VicPhysics News: Term 4, No 4 2017
Dear ,
Table of Contents
1. ANSTO Resources
2. Perimeter Institute Resources
3. Backyard Brains: Resources for electrical experiments on Neuroscience
4. School position
5. Visual Illusions
6. Travelling Wave reactor
7. Forthcoming events for Students and the General Public
a) Seeing double. Looking at the Universe with gravity's eyes, 6:30pm, Tuesday, 14th November, Swinburne University
b) The Sun Rises for Free, theatre show on solar energy, 5pm - 6pm, Monday, 27th November, Monash University
c) When freezing cold is not cold enough: New forms of matter near absolute zero temperature, 7pm - 8pm, 30th November, Swinburne University
d) Lunch with a Laureate, Friday, 12pm - 2pm, 1st December, Monash University
e) Science Says, 2:30pm - 4:00pm, Saturday, 2nd December, Royal Society of Victoria
f) Physics Days at Luna Park: 6th March - 9th March
8. Forthcoming events for Teachers
a) Australian Synchrotron PD, 9am - 3pm, Thursday, 16th November, Clayton
b) Professional Development Workshop for Physics Teachers, 24th November, Deakin University, Geelong
c) Regional STEM Conference, 9am - 3:30pm, 13th December, Wodonga
9. Physics News from the Web
a) Thunderstorms: A natural neutron source
b) Tale of two physicists: Wheeler and Feynman
c) Sonic barrier quietens traffic noise with origami
The next meeting of the Vicphysics Teachers' Network will be at 5pm on Thursday, 23rd November at Melbourne Girls' College. This meeting will review the Physics Exam paper. All teachers are welcome to attend this or any other meeting. If you would like to attend, please contact Vicphysics at
Regards,
Frances Sidari (Pres), Jane Coyle (Vice Pres), Barbara McKinnon (Sec) and Dan O'Keeffe (Treas).
The executive of the VicPhysics Teachers' Network.
1. ANSTO Resources
ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) has a range of educational resources, PD events for teachers and events for students in Physics and Chemistry.
The Workbooks webpage, http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/DiscoveryCentre/EducationResources/Workbooks/index.htm, has
• a new 60 page workbook on Synchrotron Science,
• a Molybdenum/Technetium supply chain chart,
• Cloud chamber teacher notes and
• Material for Chemistry and for Science Years K - 10
They also offer lab sessions at the Australian Synchrotron. These are for the two Unit 4 Areas of Study on Light and for the Unit 2 option on Particle Accelerators. The cost is $40 per student. Further details and booking is at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/business-partnerships/explore-partnerships/community-partnerships/engaging-schools/ansto/
ANSTO also runs 'Interview a Scientist' and Videoconference programs for schools.
http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/DiscoveryCentre/EducationResources/e-Learning/MeetAnExpert/index.htm and http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/DiscoveryCentre/EducationResources/e-Learning/InquirySkills/index.htm
2. Perimeter Institute Resources
The Perimeter Institute has free download of posters from its new Forces of Nature poster series recognising several notable women in science. There are also posters on Science of Sport, Dark Matter and General Relativity
https://resources.perimeterinstitute.ca/collections/posters?utm_campaign=Outreach%202018&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=58035295&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8T_lSIPK2ErMEzzmdKPV4c4PoTgNxkjykNDNvruD8MhxbNExa9HqAka8bR5nYEpYldLFjhA_ekqN5QEWqGm2Z-5gNZ6w&_hsmi=58035214
They have also made all their educational material free to download as well. You can choose Year level from primary to upper secondary and from a range of topics from astrophysics to particles to waves. The teaching material for a topic includes: lesson plans, videos and activities.
https://resources.perimeterinstitute.ca/?utm_campaign=Outreach%202018&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=58035295&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8T_lSIPK2ErMEzzmdKPV4c4PoTgNxkjykNDNvruD8MhxbNExa9HqAka8bR5nYEpYldLFjhA_ekqN5QEWqGm2Z-5gNZ6w&_hsmi=58035214
3. Backyard Brains: Resources for electrical experiments on Neuroscience
'Backyard Brains' , https://backyardbrains.com/ , is a website of resources designed by group of neuroscientists and engineers who want to enable everyone to be a neuroscientist! They provide neuroscience experiment kits for students to learn (hands-on) about electrophysiology. "By following a few simple steps, everyone can experience first-hand how the brain communicates with our senses, memories, hopes, and desires."
The kits enable students to investigate the electrical activity of a muscle in the arm (US$150), use the electrical signal from a muscle to control a robot (US$190) and measure heart action potentials
There are TED talks on their home page.
4. School position
Mercy College, Coburg is seeking a Physics and Maths Teacher for a fixed term, 12 month replacement position commencing 29th January. This is a full-time role teaching the following subjects: VCE Physics, Junior Science and Mathematics. The successful applicant will hold Victorian Institute of Teaching Registration and will have a demonstrated commitment to Catholic education and to the safety and wellbeing of children.
The salary for this position is in line with the VCEMEA 2013, which is varied from time to time. To view our Teacher Role Description please visit our website http://www.mercycoburg.catholic.edu.au/employment.html
How to apply:
All applications must include: Covering letter, Current Curriculum Vitae and a Mercy Teaching Application Form, which can be accessed at the above website. Applications should be submitted either via email or post to: Lila McInerney, Principal, Mercy College, 760 Sydney Rd, COBURG VIC 3058,
5. Visual Illusions
This is not physics, but illusions that trick the eye and the brain are always fascinating. Graphics software now enables the creation of many surprising videos.
This website, the Best Illusion of the Year Contest, http://illusionoftheyear.com/ , has many such videos. Click 'Illusions' to see previous years' results. The first three place getters for 2016 are particularly impressive.
6. Travelling Wave reactor
Bill Gates is teaming with a Chinese company to build fourth generation nuclear reactors that use nuclear waste as the fuel.
The nuclear fuel is constructed as concentric cylinders, with each cylinder made of a different fuel mix. The nuclear reaction begins in the centre and travels out over time at a rate of 1 cm per year. The innermost cylinder undergoes fission, excess neutrons travel into the next cylinder of waste Uranium producing Plutonium, which eventually undergoes fission, the excess neutrons repeat the process in the next outer layer, hence the 'travelling wave' . Eventually the inner material is replaced by fissile material from within the reactor, but without reprocessing, so the cycle continues. In theory there is no waste until the reactor is decommissioned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_wave_reactor
https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates
http://www2.technologyreview.com/news/412188/tr10-traveling-wave-reactor/
There are questions about the feasibility of the concept, but little in depth detail is available.
7. Forthcoming events for Students and General Public
a) Seeing double. Looking at the Universe with gravity's eyes, 6:30pm, Tuesday, 14th November, Swinburne University
Venue: Swinburne University, Hawthorn campus, AMDC building, AMDC301 (Enter from Burwood Rd)
Presenter Dr Thomas E. Collett, Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Portsmouth, UK
Map: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/media/swinburneeduau/about-swinburne/docs/pdfs/hawthorn-map.pdf
Abstract: Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that light rays are bent when they travel past a massive object. In this talk, we will explore tests of this prediction and view some of the spectacular consequences of light bending: gravitational lenses. These gravitational lenses let us directly measure where the mass is in the Universe, and the results imply that the Universe is mostly made of an exotic substance called dark matter.
Registration: For further information and registration, please click on the link below. Closes when maximum capacity reached.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyG-Rdkedz1REm4vZDY-nLR99ekJNKrqsyWdU9lULdqZ65Cg/viewform
b) The Sun Rises for Free, theatre show on solar energy, 5pm - 6pm, Monday, 27th November, Monash University
Venue: Lecture Theatre: S4, 16 Rainforest Walk, Monash University, Clayton
THE SUN RISES FOR FREE:
THE SCIENCE OF SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION
A 60-minute demonstration of the beauty of light, and how light from the sun can be used to generate the entire energy need of our society. With lasers, rainbows, satellites, solar panels, atomic building blocks, the periodic table of the elements, and a movie of the nanoworld. Followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.
The energy from sunlight that radiates onto earth is so intense that it can provide all the energy we need to power our entire planet. In fact, one hour of sunlight incident on the earth’s surface is sufficient to supply the entire human population with the energy it consumes in a full year. And sunlight comes for free, every day! What do we need to do to use this enormous source of energy so create a fully renewable and sustainable energy supply for our society?
Professor Albert Polman, a specialist in solar energy research at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, will give a lecture aimed at a general, non-specialized audience, on the science of solar energy generation. He will provide a historical overview of inventions that have created the solar panels that we have today. He will then explain what is needed to lower the cost and increase the efficiency of solar technology so that it becomes so cheap that it will beat existing energy technologies (coal, gas, nuclear power). In his lecture, Professor Polman will give live demonstrations using lasers, light spectra, and atomic building blocks to explain how scientist all over the world are working hard today to reach the dream of a society that is fully powered by the sun.
Albert Polman is professor of Photonic Materials for Photovoltaics at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is one of the pioneers of research on “nanophotovoltaics”, the study of light at very small length scales to realize solar panel cells with ultra-high efficiency that can be made at low costs. Polman has won many international awards for his research and is member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is visiting Australia on a Frew Fellowship award to him by the Australian Academy of Sciences.
c) When freezing cold is not cold enough: New forms of matter near absolute zero temperature, 7pm - 8pm, 30th November, Swinburne University
Why do physicists freeze matter to extremely low temperatures?
Why is it worthwhile to cool to temperatures which are a billion times lower than that of interstellar space?
The ARC Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) is honoured to present a public lecture given by Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle, 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physics. Prof. Ketterle will discuss new forms of matter, which only exist at extremely low temperatures. Low temperatures open a new door to the quantum world where particles behave as waves and "march in lockstep".
In 1925, Einstein predicted such a new form of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate, but it was realised only in 1995 in laboratories at Boulder and at MIT. More recently, cold atoms have become a tool to study phenomena of condensed matter physics at huge spatial magnification at densities which are a billion times lower than ordinary materials.
Venue: AMDC (Advanced Manufacturing and Design Centre) Building, Room 301 , Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn, VIC 3122
For more details and to book go to https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/public-lecture-nobel-laureate-wolfgang-ketterle-when-freezing-cold-is-not-cold-enough-tickets-37629939161?aff=erelexpmlt
d) Lunch with a Laureate, Friday, 12pm - 2pm, 1st December, Monash University
Students in Years 9, 10 and 11 are invited to a lunch with Prof. Ketterle from MIT, who won the Nobel Prize in 2001 with Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, for discovering the fascinating physics of Bose-Einstein condensates, the so-called “5th state of matter”. In such states, atoms are cooled to temperatures a billion times colder than outer space, and matter behaves as a wave, “marching in quantum lockstep”.
This is a free event, however schools are limited to six students who are interested, or enrolled, in physics. Teacher can book up to seven tickets (six students plus themselves). Following booking of tickets, teachers will be emailed a link to complete the details of students attending and any dietary requirements.
For more details and to book, go to https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/lunch-with-a-laureate-wolfgang-ketterle-student-lunch-tickets-37904392057
The event is being organised by the ARC Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET)
e) Science Says, 2:30pm - 4:00pm, Saturday, 2nd December, Royal Society of Victoria
Science Says! is science as you’ve never seen it before, and with a lot more laughter! See brilliant scientists, gifted comedians and talented communicators use their wits and wittiness to uncover the top science discoveries of 2017 – and a few of the odder ones, too!
It’s an afternoon in the style of the great panel shows – think mixing Mock the Week, Spicks and Specks, and just a dash of QI. Last years’ challenges included singing about gravity waves, solving how pandas can be encouraged to mate, and miming how roller coasters might cure kidney stones.
Hosted once again by scientist and comedian Dr Joel Gilmore, laughter and learning guaranteed
Time: 2:30-4pm (doors open at 2pm), 2 December2017.
Venue: Royal Society of Victoria, 8 La Trobe St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Tickets: $10 at https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=330430 , $15 at the door(cash only).
f) Physics Days at Luna Park, 6th March - 9th March
Next year Physics Days at Luna Park will be on Tuesday, 6th March to Friday, 9th March. Bookings are now open at https://lunapark.com.au/event/vce-physics-days/ . The cost is $25.50 per student. Teachers enter for free. Worksheets are available at http://www.vicphysics.org/lunaworksheets.html .
You can change the date and numbers can be changed early next year, once the timetable has been finalised and student numbers are known. Please note: Early means late January, not early March.
Confirmation of an aerobatic display by a member of the RAAF Roulettes is often not until February.
8. Forthcoming events for Teachers
a) Australian Synchrotron PD, 9am - 3pm, Thursday, 16th November, Clayton
Get some fresh ideas for teaching key areas of the Year 9 science curriculum and VCE Physics.
When: Thursday November 16, 2017, 9am-3pm
Where: Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Rd, Clayton, Victoria
Cost: Free
Program: Hear from prominent Australian scientists, Take a tour of the Australian Synchrotron, Participate in workshops, Receive new educational resources.
To Register: http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/DiscoveryCentre/EducationResources/TeacherProfessionalDevelopment/Days/index.htm
b) Professional Development Workshop for Physics Teachers, 24th November, Deakin University, Geelong
The Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University invites all physics teachers to participate in a VCE Physics Teachers Professional Development Workshop at their Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus.
"The hands-on workshop gives teachers an opportunity to take their students to a new level. During the 6-hour workshop, teachers will take a guided tour of Deakin University’s Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training (CADET), participate in a number of hands-on physics activities, hear from Maria James, VCAA science manager about the VCE Physics Study Design (2017-2021), and be part of an in-depth discussion on physics problem-solving strategies for students."