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PHYSICAL SCIENCES

A MAGAZINE FOR SECOND LEVEL TEACHERS OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY September 2006 Issue 6

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back after the summer break.

The Second Level Support Service will continue to support teachers of physics and chemistry at senior cycleduring the school year 2006-2007.

This issue of the physical sciences magazine contains some interesting articles to enhance teaching andlearning in the classroom. These include the feature articles on Cooperative Learning, Using Learning Styles inthe Physics Classroom, An Unrealistic Image of Science and Research on the use of ICT in the Scienceclassroom. It also includes articles which highlight teacher resources including those available in localEducation Centres, The New (downloadable) Classroom Teaching Presentations on our website as well asarticles on laboratory tips.

Feedback on the physics and chemistry support courses can be found in pages 2 and 3 while Autumn supportplans are on pages 34 and 35.

We thank those who contributed articles to this issue of the magazine and invite you to share yourexperiences and resources with colleagues by submitting articles for the next issue.

We wish you and your students every success throughout the coming year.

Brendan Duane, Chemistry Co-ordinator SLSS Tim Regan, Physics Co-ordinator SLSS

Supported by

SLSS Physics &Chemistry Support

• The magazine ‘Physical Sciences’is circulated to all second level schools.

• A consultation service by phone, faxor email is available.

• A limited number of school visits will be provided, resources permitting.

• Regional Network Meetings to support local identified needswill be facilitated.

• Details of courses onoffer are contained inside.

• The Physical Sciences website,www.slss.ieis regularly updated and contains new useful resources and news of upcoming in-service and events.

Flashes of Brilliance

FFllaasshheess ooff BBrrii ll ll iiaannccee is a new book written by award

winning journalist Dick Ahlstrom, Science Editor of the Irish

Times and was produced by the Royal Irish Academy. This

book should prove to be an excellent resource for Science

Teachers. A copy will be distributed to each school shortly

by the Department of Education and Science. FFllaasshheess

ooff BBrrii ll ll iiaannccee highlights the men and women who are

carrying out scientific research in Ireland. The book

includes a free DVD containing a documentary made

by New Decade Films which was recently screened

on RTE. Anyone with an interest in science or the

work of scientists will value this resource.

The two modular courses offered focussed on the teaching and learning of physics in the classroom.

SL0520 Induction Course for Physics TeachersThe physics teachers who attended were mainly new to the profession while others were new to the revised Leaving Certificatesyllabus. Day 3, which focussed on practical physics laboratory work, was held in St Michael’s College, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4,Community School, Gort, Co Galway and St Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow, Co Cork.

The course introduced teachers to the structure and content of thephysics syllabus, the teacher guidelines and the teacher supportstarter pack. Teachers also explored effective teaching methods forcommunicating physics and had a hands-on experience with most ofthe experiments listed in the syllabus.

Feedback from the teachers included:‘Excellent, well worth doing’

‘Productive course with a lot to research and review’

‘It made teaching physics fun and interesting’

‘This is my first year teaching physics, I’d love to do the same thing in 12

months and then again in 24 months time’

‘Hints and helpful tips were great’

‘Doing the experiments ourselves was very beneficial’.

SL0521 Using ICT to enhance learning in the physics classroomDays 2 and 3 of this course were hosted by the Athlone,Kildare and Tralee Education Centres. The course focussedon learning strategies using ICT tools such as PowerPoint,CD-ROMs, Internet Applets and Datalogging to engage thelearner. The participants did action research in optionaltopics from their own work situations, reflected onpractice and documented the outcomes. It also providedthe opportunity to explore and share experiences of bestpractice with the group. All physics classroom resourcematerials generated by participants during the course werecompiled and distributed to all contributors.‘I found the sharing and exchange of teaching experiences

excellent’

‘Incentive to develop new ways of teaching’

‘This course is welcoming, encouraging and motivating’

‘I found this a wonderful learning experience which was

invaluable for my teaching’

‘An-chabhrach, maidir le obair chun achmhaini an idirlion a chur

ar fháil as Gaeilge. Ag súil le cúrsaí eile amach’.

Datalogging InductionA series of one day hands-on workshops on how datalogging can enhance practical work in physics were organised in each of the sixEducation Centre Regions around the country. The Kilkenny, Limerick and Dublin West Education Centres hosted this course inFebruary 2006.

Feedback from the teachers included:‘Absolutely brilliant, more please’ ‘Teachers who did this year’s SLSS DL course should be offered an advanced DL course next year’

P H Y S I C A L S C I E N C E S M A G A Z I N E

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Physics Support January – June 2006

Physics teachers at the Induction course in Gort, Co. Galway

Physics teachers at the ICT course in Tralee


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SL0522 Induction Course for Chemistry TeachersThis course is modular and spread over three days one of which is outside of school hours.The two venues this year were NUI Maynooth and Athlone Institute of Technology. Twentyfive teachers have attended this year’s course and all have been delighted to get directionand advice so early in their careers. They have also benefited from hands-on practice atall the organic practicals.

Day 3 in NUI Maynooth was held on the 1st of April and Day 3 in Athlone was on the 4th ofApril. These inservices are an opportunity for teachers to share their experiences in teachingamong likeminded colleagues and many tips and useful resources were shared.. A hands-on workshop on datalogging rounded off the day. …really enjoyed these inservice days.

…Great to get a chance to get hands-on experience and to be aware of any difficulties which

might arise.

…Very good atmosphere among teachers

SL0523 Using ICT in the Teaching ofChemistry

Very popular course in ICT catering for all, from the veryinexperienced to the fairly competent. Over 70 chemistry teachersare enrolled in this course in the following six venues: Donegal Education CentreMonaghan Education CentreCounty Wexford Education CentreGalway Education Centre.Dublin West Education CentreWest Cork Education Centre.

The focus of this course is to empower teachers to use ICT skills in a variety of ways to explain key Chemistry concepts in theirclassrooms. The making of a PowerPoint presentation was demonstrated with emphasis on what key elements are needed foreffective presentations. Too much variation between slides and too much text on each slide are not recommended. The feedbackfrom the participating teachers was very positive. All resource material generated by the participants will be burned to a CD anddistributed to each group.

I didn’t think I could ever master PowerPoint but my progress to date has been amazing.

Easy to follow instructions. Had a working Powerpoint in no time.

Inserting Media looked very difficult at first but now it’s a piece of cake.

My lessons will benefit so much from this course. The work produced by colleagues amazed me.

Can’t wait for next years course.

DataloggingSix half day hands-on workshops on the use of Datalogging in Chemistrypracticals were organised for the school year 2005/06. Three of these tookplace in the following schools.• Scoil Mhuire agus Íde Newcastlewest January 26th 2006• St. Mary’s Ballina. Mayo March 9th 2006• Colaiste Íosagáin, Dublin March 16th 2006

Six experiments using four different sensors were laid on for teachers.Comprehensive step by step notes were provided on the day and these maybe downloaded on the www.slss.ie website.…workshops well organized

… everyone had a chance to do each experiment as there was enough equipment for all.

...will definitely take out the dataloggers in the press in the lab. Could use this with Transition Year.

Chemistry Support January – June 2006

Chemistry teachers in Galway

Teachers at Chemistry ICT in West Cork Education Centre


New Website Classroom ResourcesThe revised SLSS Physics website contains new teaching and learning classroom resources. These exemplar resourceshave been produced by colleagues who have used, modified and evaluated them in their own classrooms. You areinvited to logon to www.slss.ie download and customise the presentations for use in your classroom teaching. It isplanned to upload more new resources over the coming year. Below are some details on the Refraction Presentations.

PowerPoint Presentations on RefractionThe topic is as outlined by the Department of Education andScience Leaving Certificate Physics syllabus. To ensure thatall aspects of refraction were included it was decided todivide the topic into two 15 slide PowerPoint presentations.

• Refraction Part 1 includes Snell’s Law (including experiment and graphing), total internal reflection, real depth & apparent depth and optic fibres.

• Refraction Part 2 covers lenses and the eye.

This classroom resource was designed to appeal to varyingintelligences using simulations and animations to explain thecomplex concepts involved. In addition to using animationsavailable in PowerPoint, the presentations have interactiveflash animations embedded in many of the slides.

It is envisaged that the presentations would be usedprimarily as a teaching aid but could also be made availableto the student to allow for ‘drill and practice’.

Screen-shot from Refraction 1, showing interactive flash animation.

The software will be made available on our website intwo formats• As a closed content (not editable) PowerPoint show • As a PowerPoint presentation which teachers can

edit/change to their requirements.

Mark Jordan, Davitt College, Castlebar, Co. Mayo

Screen shot from Refraction 2

Chief Examiners' ReportsChief Examiners' Reports provide a review of the

performance of candidates in the examinations and detailed

analysis of the standards of answering. The reports are

published in a selected number of subjects and programmes

each year. The 2005 Leaving Certificate Chemistry and 2005

Leaving Certificate Physics reports were published earlier

this year and you can access the reports by logging on to the

State Examinations Commission website at

www.examinations.ie

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ISTA

collaborating

with the SLSS

Some ISTA branches are collaborating with the SecondLevel Support Service (SLSS) to organise and supportlocal workshops.

Induction courses for new teachers of Chemistry andPhysics are ongoing and begin each September, as arecourses in Datalogging and in the use of ICT in theteaching of Chemistry and Physics. For details ofthese courses please visit www.slss.ie or see the SLSSbrochure.

For more information contact the SLSS Co-ordinators

Brendan Duane Chemistry Tim Regan Physics

Mobile: 087 6375863 Mobile: 087 2314090

Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]


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ICT in the Physics Classroom

In October, 2005, I travelled to my first Course in KildareEducation Centre, cautiously looking forward to the course. I hadbecome accustomed to the tried and tested certainties of someconventional apparatus methodology and I found the prospect ofchanging to ICT quite challenging.

The three-day SLSS Physics Course which concluded on 4 April,2006, has convinced me that ICT methodology is the way forwardin Physics Teaching and Learning; it is faster, neater and moreaccurate than conventional apparatus – in other words it is “morefor less”; more results for less effort. I now believe thatconventional apparatus is out-dated and less relevant to the realworld of Technology and advanced Science in which we live.Conventional apparatus can also be tedious and time-consuming.ICT equipment, for example, Datalogging is modern and up-to-date and the procedures take only a few minutes giving extremelyaccurate results. Students relate easily to it and for them the wholeexperience of using ICT in the classroom is both positive andnatural.

ICT’s potential use as a teaching aid for presenting information isvast and the SLSS Course concentrated on this aspect in particular.This year, the Transition Year Students completed their projectsusing PowerPoint with very encouraging results. In particular,students enjoyed giving a PowerPoint Presentation of their projectto their class and parents at the end of the year. PowerPointenabled students to give very professional presentations andeveryone was very impressed.

Regular testing and assessment is part of teaching and learning andI am aware that many written tests/exams pose difficulties forsome students, who have problems with language skills especiallywriting. This difficulty can be a real obstacle to achievement inScience and the idea of non-linguistic testing has always appealedto me.

One of the aims of my chosen project, inter alia, was to investigatehow ICT could be used in Quick Check Physics Testing and todiscover if this might address the linguistic problems that studentshave.

Using PowerPoint, I presented a Quick Check Test onSemiconductors and presented ten multiple choice questions, oneon each slide, followed by four short answers (Fig 1).

Fig 1

This involved choosing the most appropriate format, graphics,colours etc but the greatest challenge was finding a mechanism forrecording the score. A macro programme can be run alongside

PowerPoint to record the score for each question (Right/Wrong)and present the final score after the last question.I piloted the test with my Leaving Certificate Class and theirreaction was very positive and encouraging. Working alone, ittook each student, on average, 1.5 minutes to complete the tenmultiple choice questions. This involved the student reading thequestion and answers, clicking on the selected answer andfollowing the on screen instructions. At question 10, the messagebox indicates the end of the test and gives the final score

Student Evaluation:1. No writing and so less distraction.2. Quick – a student could complete 100 short questions in about

15 minutes, that is, extensive testing of a particular area of Science could be accomplished in a relatively short time.

3. Instant Feedback - as soon as the test is completed the score isgiven – no waiting for the teacher to correct and hand it back.

4. Self-directed Assessment – looking to the future; if a batch ofICT Quick Check Physics Tests existed, students could self-assess in a particular area of Science, in their own time, at anylevel and without supervision.

5. Modern and Up-to-Date – students are already familiar with computer testing systems, eg ECDL, and using ICT in Physics/Science Testing seems to them like a natural progression.

In conclusion, the student feedback indicates that Quick CheckTesting is a good idea; it is quick and easy to use and beneficialto both teaching and learning. However, if the immense potentialof ICT as a teaching/learning aid is to be realised there needs tobe collaboration between Physics Teachers and the IT Industry inorder to develop good ideas into commercial opportunities.

Finally, the most important aspect of the SLSS Physics Groupwas that it clearly demonstrated that the synergy of a group isgreater than the sum of the individual parts; there were a widevariety of ideas and lots of enthusiasm and I look forward tomeeting my Physics colleagues again when a follow-up course isoffered.

Michael O’Flaherty, Loreto College, Foxrock, Dublin 18.


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Inseirbhís Ceimice do Ghaelscoileanna – Márta 2006Chaitheamar dhá lá an-thaitneamhach ar inseirbhísceimice do Ghaelscoileanna in Ollscoil na hÉireann,Gaillimh ar an an Déardaoin agus ar an Aoine, 23 agus 24Márta 2006. Chuir an Dr. Máirín Nic Aogáin ón RoinnOideachais Gaeilge san Ollscoil fáilte roimh na múinteoiríagus lean an tUas. Peadar Mac an Iomaire,Príomhfheidhmeannach Acadamh na hOllscolaíochtaGaeilge, í le hóráid spreagúil inar luaigh sé an tábhacht abhí lenár gcuid oibre mar mhúinteoirí ceimice trí mheánna Gaeilge chun an Ghaeilge a shníomh isteach i ngachgné de shaol an phobail.

Is fiú a luadh go raibh an-chuid éagsúlachta san inseirbhísáirithe seo. Ar an gcéad dul síos, bhí ionchur nach beag agléachtóirí ó Roinn na Ceimice agus na Fisice snahimeachtaí. Labhair an Dr. Gerry Jennings linn faoi nacúrsaí fisice a reachtáiltear in NUIG. Thóg an Dr. Risteardde Buitléir an cúram céanna ar féin maidir leis an gceimicagus thaispeáin sé na cinéalacha gairmeacha beatha gurféidir le céimithe sa cheimic a bhaint amach dóibh féin.Chaith an Dr. Mícheál Ó hEidhin seal linn ag taispeaintsaghasanna éagsúla ionstraimí crómatagrafaíochta dúinn.

Chaitheamar tráthnóna ansin ag plé le logáil data.Ceardlann a bhí i gceist leis seo agus roinnt turgnaimhdifriúla ann ó na ceardlanna a d’eagraíodh roinnt bliantaó shin.

Mothaím go raibh an-tairbhe ar fad sa seisiún artheicneolaíocht an eolais. Chaith an tUas.Brendan Duane,ón SLSS, seisiún linn ag plé le MS Powerpoint agus is íontachgo deo an áis í seo chun tacú linn feabhas nach beag a churar ár gcur i láthair sna ranganna ceimice. Chomh maith leMS Powerpoint chaitheamar seal ag plé le Chemsketch –uirlis eile a bhfuil an-úsáideach do mhúinteoirí ceimice.

Ba ócáid an-shóisialta a bhí san inseirbhís ceimice seo. Arndóigh, is mór an fhoinse misnigh dúinn ar fad bualadh lenachéile chun plé a dhéanamh ar ghnéithe éagsúla denmhúinteoireacht agus, tríd sin, foghlaim óna chéile. Ní gá ará ach oiread gur deas an rud é an deis a fháil ár scíth aligint i gcomhluadar a chéile ar feadh tamaillín.

Mar fhocal scoir, ní mór na daoine seo a leanas a luadh:• An tUas. Brendan Duane, SLSS, agus an tUas. Pádraig

Firtéar, Príomhoide CBS an Daingin, a d’eagraigh an cúrsa inseirbhíse seo,

• An Dr. Veronica Mc Auley, ón Roinn Oideachais san Ollscoil a chuir áiseanna na Roinne sin ar fáil dúinn agus

• An tUas. Peadar Mac an Iomaire as an dinnéar breá a cuireadh ar fáil dúinn in Ostán an Ard Oileáin oíche Déardaoine.

Tomás Ó Murchú, Coláiste Mhuire, B.Á.C.

INDUCTION COURSE FOR PHYSICS TEACHERS – My ExperienceThis course was aimed at sharingclassroom teaching and learningmethodologies and highlightinggood practice in the physicslaboratory in a ‘hands on’ practicalsetting. Participants, mainlyteachers preparing to teach physicsfor the first time, were encouragedto undertake an action researchproject during the course and weregiven an opportunity to share theirclassroom experiences.

After our initial introductions onday one, we reviewed the physicssyllabus and discussed goodquestioning techniques appropriateto a classroom setting. This led toan informative discussion onsuccessful teaching methodsemployed by the experiencedteachers involved. Once again itshowed the transfer ofexperiences/knowledge betweenteachers is an invaluable resource.

The second part of the day gave theteachers hands-on experimentalwork, using both dataloggingtechniques, along with moretraditional methods of gatheringdata. The day finished with a lookat some resources available to thephysics teacher.

The morning session of the secondday was given over to assessmentfor learning. We also reviewed theexamination paper and its markingscheme, along with a demonstrationof some software packages andinternet sites useful to a physicslesson. The afternoon session wasdevoted to experimental work, witha variety of experiments set uparound the periphery of the room.Everyone was given plenty of timeto familiarise themselves with theequipment, with respect to bothsetting up and data collection. Helpwas always at hand when the

straight-line graph was not sostraight or when the dataloggerdeveloped a mind of its own.

Day three was a laboratory day withmany of the mandatory experimentsset up in St Michael’s College’sphysics lab. The full day allowed forcompletion and analysis ofexperiments, so highlightingpotential difficulties in setting upand carrying out these tasks to anacceptable tolerance. I would like to thank all of thoseinvolved in setting up and runningthis induction course, it wasinsightful in a relaxed learningenvironment. It is a course I wouldhighly recommend for any teacherpreparing to teach physics for thefirst time.

Eugene Doyle,St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys,

Cabra, Dublin 7


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Using PowerPoint to teach Line Spectra formation

For fifteen years I struggled to find a simple and effectiveway to teach the formation of line spectra, in a way that 17year olds doing Leaving Certificate Chemistry could easilyunderstand. I remember trying all sorts of things includinghiring a film from Peter Childs in UL featuring a ‘marbles-in-mouth’ English science teacher who did explain it quiteclearly using marbles and a wooden frame, but did nothingto enthuse my pupils. However this proved to be awkwardas the video was never available exactly when it waswanted. Then I discovered PowerPoint a really simple,intuitive program which only took a few hours to learn touse with a fair degree of proficiency. My teaching lifechanged overnight. My messy writing which pupils founddifficult to decipher became crystal clear, my notes whichhad scribbles and modifications all over them become tidyand legible. More importantly I soon discovered thefeature called Motion Path. This simple yet wonderfulinvention lets you easily make your own animationswithout resorting to programs such as “Cartoon Draw”,which has a very steep learning curve. This feature onlybecame available in 2003 edition of PowerPoint. Quitesimply Motion Path allows you to select objects on yourslide and make them move around.

Using this feature I was able to show electrons getting ahigh voltage electric shock [or blast of thermal radiation]and jumping from one energy level to another higher one.They could then be described as unstable and made to dropto a lower energy level. [Figure 1]

As this happened a photon of light could be shown to bereleased and the frequency of the light could be displayedon a spectrum and related to the energy drop experiencedby the electron. [Figure 2] Different drops were easy toshow – large drops for example from n = 4 to n = 1 resultedin high frequency radiation while short drops such as n = 4to n = 3 lead to lower frequency radiation. A fall to n = 1gives Ultra Violet, n = 2 Visible and n = 3, 4 or 5 Infra Red.My prayers had been answered, but there was anotherbonus yet to be found; the ability to voice over thepresentations. Now if a pupil misses a class they can begiven a copy of the presentation with commentary and they

find this much easier to understand than text. They alsohave the added advantage that they can go over the class,time and time again till the concept is clearly understood.

Here is how to do it.• Open a new presentation. • Where it says “click to add title”, do this • Then type in Motion Path Test. • Next click “new slide” • Select the icon for the blank slide under “contents

layout”. • Draw a shape of your choice on the page using the

oval or rectangle box on the draw toolbar. [X on figure 3]

• Now find the “slide show” drop down menu and click on it.

• Click on “Custom Animation” and then “Add Effect” • Select “Motion Path” and now click on your choice of

any of the options you are offered

The distance and direction of the movement are shown by aline with a red arrow at one end and a green arrow at theother end. If you click on this arrow you can adjust itsposition and direction of the motion path. Now play withthis and enjoy yourself.

Peter Jackson,St. Columbas College, Whitechurch, Dublin 16

Newton’s Disk Demonstration


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Using a cardboard Box inverted over a ray box and prism or lens toillustrate refraction in the absence of a darkened room

LABORATORY TIPS

The refracted light from a ray box may be seeneffectively when housed with a cardboard box turnedupside down. An opening should be cut on the top ofthe box for viewing.

A water beam can be used to illustrate total internal reflectionand “pipe” light around a curve from a laser.

Three quarter fill a two litre plastic bottle of water and pierce ahole on the surface of the bottle along the path of the laser light.If the bottle is corked the beam of water will reduce andeventually stop.

The water beam along the laser light is controlled by eitherloosening the cork slowly whereby it will flow again or indeedchanging the pressure by pressing on the bottle while the cork isclosed. This is illustrated in the diagram.

A better view of the beam will be seen through the bottle if alittle milk (two or three drops) is added to the water.

This is also effective when using mirrors, diffractiongratings and filters for primary and secondary colours.

The opposite side of the cardboard box to the sidewith the ray box can be lined with paper which can actas a screen.

Michael Fitzgerald, Scoil Mhuire & Íde, Newcastle West, Co Limerick

Using water as an optical fibre

I tried on numerous occasions to use Newton ’s Disk toillustrate to students how a mixture of colours can be usedto produce white light. However, I was never able to do thisconvincingly so I decided to try an alternative .The problemI found with the manual version was due to the insufficientspeed that one can turn the disk. I tried, the use of a simplefan to see the effect of applying greater speed to the disk.

This method illustrates much more convincingly how whitelight can be produced using the three primary colours.Simply cut out each of the three primary colours andsellotape them to fan as shown in Fig. 1. The results areillustrated in Fig. 2.

Patrick Lyne, Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry

Fig. 1 Fig. 2


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Fourteen physics network meetings took place during the2006 school year in ten different Education Centres. Thesemeetings were organised in collaboration with the localEducation Centre Directors and in cooperation with the IrishScience Teachers’ Association (ISTA) and the Institute ofPhysics (IOP).

In all 131 physics teachers (46 male, 85 female) attendedthe fourteen meetings. Almost all indicated that they foundthe meetings helpful or very helpful and most of themindicated that they would be interested in attending anothernetwork.

The feedback comments were very positive, below is asample of the feedback.‘Tonight’s meeting was absolutely fantastic!’, ‘Itwas excellent and made me understand a difficulttopic from the students point of view’, ‘It is veryimportant for me as the only physics teacher in theschool to meet other physics teachers and get otherteachers ideas’, ‘Very good insight into the markingof the physics paper’, ‘An excellent teachingpackage for all science teachers’, ‘Excellent,excellent night, would come back for more!’

I wish to thank the Education Centres who participated inthe physics network programme, for their support andhospitality throughout the year. Also thanks to the ISTAand IOP and to my committed colleagues, the physicsassociates, who helped to organise and facilitate thenetworks.

The plan for this year includes collaboration with moreEducation Centres to offer the physics network support tomore teachers and to broaden the support topics on offer.If you want any further details or wish to discuss thesetting up of a physics network group please contact me.

Tim Regan SLSS Physics co-ordinator

Second Level Support Service Physics Network Meetings

Insight into LC Physics marking network

IOP Paperclip PhysicsTeams battle it out in Paperclip Physics final

On 22 March seven school teams gathered in the Minerva Suite at the RDS to battle it out to be the winners of this year’s Institute of PhysicsPaperclip Physics competition. The teams made it through from heats held in Athlone, Dublin and Belfast. For this competition students have todesign and demonstrate an experiment to explain the physics behind some application or device, or demonstrate a physics law or principle, onlyusing items that can be found in an average home. The aimis that a non-scientist should understand the physics fromthe students’ demonstration. Successful participation in thecompetition means that students need to have a very goodunderstanding of the physics that they are demonstratingand be able to communicate it to the judging panel,comprising both physicists and non-scientists. The teamfrom Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, Co. Tipperarywon with their presentation “Submarines sink or swim” andreceived digital cameras and £800 towards laboratoryequipment for their schools. The runners-up, from OurLady’s and St Patrick’s College from Knock in Belfast,demonstrated “Moments in life” and rceived MP3 players

and €300 for equipment.

The winning team from Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, Co.Tipperary, with their presentation “Submarines sink or swim”.The team members are Sarah Connellan, Carmel Lennon andClaire Hassett, all 1st year leaving certificate students. Theirteacher is Patricia Dwan.

Joseph John Thomson Joseph John Thomson was born on

December 18, 1856 nearManchester, England. His fatherdied when "J.J." was onlysixteen. The young Thomsonattended Owens College inManchester, where hisprofessor of mathematicsencouraged him to apply for ascholarship at Trinity College,one of the most prestigious of

the colleges at CambridgeUniversity. Thomson won the

scholarship, and in 1880 finishedsecond in his class (behind Joseph

Larmor) in the grueling graduationexamination in mathematics. Trinity gave him a fellowship, andhe remained a member of the College for the rest of his life.

The Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridgehad been founded in 1871 with James ClerkMaxwell (who developed the basic equationsof electromagnetism) as the first CavendishProfessor. The young Thomson was chosen tobe the third Cavendish Professor in 1884(following Maxwell and Lord Rayleigh). Hewas inexperienced in doing experiments, buthe learned quickly and presided over aflourishing of experimental physics at theCavendish. Supported by his administration

and teaching, many important experiments onelectromagnetism and atomic particles were performed andmany outstanding physicists received their early training,including seven Nobel prize winners and 27 Fellows of the RoyalSociety. Thomson took an active interest in the work of all theyoung researchers at the Cavendish, daily checking on theirprogress and often making suggestions for improvements.

Miss Rose Paget was among the researchers at the Cavendish asone of the first generation of women permitted into advanceduniversity studies. She performed some experiments on soapfilms in 1889 after attending some of Thomson's lectures. J.J.Thomson and Rose Paget were married on January 22, 1890.They had two children: George Paget Thomson, who became aprominent physicist himself, and Joan Paget Thomson, who inlater years often accompanied her father in his travels.

Science lecturers who traveled from town to town in the midnineteenth century delighted audiences by showing them theancestor of the neon sign. They took a glass tube with wiresembedded in opposite ends... put a high voltage across...pumped out most of the air... and the interior of the tube wouldglow in lovely patterns. In 1859 a German physicist sucked outstill more air with an improved pumpand saw that where this light from thecathode reached the glass it produceda fluorescent glow. Evidently somekind of ray was emitted by the cathodeand lighting up the glass.

What could these rays be? One possibility was that they were waves traveling in ahypothetical invisible fluid called the "ether." At that time,

many physicists thought that this ether was needed to carrylight waves through apparently empty space. Maybe cathoderays were similar to light waves? Another possibility was thatcathode rays were some kind of material particle. Yet manyphysicists, including J.J. Thomson, thought that all materialparticles themselves might be some kind of structures built outof ether, so these views were not so far apart.

Experiments were needed to resolve the uncertainties. Whenphysicists moved a magnet near the glass, they found theycould push the rays about. But when the German physicistHeinrich Hertz passed the rays through an electric field createdby metal plates inside a cathode ray tube, the rays were notdeflected in the way that would be expected of electricallycharged particles. Hertz and his student Philipp Lenard alsoplaced a thin metal foil in the path of the rays and saw that theglass still glowed, as though the rays slipped through the foil.Didn't that prove that cathode rays were some kind of waves.

Other experiments cast doubt on theidea that these were ordinaryparticles of matter, for example gasmolecules as some suggested. InFrance, Jean Perrin had found thatcathode rays carried a negativecharge. In Germany, in January 1897Emil Wiechert made a puzzlingmeasurement indicating that the ratio of their mass to theircharge was over a thousand times smaller than the ratio for thesmallest charged atom. When Lenard passed cathode raysthrough a metal foil and measured how far they traveledthrough various gases, he concluded that if these wereparticles, they had to be very small.

Drawing on work by his colleagues, J.J. Thomson refined someprevious experiments, designed some new ones, carefullygathered data, and then... made a bold speculative leap.Cathode rays are not only material particles, he suggested, butin fact the building blocks of the atom: they are the long-sought basic unit of all matter in the universe.

Do atoms have parts? J.J. Thomson suggested that they do. He advanced the ideathat cathode rays are really streams of very small pieces ofatoms. Three experiments led him to this:

First, in a variation of an 1895 experiment by Jean Perrin,Thomson built a cathode ray tube ending in a pair of metalcylinders with a slit in them. These cylinders were in turnconnected to an electrometer, a device for catching andmeasuring electrical charge. Perrin had found that cathoderays deposited an electric charge. Thomson wanted to see if,by bending the rays with a magnet, he could separate thecharge from the rays. He found that when the rays entered theslit in the cylinders, the electrometermeasured a large amount of negativecharge. The electrometer did notregister much electric charge if the rayswere bent so they would not enter theslit. As Thomson saw it, the negativecharge and the cathode rays mustsomehow be stuck together: you cannotseparate the charge from the rays.


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All attempts had failed whenphysicists tried to bendcathode rays with an electricfield. Now Thomson thought of

a new approach. A charged particle will normally curve as itmoves through an electric field, but not if it is surrounded by aconductor (a sheath of copper, for example). Thomsonsuspected that the traces of gas remaining in the tube werebeing turned into an electrical conductor by the cathode raysthemselves. To test this idea, he took great pains to extractnearly all of the gas from a tube, and found that now thecathode rays did bend in an electric field after all.

Thomson concluded from these twoexperiments, "I can see no escape fromthe conclusion that [cathode rays] arecharges of negative electricity carriedby particles of matter." But, hecontinued, "What are these particles?are they atoms, or molecules, ormatter in a still finer state of subdivision?"

Thomson's third experiment sought to determine the basicproperties of the particles. Although he couldn't measuredirectly the mass or the electric charge of such a particle, hecould measure how much the rays werebent by a magnetic field, and how muchenergy they carried. From this data hecould calculate the ratio of the mass of aparticle to its electric charge (m/e). Hecollected data using a variety of tubesand using different gases.

The results were astounding. Just as Emil Wiechert had reported earlier that year, the mass-to-charge ratio for cathode rays turned out to be over onethousand times smaller than that of a charged hydrogen atom.Either the cathode rays carried an enormous charge (ascompared with a charged atom), or else they were amazinglylight relative to their charge.

The choice between these possibilities was settled by PhilippLenard. Experimenting on how cathode rays penetrate gases,he showed that if cathode rays were particles they had to havea very small mass--far smaller than the mass of any atom. Theproof was far from conclusive. But experiments by others in thenext two years yielded an independent measurement of thevalue of the charge (e) and confirmed this remarkableconclusion:

Thomson boldly announced the hypothesis that "we have in thecathode rays matter in a new state, a state in which thesubdivision of matter is carried very much further than in theordinary gaseous state: a state in which all matter... is of oneand the same kind; this matter being the substance from whichall the chemical elements are built up."

Thomson presented three hypothesesabout cathode rays based on his 1897experiments: 1. Cathode rays are charged particles

(which he called "corpuscles"). 2. These corpuscles are constituents

of the atom. 3. These corpuscles are the only

constituents of the atom.

Thomson's speculations met with some skepticism. The secondand third hypotheses were especially controversial (the thirdhypothesis indeed turned out to be false). Years later he

recalled, "At first there were very few who believed in theexistence of these bodies smaller than atoms. I was even toldlong afterwards by a distinguished physicist who had beenpresent at my lecture at the Royal Institution that he thought Ihad been 'pulling their legs.'"

The word "electron," coined by the Irish scientist G. JohnstoneStoney in 1891, had been used to denote the unit of charge foundin experiments that passed electric current through chemicals.In this sense the term was used by Joseph Larmor, J.J. Thomson'sCambridge classmate. Larmor devised a theory of the electronthat described it as a structure in the ether (the invisible elasticfluid that was proposed as a substrate for light and otherelectrical phenomena). But Larmor's theory did not describe theelectron as a part of the atom. When the Irish physicist GeorgeFrancis FitzGerald suggested in 1897 that Thomson's corpuscleswere really "free electrons," he was actually disagreeing withThomson's hypotheses. FitzGerald had in mind the kind of"electron" described by Larmor's theory.

Gradually scientists accepted Thomson's first and secondhypotheses, although with some subtle changes in their meaning.Experiments by Thomson, Lenard, and others through the crucialyear of 1897 were not enough to settle the uncertainties. Realunderstanding required many more experiments over later years.

Theories about the atom proliferated inthe wake of Thomson's 1897 work. IfThomson had found the single buildingblock of all atoms, how could atoms bebuilt up out of these corpuscles?Thomson proposed a model, sometimescalled the "plum pudding" or "raisin cake"model, in which thousands of tiny,negatively charged corpuscles swarminside a sort of cloud of massless positivecharge. This theory was struck down by Thomson's own formerstudent, Ernest Rutherford. Using a different kind of particlebeam, Rutherford found evidence that the atom has a smallcore, a nucleus. Rutherford suggested that the atom mightresemble a tiny solar system, with a massive, positively chargedcenter circled by only a few electrons. Later this nucleus wasfound to be built of new kinds of particles (protons andneutrons), much heavier than electrons.

Many unanswered questions remain, but in the century since thediscovery that atoms contain electrons, physicists have beencentrally concerned with studying the structure of matter. Theyhave won remarkable results. The electron was only the first ofa long list of fundamental particles -- photons, muons, quarksand more. The electron itself has turned out to be not quite thecreature that J.J. Thomson thought it was. According to thequantum theory developed by Albert Einstein and others, it is amistake to think that electrons must be either particles or wavesbut not both. Under some conditions electrons act like particles;under other conditions they act like waves. (The wave characterof electrons was in fact experimentally indicated by J.J.Thomson's own son, G.P. Thomson, who as a result shared theNobel Prize in 1937.) Physicists have alsofound that electrons are only the mostcommon members of a whole "family" ofrelated fundamental particles -- all of theminfinitesimal points carrying charge, mass,and something called "spin." Why the particleshave these properties remains a mystery, agrand challenge for the next century ofresearch.

Sir Joseph Thomson died on August 30 ,1940.


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Physics Resources available in your local Education CentrePhysics Teacher Starter PackThis pack which is available from the SLSS Physics is a resource to support teachers who are teaching physics for the first time. Itcontains the Physics Syllabus, Physics Teacher Guidelines, Useful information on teacher support agencies such as the Irish ScienceTeachers’ Association, Resource CDs, etc.

Physics Resource Books GENERAL CONTENTThe Resourceful PHYSICS TEACHER 600 IDEAS FOR CREATIVE TEACHINGKeith Gibbs IOP Publishing Ltd (1999) ISBN 0 7503 0581 9This teaching resource contains over 600 demonstration experiments and ideas for students in physics. Theexperiments all use standard laboratory equipment.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY (STS)Physics Through APPLICATIONS Jim Jardine, Oxford University Press (1989) ISBN O 19 914280 7This book demonstrates the relevance of basic scientific concepts in a real-world context. It first shows the applications of physicsprinciples and then introduces the concepts to make sense of the physical phenomena. It is not a textbook but would be verysuitable for transition year students.

Teaching Secondary PHYSICS David Sang, ASE John Murray Science Practice ISBN 07195 7636 9This book provides support for newly-qualified science teachers and experienced physics teachers who want to extendthe range of strategies and approaches used. Each chapter covers a broad section of the syllabus which is subdividedinto topics. Each topic covers: the students’ possible previous knowledge, a suggested teaching sequence, a warningabout common misconceptions, further activities and enhancement ideas.

Reflective Teaching of Science 11-18 John Parkinson Continuum ISBN 0 8264 5265 5This book covers all aspects of the job, from planning through to teaching and assessment. It is intended to support

teachers, using reflective practice, to apply previous research and theory to their own situations.

Teaching and learning SECONDARY SCIENCE contemporary issues and practicalapproaches Jerry Wellington, ROUTLEDGE ISBN 0415 21403 3This book discusses the major issues in science education today. Chapters are accompanied byactivities and annotated lists of further reading aimed at helping the reader to follow uptheir interests and explore topics in more detail.

NOD DON EOLACH Gasaitéar EolaíochtaAn Dr. Matt Hussey, An Gúm, B.A.C. (1999)Uimh. Chatalóige GR 1594. ISBN 1-857911-03-2Tugann an leabhar seo cúntas ar réimsí éagsúla den eolaíocht i gcomhthéasc an t-saoil timpeall orainn. Tá sé dírithe aran ngáthléitheoir ach is áis é don mhúinteoir eolaíochta go háirithe leis an mbéim nua atá ar thábhacht na heolaíochtasa saol laethúil.

Physics ‘a Teacher's Handbook’The Department of Education and Science's Intervention Project in Physics and Chemistry produced this resource in folder and CDforms. It contains interesting background information on each section of the syllabus. Selected sections may be printed for classnotes or overhead transparencies.

PHYSICS CD ROMSPhysics, a teacher’s handbook: issued by the Department of Education and Science. It contains background information ontopics in the syllabus. It is very useful for STS material.

Particle Physics: produced by the Physics Support Service. It contains a wide range of material on particle and modernphysics. Material on the current syllabus is easily accessed.

Applied Electricity: produced by the Physics Support Service. It contains a wide range of material on applied electricityand resources. It has units on the prescribed experiments, demonstrations, datalogging, resources, the oscilloscope,particle physics, STS and much more. It contains all the material given to teachers during the in-service programme (1999-2002).

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Any Physics teacher looking for a school tour in their ownsubject area need look no further than the EurospaceCentre in Brussels. A Tour Operator representativeapproached our school and gave a 1-hour presentation tothe students outlining the programme of events for theweek including a video of the centre itself. I was verykeen to go having seen the presentation because of theobvious physics content of the trip; topics coveredincluded geostationary orbits, planetary motion,conservation of momentum, escape velocity,weightlessness etc.

It was the first time ever that Irish students have takenpart in an Astronauts training program at the centre. .Students spend their five days doing identical training toreal astronauts, including space walking, micro gravitysimulation, and a full flight mission. The equipment usedis identical to that used by real astronauts with the samechecks and procedures. Students also make their ownrockets from scratch, these rockets when launched reacha height of 150 m. All students receive a certificate fromthe space centre on completing the course.

Some of the training techniques would not be for the fainthearted especially the micro gravity simulator, whichideally would require some experience of scuba diving. Inaddition to the hands on training the students also attendclasses every morning covering the theory of what theyare about to do as well as some general lectures on spacetravel.

The trip was a great success because it boosted classmorale and their sense of purpose in doing physics. It wasfascinating for them to see the application of physics in thereal world. The whole idea of space travel captured theimagination of all participants both teacher and studentalike. We came away from the trip with a huge sense ofadmiration for real life astronauts not just for their obvioustalent but also for their bravery in putting their life on theline so that we can learn more about space. I would bringanother group again without hesitation.

There were twenty five students and three teachers in ourgroup and the cost per student was c. €600. For moreinformation visit the website www.eurospacecenter.be

Martin Cunniffe, St Patrick’s Classical School, Navan, Co Meath

School Tour For Students Of Physics

Students treated to “Our Planet – Our Future” demo

The Tyndall lecture “Our Planet – OurFuture” was presented by Dr KarenBultitude (University of the West ofEngland, Bristol) and Dr Laura Grant(University of Liverpool) to schoolstudents throughout Ireland from 28January– 3 February at Queens UniversityBelfast, RDS Dublin, Waterford Instituteof Technology, University College Cork,National University of Ireland Galway andInstitute of Technology Carlow.

Laura Grant gave a demonstration on atornado at the Tyndall lecture in the RDS in

Dublin on 27 January.

Why Choose Chemistry?All materials and living things consist ofatoms that are linked together in manydifferent ways. Chemistry is a study ofthese atoms and how they interact withone another. Chemistry can beconsidered as the central science,playing an important part in all of theother basic and applied naturalsciences. Plant growth and metabolism,the formation of igneous rocks(geochemistry), the reactions ofpollutants in the atmosphere, thediscovery of new drugs and theunderstanding of their medical action,the rusting of iron and the developmentof silicon chips: none of these can befully understood without the knowledgeand perspective provided by chemistry.Not surprisingly therefore, Chemistry isa vibrant and challenging science.Research in Chemistry is central toimproving our understanding of thenatural world, and it also has myriadpractical applications. The developmentof new drugs, new materials, newpesticides, and a host of other productsthat enhance our lives, arises fromChemistry research. Anotherconsequence of the importance ofChemistry in the modern world is thatthere are numerous employmentopportunities for chemists. Graduatesgo on to careers in industry, ineducation, and in public service, andthe demand for chemists is projected tooutstrip the supply, so Chemistry is anexcellent career choice.

EmploymentProspectsGraduates with BScand PhD degrees inChemistry go on toa wide variety ofchallenging andrewarding careers.A recent reportconcluded thatthere would be asignificant shortageof chemists overthe coming years, so the outlook is veryfavourable.

IndustryMany graduates (both BSc and PhD)enter a science-based industry, e.g. the

fine chemical and pharmaceuticalindustries, where they are involved inthe production and analysis ofchemicals. Most of the leadingpharmaceutical companies in the worldhave located in Ireland and they havebeen very successful. Thepharmaceutical industry is one of themost important in Ireland producingmore than 30% of the country’sexports. This sector is also consideredto be one of the most recession-proofof all industries and it is a fact thatonce established no multi-nationalpharmaceutical company has ever“pulled-out” of Ireland. Currently anumber of companies are undergoingmajor expansions that will ensure goodemployment opportunities in thefuture.

A large number of chemists also work inthe computer industry in Ireland bothin the manufacture of hardware such assilicon chips (Intel) and thedevelopment of scientific software.The food industry also employs manychemists, e.g. in the analysis offoodstuffs and the development of newproducts.

In the near future scientific advancesin the Chemical Sciences will lead tothe development of new types ofindustries, e.g. research in chemicalbiology will lead to growth in theBiotechnology area, and research inmaterials and nano-technologies willlead to much growth in the molecularelectronics area. These industries arebeginning to emerge in Ireland and willprovide challenging opportunities forgraduates.

EnvironmentEnvironmental protection isincreasingly important and manychemists have roles to play in effluentmonitoring and control, wastemanagement, air and water qualitymeasurements and protecting themarine environment.

Management and BusinessA graduate career may begin as aresearch or production chemist butfinish up in a management position inindustry. This is because managersneed a wide range of skills and


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experience and scientific training inany discipline is an excellentpreparation for the business world.

EducationThere are many opportunities forchemists in 2nd level education. Theneed for more Chemistry teachers inschools has recently been recognisedand graduates are being encouragedto enter this area. There are also 3rdlevel teaching opportunities in theInstitutes of Technology and inUniversities.

Other OpportunitiesMany other career options areavailable to chemists.The civil service, research institutesand semi-state bodies also offeremployment to our graduates.Examples are Enterprise Ireland, thePatent Office, the EnvironmentalProtection Agency and the StateLaboratory.

In forensic science laboratorieschemists are required to develop andstandardize techniques for theinvestigation of criminal evidence andhence investigate and detect crimes.In hospitals and medical laboratorieschemists have an important role toplay in the analysis of body tissues andfluids to help in the diagnosis ofdisease.

Chemists can work as expert witnessesin legal cases. They can also work inpatent firms as legal agreements arenecessary to protect new discoveriesand in patent offices where newdiscoveries are registered.

Extracts taken from UCD websitehttp://www.ucd.ie/chem/undergraduate_chem.htm

Chemistry as a Career


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ISTA Annual Conference and AGMThe 44th annual conference and AGM of the ISTA was hosted in the Athlone Institute of Technology from 24th to 26thMarch, 2006. The programme with the logo ‘Science in Action’ included lectures, demonstrations and workshops, allof which were well attended and appreciated by those present. This year Centres for Science, Engineering andTechnology (CSETs) and Lab Technicians were prominent in a number of areas. Over the weekend there were 32different events with 37 different presenters. The numbers attending were up on last year and the weekend was agreat success.

The programme opened on Friday evening with an overflow attendance at the serious but humorous lecture on “TheArt of Forensic Investigation” by Professor Marie Cassidy, the Chief State Pathologist. Dr. Michael John Gorman fromDiscover Science and Engineering and Margy McCarthy from STEPS followed on and highlighted the events theyorganise to promote engineering and science to primary and post primary students.

Saturday’s programme of events which catered for primary and post primary teachers of science had an internationalflavour with events such as ‘Stacks of Maths’ from Spain, ‘What is wet, dry and spongy?’ from Quebec and apresentation from the Geneva prize-winning Irish SCIENCE ON STAGE team.

Sunday’s programme included presentations from Mark Glynn of IBEC who highlighted industry’s contribution toscience teaching, Dr Claire O’Connell, who contributes to the Irish Times gave an interesting presentation titled‘From the lab. To the Living Room’ and Joe Reville, outgoing ISTA Chairman, entertained his audience whiledemonstrating the unusual characteristics of life which have ‘Fun on the Seashore’.

The programme closed with Ray and Rosemary Plevey’s presentation “Chemical Magic” which sent all away feelingthat it had been a weekend well spent.

ISTA wishes to thank all those who helped to make the weekend a success – our colleagues who attended, guestspeakers, exhibitors, staff at Athlone Institute of Technology and the organising committee.

The 45th AGM will be held in UCC and the Rochestown Lodge Hotel

from 23rd to 25th March, 2006.

Paddy Daly, TPN Coordinator, ISTA

Front row Left to right Name 3C, Dr Marie Cassidy (State Pathologist), Majella MacNeiceBack row Left to right: Michelle Herbert, Irene O'Sullivan, Damien Phelan


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Fisic Tré GhaeilgeIns an iris dheireanach, thug Ruairi Ó Ceilleachaircuntas ar na h-acmhainni atá ar fáil chun fisic amhuiniu tré mhean na Gaeilge. D’fhreastal mé legairid ar chúrsa inseirbhíse fisic tre ghaeilge inIonaid Oideachas Bhaile Átha Cliath Thiar. Bhain mesult mór as agus d’fhoghlaim me cuid mhor. I mothuarimse, is é an acmhainn is fearr nó smaointe amhalartu le muinteoiri eile agus plé a dheanamh ara gcuid taithi.

Ag an chúrsa chuaigh muid tríd na h-acmhainni atále fáil ar an idirlíon o chomhlachtaí eagsúla. Phlémuid na codanna den chúrsa a raibh deacrachtaí agna daltaí leo. Bhí ceardlann taifeadadh sonraíagainn, áit ar taispéainadh duinn turgnimh difriúlaagus cuireadh taispéantais ar fail dona muinteoirí.Labhair muid faoi thabhacht an measanúnachta ibhfoghlaim na ndaltaí. Ce go raibh deacrachtaíagainn ar dtús na canuinti eagsula a thuigmheal (gospeisialta idir Tir Chonaill agus na Mumhan!), fuairmuid saibhreas eolais óna cheile.

Tá cuid mhor acmhainni le fail as Bearla ach inainneoin nach bhfuil oiread cuidigh ar fail as Gaeilge,ta cuidiu airithe ann mar sin fein.

D’fhoghlaim muid go bhfuil sé furast oibrithePowerpoint ón idirlíon a aistriú go Gaeilge ina bhfuila lán léaraidí agus applets úsáideacha.

Aiseanna Saor in aisce:Cuairt Scoile: Má tá cuidiu de dhith ort ag oibriú an treallamh i doshaotharlann nó má tá aon cheist phracticiúil agat faoi naturgnimh is féidir leis an SLSS cuairt scoile a eagrú chuig doscoil. De ghnáth tarlaíonn seo taobh amuigh den lá scoile lecinntiú go mbeadh an saotharlann saor.

Cursaí Inseirbhíse: Tá cúrsa induchtú ar fáil do muinteoirí úr ar an abhar, cursaíICT, cursaí taifeadadh sonraí atá i mBearla ach dá mbeadhgrúpa measartha ag iarraidh aon cheann de na cursaí sin inGaeilge, dheanfadh an SLSS iarracht sin a eagrú.

Idirlíon:Gaelspell 3: Is é seo áis a cheartaíonn do chuid litriú i ndocumeidiclóscríofa cosúil le spellcheck atá ar fail le MSWord. Is feidircur leis an fhoclóir bhunusach atá ar fáil ag diriú isteach aran abhar atá tú ag muiniu. Cuir gaelspell3 i google agustabharfaidh sé an suíomh idirlion duit

Mholfainn do aon mhuinteoir fisice ata ag teagasc trémhean na gaeilge, freastal ar an chead chursa eile, se sinFisic tré Ghaeilge. Bionn na cursai sin ar siul go rialta.Buíochas mór do Tim Regan agus a fhoireann ar fad. Arndóigh, is acmhainn an-thabhachtach an brí a chóineal agusa thaispeaint i dteagasc tríd Ghaeilge.

Sinéad Nic Niocaill, Coláiste Chroí Mhuire, An Spidéal

IntroductionDell carried out its 2006 Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) in Education Survey in December 2005among 277 of its UK schools customers. The aim was toidentify how ICT is currently being used in the educationsector, particularly in classroom teaching.

The survey also looked at teachers’ attitudes to ICT ineducation, where they see opportunities to fully exploittechnology and any barriers they perceive prevent themfrom doing this.

Key FindingsICT is increasingly central to the 21st Century classroom • 85% of teachers use a computer in teaching• 78% of schools have computers in all classrooms

• 89% of primary schools, 34% for secondary schools • Just 26% of schools have one dedicated IT suite. This

compares to 74% of schools in the 2005 survey, suggesting that technology is increasingly integrated inthe classroom and across all subject lessons:• 15% of schools use technology in every lesson • Over a quarter (27%) use them in 87% of lessons

• In terms of what technology is being used• 98% of schools use PCs, 97% use printers• 94% use projectors, 91% use whiteboards• 46% use notebooks

Technology is helping teachers in the classroom• Nine out of 10 teachers (88%) believe technology haschanged the way they teach• 90% of teachers say that technology is very important

to their school, with 85% using a computer for teaching. This figure was unexpectedly higher in primary schools than secondary schools: • 86% primary, 77% secondaryWith just 68% of the teachers surveyed in 2005 citing ICT as “very important”, this shows that ICT is establishing itself as increasingly fundamental in the classroom.

Technology benefits pupils’ learning• 74% of teachers use ICT as they believe it motivates

children. 68% say it makes teaching and learning morefun and 60% believe ICT helps student learning.

• The research also shows using computers in lessons encourages pupils’ engagement:• 49% of teachers identified a significant increase in

pupils’ interest levels in national curriculum subjects • 49% also cited motivation to learn has significantly

increased• 22% cited significantly increased creativity • 17% believe innovation has significantly increased in

the classroom.

Teachers’ access to ICT• More schools are providing teachers with access to a

personal computer. Of teachers surveyed, 44% had access to a computer at home that was provided by their school. This is an increase of almost 10% compared to last year’s 35%.

• Home use for computers was consistent with 2005’s findings, with email and communication being the keyuse:• Email and communication (88%)• Planning (84%)• Lesson creation (70%)• Assessment (65%)

Outside of subject teaching, teachers use computers inthe following way: • Lesson planning (76%)• Classroom administration (73%)• Communicating with colleagues (69%)


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ICT in Education Research 2006

Chemsketch was also included on the CD. Thispowerful molecular modelling package is a must for allchemistry teachers. The 3D display of organicmolecules shows Tetrahedral and Planar carbons intheir full glory. (so much for my amateur artwork incoloured chalk). The software will name whatever youdraw and you can rotate and spin the molecules toyour hearts content. It is also possible to assembleapparatus with just a few clicks. I would very muchlike to spend more time exploring the uses of thissoftware package.

It was also great to network with chemistry teachersthat are far more experienced than I and “swap”resources that work! Having seen what is possible toliven up my lessons I would firmly believe that we allneed data projectors, fixed to the ceiling in our labs.We should have laptops and be hooked up tobroadband, (Department of Education and Sciencetake note!)

Steve Lewis showed us just how interesting,stimulating and exciting chemistry can be – in a waythe books can’t. The best thing of it all is - it istargeted at student’s needs, while keeping them ontask, and helping clarify difficult topics that themajority of students just can’t grasp with moretraditional teaching methods. A great day was had byall.

John White, Holy Faith Secondary School, Clontarf

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RSC workshop

on the use of ICT

in ChemistryPresented by Steve Lewis

I was one of about 30 chemistry teachers who went to aworkshop entitled “Improving Teaching & Learning inChemistry Using ICT” on Saturday 11th of March. Theevent was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry,Ireland Division, and kindly hosted by Dr. Odilla Finlaysonof the Chemistry Department in D.C.U.

Steve Lewis, RSC teacher Fellow 2002-2003 was ourteacher and mentor for the day. We each received a copyof his publication “Using ICT to enhance teaching andlearning in chemistry” which was funded by the RSC, andalso a booklet which would be invaluable to anyone tryingto design ICT resources for their own classes. His book alsocontained a CD packed with ready made PowerPointpresentations, animations and other visual aids for use inthe classroom.

We all had an opportunity to get hands-on experience in • Making our own PowerPoint Presentations, • Learning how to use Excel for graphing• Creating “drop down” template resources including e-

worksheets • Exploring a range of options such as animating text,

writing chemical equations, • Learning how to insert photographs insert video clips,

and use hyperlinks.



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How should students interact with oneanother in Science classes?There are only three major choices. Students cancompete with each trying to do better than theother students in the class; students can workindividually toward a set criteria; or students canwork cooperatively taking responsibility for eachothers’ learning as well as their own. Whiletraditional teaching has strongly encouragedstudents to work alone, competing with eachother, the research on how students learn bestgoes in the opposite direction.

Our meta-analysis examining over 600 research studiesdating back to the 1800’s and covering all age groups andsubject matter found that students working togethercooperatively learned much more, with an effect sizes ofover 0.60 when compared to competitive andindividualistic learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1989). Sincean effect size of 0.25 is considered significant, the effectsizes indicate a major difference in favour of cooperativelearning. In addition students in cooperative conditionsenjoyed the subject matter more (>0.60), had higherlevels of self esteem (>0.40), and were more inclusive andaccepting of diversity (>0.60) When just scienceclassrooms were considered, the effect sizes favoringcooperative learning over competition (0.68) andindividualistic learning (0.58) on achievement wereequally impressive.

In a college level meta-analysis examining only research inscience, math, engineering and technology classes,students working together again learned considerablymore than student working alone (0.51). Students werealso found to be more persistent (less attrition at 0.46)and had more favorable attitudes (0.55) in the small groupteaching (Springer, et.al., 1999).

We are updating our 1989 meta-analysis this yearexamining more than 1000 studies but have onlycompleted the data for middle school/junior high students(ages 12-14). Our finding for these students again yieldedlarge effect sizes favoring cooperation for producingachievement (0.42). We also did an analysis to examinehow much of the variance between learning in a smallgroup vs. working alone was due to having goodrelationships and found that 80% of the difference was dueto relationships. Certainly at this age group, and probablyat all age groups, it is important that students havepositive relationships with other students if we want themto achieve in school (Paper presented at the AmericanEducational Research Association meeting, 2006). Thereis other data indicating that the more difficult thematerial and that the more carefully structured thecooperation is in the small groups the wider theachievement gab between students working together andworking alone (Johnson & Johnson, 1989).

Of course this research favoring cooperative learning isnot new and is now generally known. The currentproblem is that teachers believe they are doingcooperative learning when they are just putting studentsinto groups to work. Certainly forming small groups is animportant first step but the next task is to structurethose groups to be cooperative. The structuring ofcooperation is complex and much more than learning afew techniques. You are changing the norms of howstudents interact with each other as they learn. Severalbooks are available that describe the process includingCircles of Learning, The Nuts and Bolts of CooperativeLearning and Active Learning: Cooperation in the CollegeClassroom. However, here is some advice for Scienceteachers who want to, or have already, moved beyondjust organizing groups.

1) Stick to small groups (2-3, maybe 4). Small groups take less group member skills to be successful; each student gets more “talk time”; and they complete the task faster than larger groups.

2) For most purposes, make the groups heterogeneous. It enriches the conversation and provides a way for students to get to know more students personally. Working cooperatively is especially important in a diverse classroom as it builds acceptance of differences.

3) Provide a clear group goal that can not be accomplished by an individual. One of easiest ways to do this is to specify a single set of answers or product, signed by all group members to indicate that they contributed, agree with, and can explain the answers.

4) Check individual accountability by moving from group to group and randomly asking one group member to explain a part of the assignment already covered. When students realize that all group members must be able to explain the material and that you are checking to see that they do, they are less likely to try to “hitchhike”.

Cooperative Learning in the Science ClassroomRoger T. Johnson and David W. Johnson

Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota


With the strong research support for cooperativelearning, it is one of the strategies that always appearsin a list of research based practices for teaching. It isnot a huge jump for Science Teachers who have always used small lab groups. Thereare other ways to involve students actively andcooperatively in direct teaching and reading as well.After all, cooperative teamwork is how practicingScientists work, so why not Science students?

REFERENCESCooperation and competition: Theory and research. D. W. Johnsonand R. T. Johnson. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company, 1989

Effects of Small-Group Learning on Undergraduates in Science,Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology: A Meta-Analysis. L.Springer, et. Al. Review of Educational Research, Spring 1999, Vol69, No.1, pp 21-51.

Effects of Cooperative Learning and Relationships of Middle SchoolStudents toward Achievement. C. Roseth, D.W. Johnson, R.T.Johnson. Paper given at the American Educational ResearchAssociation meeting, 2006, San Francisco, CA.Note: for more information, go to www.co-operation.org

When a student has difficulty explaining, the group needs to go back over that part of the assignment so they can explain it, (and let them know you will be back to check).

5) Provide a set of expected behaviors. This is the operational definition for cooperation and tells them what you are monitoring for when you visit each group. Behaviors like “all group members participating actively”, “carefully considering the ideas of others”, “encouraging and supporting others’ ideas”, and “staying with the group until the job is done” are a few helpful guidelines to cooperative behavior.

6) Monitor the groups looking for their understanding of the Science and their participation in the group.Have some specific, honest, positive feedback to give them, and give them a few minutes to discuss within their group how well they thought they did on the assignment and how well they interacted with each other. Setting a goal for next time will also improve the performance of the groups over time.

Science and Technology in Action – a valuable science teaching resource

Science and Technology in Action, a multi-media resource for science teachers, was launched in November 2005 by Síle de Valera,Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science. The resource, which was delivered to every second level school inthe Ireland, is available in an A3-size ring binder of printed support materials accompanied by a CD and a dedicated website.

What does it contain?The resource provides lessons across a range of topics on the Leaving Certificate Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and the JuniorCertificate syllabi. Each lesson is linked to the activities of a leading Irish organisation, illustrating the reality of science in oureveryday lives. During her launch speech Minister de Valera said ‘The Science and Technology in Action resource brings industryand education together in a most innovative and exciting way’.

New resources on the wayAnother set of resources is already in production andwill be supplied to the schools in Autumn 2006. Teachers

If for some reason you do not have a copy of this useful resource, orif you would like more information, please [email protected] or ring 01 2300742.

Science and Technology in Action is produced by AG Education Services, 22 Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

Each lesson is accompanied by its Syllabus Reference, a statement ofthe Learning Objectives and lesson resources.How could I use Science and Technology in Action?There is really no limit to the ways in which it can be used. Thefollowing are some suggestions.• to introduce a topic so that students see it in a real-life context• to revise a topic while illustrating its application in real situations • to add greater depth to students’ understanding• to raise questions that might lead to clarification of students’

ideas or prompt practical investigations• to test students’ understanding (True /False questions) individually

or in groups. • to illustrate the contribution of scientists to enhancing the quality

of life (Biographical Notes). This material might be particularly useful for transition year science.

• to give students an insight into the mission and operations of science-based organisations - STS in action.

The ISTAMany practising teachers provided written material and editorialexpertise during the production of the resource.

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Chemistry Resource Books Available in your local Education Centre

Teaching Secondary Chemistry. ISBN 0-7195-7638-5

A practical guide to teaching chemistry to 11-16-year-olds based on the experience of a range of teachers andthose involved in science education from within the Association of Science Education. Each section covers abroad area of the curriculum. Chapters are subdivided into topics and for each topic the book provides:previous knowledge, a suggested teaching sequence, further activities, enhancement ideas, and suggestionsfor using IT in chemistry advice on specialist equipment

Classic Chemistry Demonstrations ISBN 1-870-343-38-7Classic Chemistry Demonstrations is an essential much-used resource book for all chemistry teachers. It is acollection of chemistry experiments many well-known others less so for demonstration in front of a class ofstudents from school to undergraduate ageThey have all been trialled in schools and colleges and the vast majority of the experiments can be carried outat normal room temperature and with easily accessible equipment. The book will prove its worth again and againas a regular source of reference for planning lessons.

Improving Secondary Science Teaching ISBN 0-415-25046-3This new book is intended to help new and experienced teachers, which presents the author with a challenge –not to talk down to those well into their career, while being clear enough for the novice The text also considersaspects of a science teacher’s job that will be of most interest to those considering their career development.Indeed, some parts of the book seem primarily intended for the aspiring or new head of department, and it isthis audience that will benefit most from the author’s comprehensive approach to examining aspects ofsecondary science education, and how departments can improve their practice.

The age of the molecule. ISBN 0-85404-945-2Attention-grabbing, colourful, clear and concise look at the key developmen ts in molecular sciences inrecent years and those predicted to occur in the future. Easy to read and written in clear, accessiblelanguage by leading young scientists the book is aimed at a non-specialist audience, covers topics ofgeneral interest and will be an invaluable resource for schools and colleges. The issues examined includemany remarkable discoveries made in the life sciences, and the huge variety of technological applications ofchemistry e.g. liquid crystals, batteries, catalysts, plastics and novel electronic materials

Chemical Ideas and Chemical Storylines.ISBN 0-435-63120-9 and ISBN 0-435-63119-5Chemical Ideas is used alongside Chemical Storylines to provide the factual background. Itexplains major chemical concepts, and includes a wide range of problems for students toanswer. It forms a reference and revision guide to the major concepts needed in Advancedchemistry.

Easy links to follow to the 'Chemical Ideas' book, so you can find out more about thefundamental chemistry affecting our everyday lives. Includes fifteen chapters leading youthrough the chemistry syllabus with lively diagrams and pictures. Examples of how eachpart of chemistry in the syllabus has affected people. However must be accompanied bythe chemical ideas book to get a thorough understanding of A level chemistry.


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TY Science ModuleAlmost 200 teachers from all around the country have completed in-service training in Design and Discovery, the new pre-engineering TY module designed by Intel.

Earlier in the year a team of experienced physics teacherscompleted their master training at Intel which includedworkshops hosted by Dr. Phillip Mathews, TCD and Dr. PaulMulvey, AIT. These master trainers have been busy over thelast couple of months delivering the Design and Discoverytraining to teachers around the country via their localEducation Centres and feedback from participants has beenvery positive.

‘Design and Discovery’ is hands-on, project-based learningexperience for TY students. Students identify designopportunities and explore basic science and engineeringconcepts in the areas of material science, mechanics,electronics, and robotics. Students then go on to buildprototypes of their designs using the designprocess followed by professional engineers.

Any teachers who missed out on the training but are interested in the participating in theprogramme should contact Gerry Nolan, Education Specialist , Intel Ireland.([email protected])

PHYSICSWEBSITERESOURCE

The Institute of Physics has produced a set of fiveinteractive CDs to support non-specialist teacherswho teach physics in the early years of secondaryeducation. The CDs are designed to help teachersgain a better understanding of physics, allow them

to experience for themselves something of itsfascination and to develop greater confidence in

their teaching of it. The five CDs cover, forces, lightand sound, electricity and magnetism, energy andEarth in space. They balance the consolidation ofexisting good practice amongst teachers with the

development of new teaching tools.

The Second Level Support Service in collaborationwith the IOP Co-ordinators and the Junior ScienceSupport Service plan to customise these resources

for the Irish Curriculum and to offer support courseson their implementation.

The Transition Year Support Service is offering a Transition Year Science Modular Course for teachers in the2006/2007 academic year. Day 1 of this three day course is the Physics module which deals with“Electromagnetism” The following are the dates and venues.

November 7th Galway Education CentreNovember 16th Cork Education Support CentreNovember 23rd Navan Education Centre

www.teachingmedicalphysics.org.ukMedical Physics Teaching Materials for Schools

This website supports a teaching pack which hasbeen circulated to all UK schools. It contains lessons

as PowerPoint presentations and other materialaimed at helping teachers to teach science with

examples from medical physics. The presentationscan be used as free-standing lessons at GCSE level

(on the electromagnetic spectrum, radioactivity andultrasound), or parts of the presentations may be used

at A level or earlier, or for particular topics such asthe Doppler effect, radiation safety or waves.

For further copies of the teaching pack, pleasecontact the Institute of Physics at

[email protected]

Supporting Physics Teaching

(11-14) CD ROMs


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Why Learning Styles?My interest in learning styles was prompted by the followingobservations of the students in my physics (and science)classes, some of which you may recognise

(a) Student is good at discussing things but very weak at writing an answer

(b) Student loves doing experiments and / or hearing storiesabout real discoveries in physics but scores poorly in tests

(c) A number of students draw fantastic 3-D diagrams of labexperiments but the rest of their write up is weak.

(d) Student seems to be not listening (i.e. looking at desk while teacher is talking) but student recalls the teacher’sexact words.

When the physics in-service courses started and teacherswere invited to do a project on or concerning the teachingof physics, an investigation of learning styles seemed anobvious choice for me. With the “deluge” of excellent ICTmaterial given to us during the in-service, I couldn’t helpwondering if this new media would replicate the same oldissues that occurred with the traditional physics textbook –

• Heavy bias towards read / write

• Very little active learning

• Students with a practical leaning left to fend for themselves

Would a learning styles methodology give me an indication asto what medium my students were inclined to use?

Using the VARK Learning PreferencesSo, having my curiosity stirred, I sought to apply a learningstyle methodology that I had encountered recently. Thismethodology was called VARK (Visual – Aural – Read/write –Kinesthetic) and it had four distinct characteristics thatappealed to me:

• It was free, unlike many other learning style methodologies.

• It did reflect the learning preferences of the individual

• It was very simple to apply – a 10-minute questionnaire would generate a learning preferences profile for an individual

• It was open to change as the individual changed – your learning styles profile now might be different from learning styles profile in a year’s time.

The VARK profile (Fleming & Mills) had 4 different learningstyles – visual, aural, read / write and kinesthetic. Thereaction of my students when I took 10 minutes out of a class

to run the questionnaire was surprising – they wereextremely curious to know more about it and how they coulduse their profile to benefit their studies and awareness ofthemselves.

The results bore an uncanny reality. The students in (a) and(d) above came out as very strongly aural and weak on read/ write. The student in (b) came out with a strongpreference for kinesthetic learning, while students in (c) hada very healthy visual learning style but low read / writestyle. This seemed to be the lead I had hoped for in terms ofa tool that might “predict” how receptive students might beto different media.

What about the Teacher?The really interesting part of learning styles is that theteacher’s preferences contribute to the transmission ofknowledge in the classroom. A student with a strong visuallearning style will be challenged by a teacher with a strongread / write style. So, I took the questionnaire and my ownlearning style was revealed to me. This made me moreconscious of attempting to use all learning styles in theclassroom interaction. However, when it came to monthlyassessments, the learning styles profiles were of mixedbenefit.

Using Learning Styles in the Physics ClassroomFran Nolan, Community School, Mountmellick, Co Laois


Limitations of Learning StylesAs the school year progressed, it became increasinglyapparent that a number of kind variables were not takeninto account by the learning styles profiles. The mostimportant of these I would consider being studentmotivation to learn, followed by a supportive learningculture at home. Each learning preference was given anumerical score and the relative scores for each individualgave the learning preferences. Comparing the individualscores for each preference between individuals (e.g. read /write scores only) did not seem to generate any insight intothe academic development of the student. To follow thisinvestigation in more detail, the reader is directed toFleming’s own publication (Fleming) and to an excellentreview of many different learning styles by Mosley.

RecommendationsDespite the limitations of this, and other, learning stylesmethodologies, I would recommend them to both teachersand students. They provide the teacher and student with aninsight into how they learn best, which is a valuablecontribution to the classroom dialogue and management.With the increasing flow of new media (i.e. ICT) arriving, itcan give an insight into how your students will receive suchmedia. Best of all, the VARK profile is free and simple toapply – it’s even available online!

References1. Fleming, N.D. & Mills, C. ,“VARK, a guide to learning styles”,http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp2. Fleming, N. D., “Teaching and Learning Styles: VARK Strategies”,ISBN 0-473-07956-93. Moseley, David, ”Learning Styles: help or hindrance?”, NSINResearch Matters, no. 26 Autumn 2005, Institute of Education,University of London.

Teachers of Physics Annual ConferenceOrganised by The Institute of Physics in Ireland Education Group and Dublin Institute of Technology

A day of lectures, demonstrations, and workshops for Post-Primary teachers of physics

Saturday, 23 September 2006School of Physics, DIT Kevin Street, Dublin 8

FRONTIERS OF PHYSICS 06 OBJECTIVES• To inform teachers of the exciting and innovative work at the

frontiers of Physics that is being carried out in Ireland • To provide teachers with examples of simple and inexpensive physics

demonstrations • To inform teachers of the latest developments and resources available

in physics teaching.The assistance of the Second LevelSupport Service (SLSS) with thisconference is greatly appreciated

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Details will be sent to all Post-Primary schools in advance of the conference.Or contact IoP Network Coordinators:Paul Nugent [email protected]

Siobhan Crowe [email protected]

www.physics.dit.ie/frontiers06


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Physics Video Links & ResourcesKevin McCormick, Moyne Community School, Moyne, Co. Longford

MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu

MIT OpenCourseWare is a publication of MIT coursematerial. Numerous courses are on offer from the arts,economics, engineering, humanities, and sciences. Ofparticular interest to physics teachers are the PhysicsCourses 8.01, 8.02 and 8.03. I’ll concentrate mainly onthe first two as 8.03 deals with vibrations and wavesbut is far beyond the Leaving Cert. Syllabus, howeverit could be used as a resource for teaching ideas.

The main point of interest for each of the two courses isthe availability of video lectures to download. Thelectures should only be downloaded with a broadbandconnection as the sizes vary from 60MB up to 115MB,with an approximate download time of 20-30 minutesover broadband.

To download the video filesWhen the links are clicked on they will connect to astreaming version, i.e. it won’t be downloaded to yourcomputer. To download onto your computer make sureto consult the “Learn how to save the RealPlayer videofiles to a disk or to your hard drive.” section at the topof the video lecture pages. The videos will also need acopy of RealPlayer installed on your computer, whichis available free from http://www.real.com

8.01 Mechanics & Heat8.01 is a first year college physics course dealing withmechanics and heat given by Prof. Walter Lewin of MITin the Autumn of 1999. All relevant sections of theLeaving Cert course are covered with extra materialthat could be mentioned in passing. There are 35 videosavailable in total with a variety of uses; perhaps tosupport to material covered in classes or for use asdemonstrations, which would be rather difficult toachieve in a school lab (such as the conservation ofenergy)

8.02 Electricity and Magnetism8.02 is a first year college physics course dealing withelectromagnetism and light given by Prof. Walter Lewin ofMIT in the Spring of 2002. All relevant topics of theLeaving Cert in this area are again covered with some veryinteresting demonstrations in the 36 available videolectures. There are some very nice demos especially in theelectrostatic section (lecture #1), given that the Van deGraaf can be fussy depending on environmentalconditions. Also the examples of resonance given at thestart lecture #27 and the shattering glass demonstration9mins 50sec into the same lecture.

Professor Walter Lewin photographed during a demonstrationbouncing a balloon (sprayed with conducting paint) between his headand a small Van de Graaff generator. This demonstration can be viewedon the video of Lecture #2.

Professor Lewin puts his life on the line in Lecture #11 bydemonstrating his faith in the Conservation of Mechanical Energy.


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EU Silver Science SuccessTuesday 18 April

Irish science students won silver medals at the 4th European Union ScienceOlympiad (EUSO) in Brussels on 2nd - 8th April. The EUSO is a team competitionfor EU second level school science students who are 16 years of age or younger.The first EUSO was held in DCU in 2003, Groningen University in 2004 andGalway last year. Germany, Sweden, Spain and Cyprus will host the next fourEUSO.

Six students, in two teams of three, represented Ireland at EUSO 2006. Over 250of the high achievers in Science and Maths in the Junior Certificate Examinations2004 and 2005 were invited to the junior section Irish Science Olympiad held inDCU in January. The six students were selected and trained by Dr. OdillaFinlayson (Chemistry), Dr. Eilish McLoughlin (Physics), Dr. Mary O Connell(Biology) and Dr. Christine Loscher (Biology). Mr. John Mc Loughlin, Mr. AnthonyHyland and Ms. Janice Cunningham provided technical support. Brussels played host to EUSO 2006. Twelve EU countries sent delegations of sixstudents and three mentors The science faculty staff of VUB designed Task 1, afour-hour multi-disciplinary practical experiment called "Crime SceneInvestigation". Task 2 was designed by the science faculty staff of ULB.

Irish Students• Andrew Roe-O'Leary:

Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16 • Caoimhe Delaney:

Comprehensive School, Causeway, Co. Kerry • Mark Moriarty:

Christian Brothers College, Sidney Hill, Cork City • Nuala McAuley:

Laurel Hill School, South Circular Road, Limerick City • Patrick O'Sullivan:

Coláiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy, Co. Cork • Thomas (TJ) McGrath-Daly:

Community School, Castlecomer, Co. KilkennyDr. Eilish McLoughlin and Dr. Odilla Finlayson withthe EUSO2006 Irish silver medal winners

If you would like to contribute anarticle for the next issue of themagazine, or if you have tried

different teaching techniques andwould like to contribute to the

next issue of the magazineplease contact us.

Contact details are given on the back page


Using Toys toComplement theTeaching ofPhysicsTo introduce some fun to your lessonsand also to teach some Physics there isoften no better way than to use toys.

1. German chickenElectric current will onlyflow if there is a completecircuit. To demonstrate thisyou can use this small toychicken. It is powered by asmall battery and has twocontacts in its feet and whenyou stand it on your handthe chicken chirrups due tothe passage of a small electric current throughthe moisture on your palm.

If you are nervous or under stress your handswill become sweaty and the chicken will reactquicker – it is behaving as a simple lie or stressdetector.

http://www.claraelf.com/index1.htmlselect Electrical then Electrical curiosities

2. Magic mirrorTry to touch the image of the pig formed in spaceby this fascinating toy. Perhaps to call this a toyis not quite fair. It is an intriguing piece ofPhysics apparatus using two concave mirrors togive a 3D image of a small object placed at thecentre of the lower mirror.

Sci Chem http://www.sci-chem.co.uk/ select Mirage maker

3. Czech elephantThis is just a lovely simple toy – no plastic and noelectronics! When given a small push theelephant ‘walks’ down the slope, stopping at thesmall ledge at the end. It is an excellent talkingpoint for the pupils. Younger ones can discusshow the lever nature of the leg makes theelephant walk while older ones can investigatethe effect of changing the angle of the slope. Other animals are available such as rabbits andhedgehogs.

http://www.woodentoys.cz/woodentoys/

4. Barbie dollBarbie dolls can be used instead of children to show therepulsion between like charges that makes hair stand onend. Put a Barbie doll on top of a Van de Graaff generatorand watch her hair rise up when you turn the machine on.This is an excellent demonstration of electrostatic repulsionwhich avoids any safety problems for the pupils!Many toyshops – buy one with long straight hair – it works better

5. Musical boxThis little musical box is a good way to showchildren that the short objects vibrate quicklyand give high-pitched notes while longerobjects vibrate more slowly and give lowerpitched notes. As you turn the handle the smallmetal strips in the box are twanged by metalprojections on the drum, these then vibrategiving the note.

The sound is fairly quiet but putting the musical box on a tray or box willgive a much louder noise showing how sound boxes amplify the note bymaking a greater amount of air move.

Hawkins bazaar http://www.hawkin.com and many toyshops

6. Inertia powered vehiclesOften incorrectly called ‘friction powered’ vehiclesthese toys come in various shapes and sizes and area useful example of energy conservation andexchange. They contain a ‘large’ flywheel whichwhen rotated by rubbing the wheels along the floor(hence the problem with ‘friction power’) storesenergy which is then converted to kinetic energy as the vehicle movesalong.


7. WoodpeckerA classic scientific toy but one that should get the pupilsthinking. The woodpecker is a rest at the top of the pole butmoves down with a jerky stick-slip motion when given asmall push. The diameter of the hole in the bead to whichthe woodpecker is fixed is just a little larger than thediameter of the rod. When the woodpecker is still it pullsthe bead sideways so that it jams. As soon as then birdbecomes horizontal, by being twanged, the hole lines upwith the rod and so the bird slips down, jamming againwhen the bird swings to below the bead and so on.


8. Fibre optic torch These simple torches have a spray of plastic fibresspreading out from the end. Switching on the torchshows bright spots of light at the end of each fibre – anexcellent demonstration of the principle of fibre optics.


I am always delighted to receive new ideas for interesting Physics demonstrations or toys. You canfind descriptions of some eighty toys and over seven hundred interesting demonstrations atresourcefulphysics.org. The site contains over 5000 pages of material useful to Physics teachers andtheir students. Keith Gibbs (Author of resourcefulphysics.org) [email protected]


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Returning from the world of IT as amature student to study for the HigherDiploma in Education I was hopefulthat the teaching and learning of theSciences in schools would be receptiveof and in some way benefit from theuse of the many technological toolsavailable today. Eight months on I amhappy to report that the use of ICTwithin the classroom and laboratoriesis a growing reality. This is largelyborne out of the promotion of ICT byuniversities as part of their HigherDiploma in Education courses and bythe Secondary Level Support Servicewho run ICT Induction courses forqualified teachers.

As a Higher Diploma student I haveattended SLSS ICT courses and overthe year have endeavoured to makeuse of ICT wherever possible in thelaboratory. With this in mind I wouldlike to take this opportunity to sharemy experiences with you the reader sothat they may be of use to you in youroverall teaching and learning strategy.

Attendance on the SLSS course early inthe year brought my attentiontowards Physics a teacher’s handbook.An invaluable resource to any Physicsteacher and well worth a read beforepreparing lessons for any particulartopic. From an ICT perspective, thehandbook is available as an electronicdocument containing all the listedexperiment procedures and diagrams.Match these with an overheadprojector and you automatically havea clearly visible step by step approachfor you and your students withoutanyone having to open a book nevermind turn a page. Simple buteffective.

The SLSS courses also provided mewith a resource CD that containedmany useful items including Physicsrelated Java 'applets' or 'Physlets'.These are pieces of software whichbrilliantly describe, model or animatevarious phenomena ranging from'Momentum' to the transverse wavemotion of electromagnetic waves.

The promotion of ICT is also alive andwell in the Higher Diploma inEducation course at NUIG. There, the

Physics Dept. works closely with thestudents towards developing ICT toolsfor use within the classroom. Thisyear, under Dr McCauley's tuition, thecombined Science teaching studentsdeveloped a PowerPoint presentationthat provides teaching lesson materialcovering every learning objective ofthe Junior Cycle Science Syllabus. Wewere introduced to the notion ofonline communities such aswww.orkut.com where fellowPhysicists can meet and discusscommon issues of the day.

In venturing out into the World WideWeb of the Internet we were alsointroduced to two other interestingpotential teaching type web based ICTapplications. The first of theseinvolves creating ones own web site,which would contain subjectinformation as well as lesson handoutdownloads and relevant files. Aservice, which can provide you theteacher with such a platform for yourinformation, can be found atwww.blogspot.com. This serviceallows you to post information to anarea on the Internet that you control.Closer to home, you could get in touchwith www.teachnet.ie to access asimilar service dedicated to teachersof Junior and Senior Cycle subjects.Failing this, if you are just a beginner,you could go to www.eircom.net andsign up for their free web space andplay with it for a while. Already tiredof entering a class with twentyphotocopies of a handout only to leavewith 4 unwanted copies, I ambeginning to point my students to aweb address where they can downloadmy class notes, if they wish to. Likethe overhead acetate library, I hope tobuild an online subject library for thestudents and myself.

A second web based ICT applicationcan be found at www.webquest.org.A recent teaching phenomenon inAmerica, WebQuests are web sitesthat are built around a particulartopic where students are requested toperform some form of learningactivity. For example, the teachermight devise a WebQuest based onSolar Energy and set pupils the task ofvisiting a particular web address

where they receive instructions onhow and where to gather furtherinformation about Solar Energy.

Examples of WebQuests can be foundat www.webquest.org or you can visithttp://homepage.eircom.net/~courtneyroche/t-index.htm to view aWebQuest devised for Junior CycleScience students.

So there you have it. ICT is trulybeginning to find its place in theteachers' toolbox. It won't devise thelesson content for you but it willcertainly help towards the lessondevelopment and delivery. In thefuture, I feel that the time saved usingsuch tools will be better utilised byboth teachers and students as wemove away from the chalk and talkpassive learning scenario of latter dayteaching towards the facilitation ofactive learning experiences for allstudents.

Paul Courtney, Presentation College,

Athenry, Co Galway

An Insight into Using ICT in the Physics Classroom


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Using Multimedia in the Physics ClassroomThe teaching of Physics can be greatly enhanced by the use of multimedia. There are many good resources for Physics,but this article will focus on one --- the Scoilnet website. Scoilnet has developed its resources in Physics to the pointwhere it offers a hundred resources chosen to suit the needs of Leaving Certificate physics students. Whether to bringstudents to an IT room and let them work at their own pace, or use a laptop computer connected to a data-projectorin their own classroom may depend on circumstances and teacherpreference. Either way internet connection is needed (and preferably,Broadband, as many of the best resources are simulations in the formof Java applets, which are slow to run, otherwise).

To see what is available log on to: http://www.scoilnet.ie

choose: Students

and from the drop-down menu, select Post Primary.

Under the heading: Resource Finder

Choose Senior Cycle as the Course

Choose Physics as the Subject

And pick a topic from the drop-down menu.

Then click on the Go button

The resources vary in type from Notes to Worksheets/Quizzes,Experiments but by far the richest resource is the bank of goodquality simulations of a wide range of physical phenomenon,etc. Which ones appeal or are useful will vary from student tostudent and from teacher to teacher. The rest of this articleoutlines some of my own personal favourites, which might serveto whet your appetite to use Scoilnet in your physics teaching.

Field Lines is an interactive simulation which explores electricfield patterns. Two charges may be moved by dragging themwith the mouse. One can also change their magnitudes (andsigns) by clicking on the relevant boxes.http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/kap18/RR447app.htm

Lightning Example of a Natural Capacitor offers a simulationof Lightning in which the underlying explanation in terms ofcharge is cleverly revealed. During a storm, the difference inpotential between the clouds and the ground builds up to thepoint where this natural capacitor discharges, initiating a flashof lightning.http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/lightning/index.html

Lorentz Force is an interactive simulation demonstrating theforce experienced by a current-carrying conductor when placedin the magnetic field of a horseshoe magnet. Students canchange the polarity of the magnetic field and can change thedirection of the current.http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph11e/lorentzforce.htm

Collisions on an Air Track provides a simulation of elastic andinelastic collisions on an air track, with different masses for thetarget cart.http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/Flash/ClassMechanics/AirTrack/AirTrack.html

Conservation of Momentum is an online interactive worksheetcontaining 10 mathematical problems testing studentsunderstanding of the principle of conservation of momentum.Students can input their own values…try the problem on paperand access the full solution on screen to resolve anydifficulties. http://www.fearofphysics.com/Probs/Conservation_of_Momentum.html

Photoelectric Effect is an excellent interactive simulation ofthe photoelectric effect. Choose one of three metals toirradiate. Vary the intensity and the wavelength of the lightused. Vary the voltage also, and see the effect on the liberationof electrons (as indicated by current).http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/kap28/PhotoEffect/photo.htm

The Soundry is an exciting, interactive, and educational website about sound. Covering everything from the most basicconcepts of what sound actually is to the specifics of howhumans perceive it.http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/

David Keenahan, Gonzaga College, Sandford Road, Dublin 6

0


Many UK secondary schools (ages 11-18) host Open

Days for pupils in their final year of primary school

education (age 10). At these events science

teachers try, through the judicious use of a select

number of practical tasks, to portray science as

being a fun, exciting and essentially a ‘hands on’

activity. Whilst this approach generates short-term

situational interest amongst pupils it is ultimately

an unrealistic, and certainly unsustainable, image

of science.

Science teachers, I have often thought, are their own worstenemies. Unlike many of our teaching colleagues in otherdepartments, who arrange textbooks and examples ofpupils’ work around their classrooms, we science teacherssee Open Days as an opportunity to show prospective pupilsthat the traditional view of science as, dare I say it,conceptually demanding is mistaken. To this end we dust offthe Van de Graaff generator, buy in rats for dissection andprepare the materials necessary to produce bouncingcustard, chemical worms and other such novelties in orderto present science as being a fun, exciting and essentially a‘hands on’ activity. By using some of the most excitingpractical work that we have in our repertoire we are oftensuccessful in portraying science in this way although, I wouldtentatively suggest, what we portray is not science but anunrealistic, and ultimately unsustainable, image of it.

Indeed, as many of us know only too well, it takes only aterm or two for the novelty of being in a science laboratoryto wear off and for the Bunsen burner to lose its allurebefore even the least astute pupil works out that the‘science’ of their Open Day bears little, if any,resemblance to the reality of secondary schoolscience. Indeed, pupils’ perceptions as to theaffective value of practical work changenoticeably after their first year at secondaryschool (Abrahams, 2005). Pupils’ reasons forclaiming to like practical work are presented inTable 1. There are two types of claim: those thatmight be termed ‘absolute’ (such as: it is fun, itis exciting, I just like it) and those indicative of arelative preference (containing comparativeterms such as; better than, less than, more than)in which practical work is seen primarily aspreferable to non-practical teaching techniquesthat they associate, in particular, with morewriting (Hodson, 1990). An asterisk indicates allrelative preferences.

Table 1 Pupils’ reasons for claiming to like practical work(Abrahams, 2005 p 272)

Pupils’ reasons for claiming to Number of pupilslike practical work (N=96) offering

such a response

Because it is less boring than writing * 47

Because it is fun 16

Because you get to make/do things 10

Because it is better than listening to the teacher * 4

Because you will remember it better *3

Because it is better than reading from a textbook* 3

Because you learn more* 3

Because you can see what happens 2

Because it helps you understand better* 2

Because you get to find things out 1

Because it is better than theory* 1

Because it is exciting 1

Because it is more believable* 1

Because you gain an experience 1

Because it is better than work* 1

Of the ninety-six claims, sixty-five (68%) are indicative of a‘relative’ preference for practical work, whilst thirty-one(32%) are ‘absolute’. Whilst the sample is small it isinteresting to note (Table 2) that it was only in the Year 7group that a majority of pupils claimed to like practical workin an ‘absolute’ sense.

An Unrealistic Image of Science Dr. I. Z. Abrahams,

Head of Physics, Queen Ethelburga’s College, Thorpe Underwood Hall, Ouseburn, York YO26 9SS. E-mail [email protected]


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Table 2 A comparison of ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ responsesby Year group (N=96) (Abrahams, 2005 p 274)

Group No. of No. of % of %. of ‘absolute’ ‘relative’ ‘absolute’ ‘relative’responses responses responses responses

Year 7 14 12 54 46

Year 8 8 23 26 74

Year 9 2 7 22 78

Year 10 6 16 27 73

Year 11 1 8 13 87

What this suggests is that having unrealistically raised youngpupils’ expectations about the nature of science theirsubsequent disillusionment and disappointment with thereality of school science (even the most experienced andimaginative teachers amongst us cannot produce fun andexciting practical tasks in every lesson for the five years ofcompulsory science education) is all the more pronounced.Indeed, despite our best efforts, a recent report (House ofCommons Science and Technology Committee, 2002) clearlyshows that the number of pupils pursuing physics andchemistry, in the post compulsory phase of their education,continues to decline – interestingly biology, despitetraditionally containing less practical work than its twosister sciences, has managed to maintain its numbers.

This is not to suggest that we, as science teachers, need togive up trying to motivate pupils towards science but thatwe need to be honest with them. Science is primarily aboutunderstanding the real world – and the real world, outside ofthe school science laboratory, does not contain aninordinately large number of exciting bangs, flashes andpops. If we, as science teachers, try to show pupils that in‘real’ science the excitement comes from understandingnature, rather than in merely producing phenomena, oftenin an unthinking “recipe” style (Clackson and Wright, 1992 p41) manner, then we might in fact succeed in producing ageneration of pupils who actually like science for what itreally is – an intellectually fascinating subject.

References

Abrahams, I.Z. (2005). Between rhetoric and reality: Theuse and effectiveness of practical work in secondary schoolscience. Ph.D. Thesis. York: University of York.

Clackson, S. G. and Wright, D. K. (1992). An appraisal ofpractical work in science education. School Science Review,74 (266), 39-42.

Hodson, D. (1990). A critical look at practical work inschool science. School Science Review, 70 (256), 33-40.

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee2002). Minutes of evidence. http://www.parliament.the-stationeryoffice.co.uk/pa/uk/cm200102/cmselect/cmsctech/50. Accessed May 2005.

As part of Science Week 2006, the British Council

Ireland, in association with the Institute of Physics, are

hosting 'Superstrings'. This event will combine science

and music in a lecture and recital, given by Professor

Brian Foster, Oxford University and Mr Jack Liebeck,

Violinist.

Dates and VenuesTuesday 14th November 7pm 2006 in the RDS Library.

Further information Tel 01 2407255 [email protected]

www.rds.ie

Wednesday 15th November 7pm 2006 in the University of LImerick

Further details and booking:[email protected] Tel 061 202648

These events will be ticketed, booking essential.


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12 o'clock - My day starts at the FermiNational Accelerator Laboratory nearChicago.That's 12 midnight, not noon!

The proton and anti-proton beams of the Tevatron collidercirculate 24 hours a day, smashing together 10 milliontimes a second. Each time they interact, they produce aminiature fireball, recreating conditions that last existedless than one billionth of a second after the Big Bang.

Tonight I'm part of the team operating the 'camera' thatphotographs the explosions. Our 'camera' is a specialiseddetector that took 500 physicists ten years to build. Aboutthe size of a two-storey house, we can take pictures with aprecision of one hundredth of a millimeter, allowing usobtain remarkable images of the decays of subatomicparticles.

There are three of us in thecontrol room tonight. Oneperson co-ordinates ouractivities, another isresponsible for storing thedata, while my job is tomonitor detector conditionsand data quality. In front ofme are eight monitors, eachdisplaying a series of plotswhich so far suggesteverything is proceedingsmoothly.

Suddenly one of the screensflashes red - all is not well.Investigating further Idiscover that the voltages onone sub-detector have goneto zero. I follow the recoveryinstructions, but withoutsuccess. After a briefdiscussion, we agree that tosolve this we need expertintervention. We make aphone-call to the relevantexpert (about 20 people areon-call 24 hours a day tosolve specialist problems)

and at 3:30 am, a rather tired but obliging physicist arrivesand after half an hour succeeds in fixing it.

The rest of the shift is uneventful. I complete my reportand hand over to the next crew that arrive in at 8 am. Timefor me to get some sleep!

At 3 pm I come back to the laboratory for an importantmeeting. In analysing data taken over the last two years,one of the physicists thinks they may have discovered anew particle that suggests that we all live in a super-symmetric world where each everyday particle like theproton and electron has a rare super-world partner. Ifcorrect, this could be a Nobel prize-winning discovery!

Not unsurprisingly, many people are sceptical of the claimso the meeting is quite lively. The proponent of the signalmakes a detailed presentation. Immediately he is

presented with a barrage ofquestions: how well is theenergy resolution known?How were the calibrationsdetermined? Can theprecision quoted bejustified? Like a skilledbarrister in a courtroom hedefends his position, but inour case, the final arbiter willbe truth itself. For everyclaim or counter-claim, thedata itself can beinterrogated for an answer.

The meeting finishes at 6pmwithout a firm conclusion asto the veracity of theproposed signal, but a clearprogramme of work hasbeen defined that will let usdecide the issue usingrigorous scientific criteria.My student volunteers toperform an importantcrosscheck that will settleone of the arguments. Thetruth lies hidden in our data,and the job of the scientist isto liberate these truths.

A day in the life of a Particle PhysicistRonan McNulty

The DELPHI particle detector at CERN where Ronan worked for tenyears. He graduated with a BSc Joint Honours in Experimental andMathematical Physics from University College Dublin, and a Ph.D

from Liverpool University.


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Using IT to enhance the teaching and learningof Chemistry in the classroom

This course is proving extremely popular with teachers and hasbeen extended to all six education regions. Teachers have anopportunity to:• Explore learning strategies with ICT tools such as

ChemSketch, PowerPoint, CD-ROMs, and Internet Applets which will engage the learner

• Explore practical ideas and strategies for communicating chemistry

• Develop experiential teaching skills to enhance the teaching and learning in chemistry classrooms

• Explore and share experiences of best practice with the group• Support networking between chemistry teachers• Undertake to develop PowerPoint presentations for each

section of the syllabus and to share this resource with the participants.

• Carry out a case study on part of your teaching practice and record your findings.

This is a three day modular course and is available nationally atthe following venues.

Venue Dates Closing dateAthlone Education Centre 19-09-06 and 30-01-07 15-09-06

Further days in 2007

Kilkenny Education Centre 26-09-06 and 01-02-07 21-09-06Further days in 2007

Cork Education Support Centre 03-10-06 and 15-02-07 28-09-06Further days in 2007

Kildare Education Centre 10-10-06 and 13-02-07 05-10-06Further days in 2007

Mayo Education Centre 17-10-06 and 27-02-07 12-10-06Further days in 2007

Drumcondra Education Centre 24-10-06 and 01-03-07 08-10-06Further days in 2007

Datalogging Induction in ChemistryA series of one day hands-on workshops on how datalogging canenhance practical work in chemistry have been organised.This is agood opportunity for teachers to make practical use of thedatalogging equipment which in some cases may still be in boxes inthe Lab. You will be taken step by step through the experimentsand shown how to transfer data to your computer for manipulationand print outs. Each experiment needs a minimum of preparationand can be easily completed inside a forty minute period.

News of new products available and the new version of Logger Prowill be demonstrated. These courses are held in school laboratoriesand teachers in the local area will be invited to attend.

Tipperary November 2006

Wicklow November 2006

Meath November 2006

Network Evening MeetingsFollowing on from the success of these evening courses last yearit is hoped to run evening meetings in each of the six EducationRegions.(see Map in Brochure). The aim is to run a Chemsketch/PowerPoint workshop in selected Education Centres. Theseworkshops are organised in partnership with the EducationCentres and with the local branches of the ISTA. Notification ofthe dates will be sent to your school.

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Chemistry Support Autumn 2006

It’s the start of a new year and once again the Leaving Certificate Chemistry Support Service isproviding support for Chemistry teachers at senior cycle during the school year 2006-2007. This support

will take the form of the following:-• Three day modular courses 1. Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers

2. Using ICT in Chemistry Classroom• Chemistry Datalogging Induction Courses • Network meetingsPlease book your place on your chosen course as soon as possible as places are limited.

Induction Course for Teachers of Chemistry

This yearly course provides new teachers the opportunity to • Familiarise themselves with the structure and content of the

new chemistry syllabus and the teacher guidelines. • Explore and investigate best practice in laboratory safety and

management• Explore effective teaching methods for communicating chemistry• Obtain a practical hands-on experience with a large range of

experiments listed in the syllabus• Interact in a forum for teachers to reflect on their own teaching

and share experiences and useful resources• Carry out a case study on part of your teaching practice and

record your findings.

This is a three day modular course and is available nationally atthe following venues.

Venue Dates Closing dateNUI Maynooth 21-09-06 15-09-06

19-12-06Further day in 2007

Cork Education Centre 05-10-06 29-09-0612-12-06Further day in 2007

Athlone I.T. 12-10-06 06-10-0614-12-06Further day in 2007

Application forms for these courses may be found in the “Support Services for Post Primary Education”‚ brochure or on the physics and chemistry pages of the website www.slss.ie

or from Blackrock Education Centre, Phone 01 2365023


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leaving Cert Physics Support Autumn 2006The Second Level Support Service (SLSS) will continue to support the teachers of physics at senior cycle during the school year 2006-2007 through courses organised in association with Education Centres.Physics Support for Senior Cycle • Three day Modular Courses:

• Induction Course for Physics Teachers • Using ICT to enhance the Teaching and Learning of Physics• One Day Physics Datalogging Induction Courses• Physics Networks

Course Title: Induction Course for Physics Teachers

Target Group: Physics teachers new to the profession and teachersof Physics new to the revised Leaving Certificate syllabus.

Aims:• Familiarise with the structure and content of the physics

syllabus, the teacher guidelines and the support starter pack• Explore and investigate best practice in laboratory management• Explore effective teaching methods for communicating physics• Provide practical hands-on experience with ten experiments

listed in the syllabus• Provide a forum for teachers to reflect on their own teaching

and share experiences and useful resources• Undertake some action research in teachers’ own work

situations, reflect on practice and document the outcomes.

Venue Date Closing Date

Cork ESC 29-09-06 and 21-11-06 20-09-06Further day in 2007

Dublin West EC 9-10-06 and 23-11-06 27-09-06Further day in 2007

Galway EC 13-10-06 and 7-12-06 29-09-06Further day in 2007

Course Title: Using ICT to enhance the Teachingand Learning of PhysicsTarget Group: Teachers of Physics at second level.

Aims:• Explore learning strategies with ICT tools such as PowerPoint,

CD-ROMs, Internet Applets and Datalogging to engage the learner• Explore practical ideas and strategies for communicating physics• Develop experiential teaching skills to enhance teaching and

learning in the physics classroom• Explore and share experiences of best practice with the group• Support networking between teachers of physics• Undertake some action research in teachers’ own work situations,

reflect on practice and document the outcomes.

Venue Date Closing DateNavan EC 16-10-06 and 18-01-07

Further days in 2007 29-09-06

Blackrock EC 20-10-06 and 23-01-07Further days in 2007 10-10-06

Waterford Teachers’ Centre 13-11-06 and 01-02-07Further days in 2007 26-10-06

West Cork EC 17-11-06 and 13-02-07Further days in 2007 26-10-06

Laois EC 1-12-06 and 05-03-07Further days in 2007 21-11-06

Mayo EC 5-12-06 and 01-03-07Further days in 2007 24-11-06

Datalogging InductionA series of one day hands-on workshops on how datalogging canenhance practical work in physics have been organised. The coursevenues selected for this term are in the Education Centre Regions 1,2 and 3. It is planned to organise further datalogging workshops inRegions 4, 5 and 6 during second term.

Physics Datalogging Courses in AutumnDay Date Venue Closing Date

Wednesday 11-10-06 Monaghan EC 29-09-06

Friday 10-11-06 Kildare EC 26-10-06

Friday 15-12-06 Co Wexford EC 1-12-06

Physics teachers at the ICT course in Kildare

Registration forms for these courses may be found in the‘Support Services for Post Primary Education’ brochure or on

the physics and chemistry pages of the website www.slss.ie

Physics Support Co-ordinatorTim Regan

[email protected]: 087 231 4090

Fax: 064 71999

Chemistry SupportCo-ordinator

Brendan [email protected] : 087 6375863

Fax: 045 442521

SLSS Postal Address

Blackrock Education CentreKill Avenue

Dun LaoghaireCo Dublin

Monday, 18th September, 2006Tuesday, 19th September, 2006

Course: Science and Mathematics Education Conference

Venue: St Patrick's College Drumcondra, Details available online at www.dcu.ie/smec.

Tuesday, 19th September, 2006Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom.Day 1Venue: Athlone Education Centre

Thursday, 21st September, 2006Course: Induction Course for Teachers of Chemistry Venue: NUI Maynooth

Saturday, 23rd September, 2006 Course: Frontiers of Physics 2006Venue: Dublin Institute of Technology

Tuesday, 26th September, 2006Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 1Venue: Kilkenny Education Centre

Friday, 29th September, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Cork Education Support Centre

Tuesday, 3rd October, 2006Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 1Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

Thursday, 5th October, 2006Course: Induction Course for Teachers of Chemistry Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

Monday, 9th October, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Dublin West Education Centre

Tuesday, 10th October, 2006Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 1Venue: Kildare Education Centre

Wednesday, 11th October, 2006 Course: Physics Datalogging Induction CourseVenue: Region 1 Monaghan Education Centre

Thursday, 12th October, 2006Course: Induction Course for Teachers of ChemistryVenue: Athlone I.T.

Friday, 13th October, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Galway Education Centre

Monday, 16th October, 2006Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 1 Navan Education Centre

Tuesday, 17th October, 2006Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 1Venue: Mayo Education Centre

Friday, 20th October, 2006 Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 2 Blackrock Education Centre

Saturday, 21st October, 2006Course: ChemEd-Ireland 2006 – Twenty-five years

of chemical education in Ireland Venue: UL Limerick

Tuesday, 24th October, 2006Course; Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 1Venue: Drumcondra Education Centre

October 30 – November 3 Midterm

Tuesday, 7th November, 2006Course: Transition Year Science -PhysicsVenue: Galway Education Centre

Thursday, 9th November, 2006Course; Datalogging Induction in ChemistryVenue: Tipperary School

Friday, 10th November, 2006 Course: Physics Datalogging Induction CourseVenue: Region 2 Kildare Education Centre

Sunday, 12th - Sunday, 19th November, 2006 Course: Science Week – Republic of Ireland Venue: Venues throughout the Republic

Monday, 13th November, 2006 Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 3 Waterford Teachers’ Centre

Tuesday, 14th November, 2006Course: Datalogging Induction in ChemistryVenue: Wicklow School

Thursday, 16th November, 2006Course: Datalogging Induction in ChemistryVenue: Meath School

Tuesday, 16th November, 2006Course: Transition Year Science -PhysicsVenue; Cork Education Support Centre

Friday, 17th November, 2006Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 4 West Cork Education Centre

Tuesday, 21st November, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Cork Education Support Centre

Further day in 2007

Thursday, 23rd November, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Dublin West Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Tuesday, 23rd November, 2006Course: Transition Year Science -PhysicsVenue; Navan Education Centre

Friday, 1st December, 2006 Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 5 Laois Education Centre

Tuesday, 5th December, 2006 Course: Using ICT to enhance the Teaching

and Learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 6 Mayo Education Centre

Thursday, 7th December, 2006 Course: Induction Course for Physics TeachersVenue: Galway Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Tuesday, 12th December, 2006Course; Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers

Day 2Venue: University College Cork

Thursday, 14th December, 2006Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers

Day 2 Venue: NUI Maynooth

Friday, 15th December, 2006 Course: Physics Datalogging Induction CourseVenue: Region 3 Co. Wexford Education Centre

Tuesday, 19th December, 2006Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 2Venue: Athlone I.T

December 22, 2006 – January 8, 2007 Christmas Holidays

Thursday January 18, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

of PhysicsVenue: Region 1 Navan Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Tuesday, 23rd January, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

of PhysicsVenue: Region 2 Blackrock Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Tuesday, 30th January, 2007Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 2Venue: Athlone Education Centre

Thursday, 1st February, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

of PhysicsVenue: Region 3 Waterford Teachers’ Centre

Further day in 2007

Thursday, 1st February, 2007Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day2Venue: Kilkenny Education Centre

Tuesday, 13th February, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and

learning of PhysicsVenue: Region 4 West Cork Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Tuesday, 13th February, 2007Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 2Venue: Kildare Education Centre

Tuesday, 15th February 2007Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 2Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

Tuesday, 27th February, 2007Course: Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 2Venue: Mayo Education Centre

Monday March 5, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

of PhysicsVenue: Region 5 Laois Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Thursday 1st March, 2007Course: Using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

of PhysicsVenue: Region 6 Mayo Education Centre

Further day in 2007

Thursday, 1st March, 2007Course; Using IT in the Chemistry classroom. Day 2Venue: Drumcondra Education Centre


Calendar of Events 2006

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