events for Teachers
a) Australian Synchrotron: Victorian Science Teacher Professional Development Day, Friday, 24th June at the Australian Synchrotron
Get some fresh ideas for teaching key areas of the Year 9 science curriculum and VCE Physics. Hear from prominent scientists, take a tour of the Australian Synchrotron, participate in workshops and receive new educational resources.
When: Friday June 24, 2016, 9am-3pm
Where: Australian Synchrotron
Cost: Free
Registrations: https://goo.gl/f8hDUV
Enquiries: or (02) 9717 3090
If you are experiencing issues with this form when using Internet Explorer, please try using Chrome or Firefox as your browser or call the ANSTO Discovery Centre on 02 9717 3090 during business hours
See more at: http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/DiscoveryCentre/EducationResources/ProfessionalDevelopment/index.htm#Victoria
6. 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) Cool Saharan ants' silver hairs cause total internal reflection
b) Finding the Earth-bound evidence for supernovae in the galactic neighbourhood
c) How Hard Does The Sun Push On The Earth?
a) Cool' Saharan ants' silver hairs cause total internal reflection
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/apr/18/cool-saharan-ants-silver-hairs-cause-total-internal-reflection
A species of desert-dwelling ant is able to tolerate temperatures exceeding 50°C because its body hairs act like prisms causing total internal reflection of light, according to the latest work from a team of physicists and biologists in Belgium. The researchers found that the hairs of the Saharan silver ant, Cataglyphis bombycina, provide a 10-fold increase in light reflection, prevent overheating and giving them their silver shimmer.
The Saharan silver ant is one of the most heat-tolerant animals on Earth. The insects can run across the sands of deserts in Egypt and on the Arabian Peninsula at midday, scavenging corpses of animals that succumb to the intense heat. Being able to tolerate temperatures above 50°C allows them to forage during the hottest part of the day when most other animals, including predatory lizards, are sheltering from the heat.
b) Finding the Earth-bound evidence for supernovae in the galactic neighbourhood
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/apr/06/finding-the-earth-bound-evidence-for-supernovae-in-the-galactic-neighbourhood
The locations and timing of the closest supernovae to Earth, which took place within the last few million years, could be determined thanks to new studies of a specific isotope of iron. The research, carried out by two independent teams, suggests that two supernovae exploded within 330 light-years of Earth in the past 2.3 million years. The findings – which combine "deep-sea astronomy" with "galactic archeology" – hint at the possibility that the supernovae may have affected Earth's climate, leading to the Pleistocene geological epoch from which homo sapiens evolved.
Astronomers have long suspected that supernovae taking place in our galactic neighbourhood could have decided effects on our planet, possibly causing mass extinctions or global climate changes. Iron-60 (60Fe) is produced when a supernova explodes, and its presence in the Earth's deep-sea crust means that one or more supernovae have occurred within the last few million years.
c) How Hard Does The Sun Push On The Earth?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2016/04/12/how-hard-does-the-sun-push-on-the-earth/#5fd32e7057e9
An article in Forbes magazine in which physicist, Chad Orzel, does a back of the envelope calculation to determine the force due to light pressure by the Sun on the Earth.