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NCN AAPT Spring Meeting / Mini Conference

Friday & Saturday April 16th & 17th, 2010

American River College

Sacramento, CA (see map below)
Local Host: Chuck Hunt: email: Huntc@arc.losrios.edu

Sign up to present

Call for Presentations

We solicit presentations of 15 minutes in length. Suitable topics include teaching ideas, research projects, laboratory techniques, novel demonstrations, computers and instruction. Please send an abstract of your talk, with title, your name and affiliation, AV and equipment requests, and other requirements to the Program Chairman, Paul Robinson, preferably by email at laserpablo@aol.com. Deadline for submission is Friday, March 5, 2010.

Call for Demonstrations

Bring your favorite 5-minute demonstration for the popular “Show ‘n’ Tell”. Handouts describing your demonstration are encouraged. Likewise, giving contributed papers as Show ‘N Tells is specifically discouraged. Offenders will be gonged! Sign ups are day of the event, first come, first served (although it seems those who signs up always gets to present!). Do you have a great resource you want to share but are nervous about presenting to your peers? Our Show ‘n’ Tell is low pressure and a great place to give your first presentation at a teaching conference!

Program

Friday Evening Social

Plan on getting together Friday evening before the meeting. More details to follow in the program. We’ll also provide references for local lodging for Friday evening.

Saturday meeting/mini conference

Saturday starts at 8:00 with registration and socializing, and usually finishes 3:30/4:00. We have a brief business meeting around lunch time. Coffee/donuts is provided, and lunch is usually available for a reasonable price (reservations for lunch required). Exact details will be published once we have our speaker list set.

Other details

Dues and Don’ts

Section dues are $25 per year, due each Fall. If you cannot attend the meeting, remain an active member that will ensure you’ll receive all our mailings by sending dues to our treasurer Dennis Buckley, Liberty High School, 850 Second St., Brentwood, CA 94513. The registration fee for the Spring meeting is $10, payable at the door. First-timers are free! And don’t forget PTSOS participants—your dues are already paid!

Physics Teacher SOS (PTSOS)

PTSOS is an NCN-AAPT-sponsored project, funded by a substantial donation, allowing AAPT to deliver top quality help to physics teachers in their vulnerable first years of teaching. Workshops are now conducted in both San Mateo and Sacramento. Other veteran teachers are being signed up to help out small groups of local teachers through mentorships and also to help run workshops. Interested teachers are encouraged to visit the website (www.ptsos.org) and contact outreach coordinator Stephanie Finander at sfinander@sbcglobal.net for more information.

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Other Upcoming AAPT Events

  • Winter AAPT Meeting, Washington DC, February 13-17, 2010
  • Summer Meeting, AAPT, Portland Oregon, July 17-21, 2010
  • Fall Meeting, NCN AAPT, 2010, not yet scheduled
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Colloquim at Sac State: Measuring the Universe with Gravitational Lenses

The following colloquium is free and open to all.

Dr. Chris Fassnacht, UC Davis, will present his lecture, “Measuring the Universe with Gravitational Lenses” on Thursday, February 11, 2010, at 4pm in Mendocino Hall 1015, Sacramento State University.  This lecture is free and open to the public.

Chris Fassnacht received his AB degree from Harvard College and immediately afterward joined the Peace Corps, where he served as a secondary school math and science teacher in Ghana, West Africa.   After returning, he received a PhD from Caltech.  He held postdoctoral fellowships at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, NM and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.  He is currently an associate professor in the physics department at UC Davis, where he has been for the last seven years.

Prof. Fassnacht’s research involves using gravitational lenses to measure the rate at which the Universe is expanding and how galaxies such as the Milky Way are assembled.

Physics & Astronomy Colloquium
Location: Mendocino Hall 1015<http://www.csus.edu/campusmap/index.html>

Thursday, February 11, 2010
4:00 PM – 5:20 PM

Title Url: http://www.csus.edu/physics/events/colloquia.stm
Department: Physics & Astronomy
Contact: Heidi Yamazaki
yamazaki@csus.edu<mailto:yamazaki@csus.edu>
(916) 278-6518

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Modeling Physics Summer 2010 Workshops

2012 Update: There will be a two-week mechanics workshop at Carondelet High School in Concord June 18-29. Full information here: https://ncnaapt.org/modeling

Modeling Workshops in high school physics, chemistry, and/or physical science will be  held in summer 2010 in Arizona, Alabama, Miami FL, Iowa, New Orleans LA, Maine, Michigan,  Minneapolis MN, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pittsburgh PA, northern Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Dallas TX, and Wisconsin.

Modeling Workshops will be held also in Georgia, Chicago IL, Kansas, South Dakota,  and Washington, pending funding.

Visit http://modeling.asu.edu for details. Click on “Modeling Workshops Nationwide in Summer 2010”. http://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.html

Modeling Workshops are peer-led. Modeling Instruction is one of two K-12 science programs designated by the U.S. Department of Education as EXEMPLARY.

Stipends and/or free tuition at some sites: usually for in-state teachers. Ask your principal for Federal Title II-A funds. For information and more funding sources: http://modeling.asu.edu/MW_nation.html

Outstanding peer leaders at sites include Larry Dukerich, Rex and Debbie Rice, Michael Crofton, Matt Greenwolfe, Rich McNamara, Kathy Malone, Kathy Harper, Jeff Steinert, Earl Legleiter, Jim Stankevitz, Nicholas Park,  Jamie Vesenka, Ed Wyrembeck, and more!

Teachers nationwide greatly value Modeling Instruction. They wrote:

  • In thirty years of teaching, nothing has impacted my teaching like the ideas I’ve learned in modeling.  It is the best idea to enter the teaching methods I have ever seen.
  • After the first year of teaching using the modeling method, I wished I had learned about modeling years ago.
  • Most useful course I have taken since becoming a teacher.
  • Thanks to taking physics modeling course work, I am highly qualified in physics.
  • I learned a tremendous amount and am all fired up to teach physics this fall!
  • I learned more about teaching and physics this summer than in 5 years of college!
  • It was, without a doubt, the single greatest professional development experience of my career.

For more information, contact:

Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7565 http://modeling.asu.edu
Jane.Jackson@asu.edu

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Science on Saturday at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Science on Saturday (SOS) is a series of science lectures for middle and high school students. Each topic highlights cutting-edge science occurring at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The talks are presented by leading LLNL science researchers supported by master high school science teachers. These presentations are offered in several locations. See the schedule below to find locations nearest to you.

Admission is free of charge. Seating is on a first come basis. Seats may not be reserved in advance. See the schedule for the starting times of each presentation, and a map to the venue. Seating is limited. Please come early to ensure that you will find a seat.

Students receive a “Student Notes” worksheet to record key information from the talk. The worksheet will be marked with the official SOS stamp at the end of the presentation. Many teachers use the worksheet to award “extra credit.” Students should check with their teacher in advance to determine if they will receive credit for attending SOS.

Teachers who attend the SOS presentations can receive a CD with the presentation slides. If the talk is video recorded, they can receive a DVD of the recorded talk as well. These CDs and DVDs are offered free of charge and are sent by mail after the completion of the lecture series for the year. Be sure to register when you attend to receive your copy of these valuable teaching resources.

Presented by:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Education Program
Two presentations: 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

January 30, 2010

Fighting Super Bugs: Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance
Presenter: Paul Jackson, Teacher: Frankie Tate

February 6, 20a10

Distant Worlds: Making Images of Other Solar Systems
Presenter: Bruce Macintosh and Lisa Poyneer, Teacher: Tom Shefler

February 13, 2010

Put it Back When You are Done: Storing Carbon Dioxide in the Earth not the Atmosphere
Presenter: Roger Aines, Teacher: Ken Wedel

February 20, 2010

Understanding Climate Change: Seeing the Carbon Through the Trees
Presenter: Karis McFarlane, Teacher: Dean Reese

February 27, 2010

Harnessing Fusion Energy: The Power of Light
Presenter: Edward Moses

Complete details at: http://education.llnl.gov/sos/