Physics News from the AIP Term 2, No 2, 2008
1. Preparing for 2009: VCE Physics Implementation Workshops. Register now!
2. Switch On To Physics: A free excursion for Year 10 students. Over 700 students currently booked
3. Australian Synchrotron Newsletter: “Lightspeed” Story on volunteer tour guides.
4. Forthcoming events for Students
a) New Views of the Universe. Public Lecture series at Swinburne University, Weds in April and May.
b) Physics Gymnasium at University of Melbourne, The next talk is on 14th May at 5:15pm
c) Photonics and Synchrotron Workshops: 10th, 11th September
For details of item a) please see previous “Physics News from the AIP” or check the news section of our website www.vicphysics.org/news/index.html
5. Forthcoming Events for Teachers
a) Astronomy from the Ground Up!' Teacher Workshop at Parkes, 9 – 11 May, 2008. Special Package for Victorian Teachers
c) Teaching Synchrotron Physics, a half day in-service and tour on the day of the GAT, 13th June
For details of item a) please see previous “Physics News from the AIP” or check the news section of our website www.vicphysics.org/news/index.html
6. Physics News from the Web
a) Negative refraction ‘could trap rainbows’
b) Relativity passes new test of time
c) Tissue Stiffness as a Measure of a Health.
Compiled by the Australian Institute of Physics (Victorian Branch) Education Committee. Check their website www.vicphysics.org for latest resources, events and forum discussions. A list of over 60 items from previous “Physics News from the AIP” that are still of value can be found in the “News” section of the website, as can all the news stories from the “Physics News from the Web”.
This year the AIP Education Committee meets at Camberwell High School normally on the second Tuesday of the month from 5pm – 7pm, the next meeting is on Tuesday, 13th May. If you would like to attend this or any meeting, please contact the chair, Sue Grant at
1. VCE Physics Implementation Workshops . Register now!
A series of regional Implementation Workshops to assist teachers in preparing for the new study design starting in 2009. The workshops will be held at 14 locations around the state during the last two weeks in May and one week in June after the Physics exam. There is no cost to attend, but teachers must register with STAV. Bookings for some venues are approaching their capacity, so please register soon to get into your closest venue.
The workshops will focus on changes to the Study Design for Units 1 & 2 and for Units 3 & 4 and will include implications for teaching and assessment.
Most of the workshop time will be devoted to activities exploring the following aspects:
· A defined set of verbs to specify all the dot points (see pages 47 , 48 of the Study Design),
· Challenging concepts and difficult skills: Developing ways to assist students with their learning (examples provided),
· Innovative ways of teaching the Detailed Studies at Units 1 & 2 as well as Units 3 & 4,
· Strategies to attract and retain students to VCE Physics.
The dates and locations are as follows:
A / Mon, 19 May / 4:00 – 6:00pm / GeelongB / Tues, 20 May / 4:30 – 6:30pm / Camberwell
C / Wed, 21 May / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Horsham
D / Thurs, 22 May / 1:30 – 3:30pm / Ouyen
E / Mon, 26 May / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Bendigo
F / Mon, 26 May / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Hamilton
G / Tues, 27 May / 4:30 – 6:30pm / Ringwood
H / Wed, 28 May / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Wangaratta
I / Wed, 28 May / 4:30 – 6:30pm / Frankston
J / Thurs, 29 May / 4:30 – 6:30pm / West Sunshine
K / Mon, 16 June / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Ballarat
L / Tues, 17 June / 3:30 – 5:30pm / Sale
M / Wed, 18 June / 4:30 – 6:30pm / Northcote
N / Thurs, 19 June / 4:30 – 6:30pm / Dandenong
Applications forms are in the latest STAV Contact mail out and on our website at http://www.vicphysics.org/events/forthcomingevents.html . Online registration is available at http://www.sciencevictoria.com.au/VCEPhysicsWorkshops.html
2. Switch On To Physics: A free excursion for Year 10 students. Over 700 students currently booked
Switch On To Physics (SOTP) is a half day program for Year 10 students held during June at university campuses around Victoria.
In the program each student constructs, uses and keeps a freezer alarm (a one transistor circuit) and a spectrometer. The two tasks are supported by construction and explanatory notes, as well as career information and extension activities.
The event is free in 2008. The cost of the two kits is met by the Federal Government’s National Innovation Awareness Strategy (NIAS) and the university costs by the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP). This places a limit of about 1000 students.
Details on available dates and bookings can be found at www.vicphysics.org/events/sotp.html . Schools can also book a date by emailing Dan O’Keeffe at .
3. Australian Synchrotron Newsletter: “Lightspeed”
The April edition of the newsletter is available at http://www2.synchrotron.org.au/Lightspeed%20April%202008.pdf . To subscribe contact . The newsletter includes a story about volunteer tour guides. The Australian Synchrotron is seeking guides to respond to the increasing number of requests from schools and social groups. If you are retired or working part time and are interested in such a role, contact Jennifer Cook. There is a training day on Friday 23rd May at 10:00am.
4. Forthcoming events for Students
b) Physics Gymnasium at University of Melbourne. The next talk is on 14th May at 5:15pm. The speaker and the topic are unknown at this stage. Check
http://scampy.ph.unimelb.edu.au/mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 closer to the day for details. Hot drinks and biscuits will be available before the talk and then the lecture starts at 5.30pm.
c) Photonics and Synchrotron Workshops for Students
The AIP Education Committee is organising workshops for students doing two Unit 4 Detailed Studies: “Photonics” and “Synchrotron and its applications”.
Both workshops will run from about 3:00pm until 7:30pm on Wednesday 10th September and again on Thursday 11th September. The Photonics workshops will be held at Swinburne University, while the synchrotron workshops will be held at Monash University. The program for each workshop will include lectures and extensive hands on practical activities with access to university equipment. The Synchrotron workshop will also include a tour of the Synchrotron. A pizza dinner will be provided. There will be no cost. However there is a limit on student numbers, hence a second day is being offered.
Bookings can be made by emailing Dan O’Keeffe at giving teacher and school contact details, the number of students expected to attend, the chosen workshop and day. If both days, the 10th and the 11th, are feasible, please indicate so, as this will assist in ensuring the maximum number of students can attend the workshops.
5. Forthcoming Events for Teachers
c) Teaching Synchrotron Physics, a half day in-service and tour on the day of the GAT
The AIP Education Committee will be repeating the half day in-service offered in June last year. The In-service will be held on 13th June at the Monash University from 1:00pm until 4:30pm. The program will include: a tour of the Synchrotron site, hands on practical activities including the microwave Bragg Diffraction kits, teaching advice and a briefing on the operation and uses of the Synchrotron.
To book a place contact Dan O’Keeffe at .
6. Physics News from the Web
Items selected from the bulletins of the IOP and the American Institute of Physics.
a) Negative refraction ‘could trap rainbows’ Effect could lead to better optical storage devices
b) Relativity passes new test of time
c) Tissue Stiffness as a Measure of a Health.
a) Negative refraction ‘could trap rainbows’
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/31803
Since their invention in 2000, exotic materials called metamaterials have revealed many uses such as perfect lenses or invisibility cloaks. But now computer simulations performed by physicists in the UK suggest another application — slowing down a ‘rainbow’ of light to a standstill. Their idea could be the first route to storing broadband, optical communications at room temperature.
b) Relativity passes new test of time
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/31792
Einstein’s famous tenet of special relativity — that time slows down on a moving clock — has been verified 10 times more precisely than ever before. The result comes from physicists in Germany and Canada, who have timed the “ticking” of lithium ions as they hurtle around a ring at a fraction of the speed of light.
c) Tissue Stiffness as a Measure of a Health.
Matthew Urban () and his colleagues at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine are designing ways to measure the stiffness of tissues as a non-invasive diagnostic tool. Monitoring a tissue's material properties may not be as obvious a gauge of its health as looking at its biological or chemical properties, but changes to these properties can be a good indicator of disease. Areas of stiffness in a tissue, for instance, are often a good warning sign of cancer---the basic premise behind breast self-examination.
Likewise when cancerous tumors form on the liver or another one of the body's organs, they are often stiffer than the surrounding tissues because there are more blood vessels to support the tumors. The problem is, how can you measure stiffness in tissues deep within the body? There is no such thing as a liver self-exam. At this week's ASA meeting, Urban reports on his latest experiments, in which he and his colleagues used focused ultrasound waves to deliver tiny vibrations to a steel sphere encased in gelatin, a model of a tissue with a stiff lesion.
They were able to measure the frequency response of the sphere to acoustical waves of multiple frequencies, which can then be used to determine the stiffness of the tissue-mimicking material. The method also provides new ways to non-invasively cause vibration for assessment of tissue stiffness without the presence of the steel sphere. Moreover, they were able to deliver the energy to the sphere without heating the surrounding gelatin. This is one of the challenges of using highly focused ultrasound, because acoustical energy can be absorbed by nearby tissues in the form of heat.