Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Fall 2009 Meeting of the Four Corners Section of the APS
Volume 54, Number 14
Friday–Saturday, October 23–24, 2009; Golden, Colorado
Session F8: Symposium on Physics Education II: K-16 |
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Chair: Patrick Kohl, Colorado School of Mines Room: Hill Hall 209 |
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:00AM - 8:12AM |
F8.00001: Addressing CSAP Physics Standards: Content for Middle School Instructors Grant Denn, Richard Krantz As part of the NSF funded Rocky Mountain Middle School Math and Science Partnership (RMMSMSP), we developed a class for middle school teachers entitled ``Forms and Transfer of Energy'' which directly addressed content as stated in the Colorado Standards Assessment Program (CSAP). Specifically, we built lectures and activities based on Colorado Grade 8 benchmarks 2.8 (energy forms and transfer), 2.9 (electricity and energy) and 4.2 (renewable and non-renewable resources.). This talk reviews some of the activities we used to demonstrate energy transformation. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:12AM - 8:24AM |
F8.00002: Colorado School of Mines Society of Physics Students Outreach Program Shirley Moore, Marty Otzenberger Since the reinstatement of CSM's chapter of the Society of Physics Students last year, we have been dedicated to spreading the knowledge of physics through outreach while providing both social and professional events for students and the community. We did many things last year that we intend to repeat this year. In August we participate in Celebration of Mines, doing interesting demonstrations while informing new students about our organization. In autumn, a haunted physics lab is built, SPS and the CSM Physics Department hold Physics Week, and volunteers judge science fairs at local schools. In spring, a workshop is held for students to apply for summer internships and REUs and students enjoy a fun night of bowling. SPS also prepares demonstrations for the Associated Students of CSM to use in their Into the Streets volunteer event and co-organizes Mitchell Elementary School's Family Math and Science Night. Last year, we hosted the Colorado/Wyoming AAPT and SPS Zone 14 meeting. This year, we will host an E-days dunk tank and soapbox derby. At the end of the year, a department barbeque is held to finish off the spring semester. For our efforts, we accepted a Marsh White award for demonstrations in addition to a SOCK and outstanding chapter award from SPS national. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:24AM - 8:36AM |
F8.00003: The High Road/Low Road Demonstration or Birds on a Wire Jacob Cady, Chad Middleton Consider two separate tracks of equal horizontal distances and initial and final heights. One track remains at this initial height while the other angles down, levels out, and then angles back up in order to regain its original height. Question: If two identical balls are set rolling with equal initial speeds, which ball completes the track in a shorter time interval? In this manuscript, the dynamics of a ball on each track are analyzed using basic Newtonian mechanics. We calculate the time necessary to complete each path in terms of the parameters of the track and the initial velocities of the balls. We derive an expression for the time difference between the two tracks and compare this to data taken on a set of high road/load road tracks, hence demonstrating the fact that the ball traversing the low road always wins the race. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:36AM - 8:48AM |
F8.00004: Using Just in Time Teaching In An Upper-Division Elective: Experiences and Thoughts Jeff Loats Having used Just in Time Teaching (JiTT) for 5 years in introductory courses I am now using it in an upper-division course (nuclear {\&} particle physics) for the first time along with Peer Instruction {\&} ``clickers''. A brief anecdotal discussion of my experiences and student attitudes towards these techniques and how they fit into the upper-division curriculum. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:48AM - 9:00AM |
F8.00005: The Tortured History of Gauss's Law Ross Spencer \noindent American physics textbooks contain the following equation, which is called Gauss's law: \begin{displaymath} \oint {\bf E} \cdot d {\bf S} = {q_{\rm enclosed} \over \epsilon_0} \end{displaymath} \noindent It is odd, however, that biographies of Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) contain no mention of this law. A brief history of this important result will be presented in which it will be shown that what we call Gauss's law today was originally guessed at by Joseph Priestly (1733-1804) after he read a letter from Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), then was derived, forgotten, and re-derived several times in two different contexts by many of the luminaries of physics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [Preview Abstract] |
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