TSAAPT
Texas Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers
April 2004

Spring Meeting - April 1-3, 2004

Meeting Program: [Link]
City and Campus Maps: [Link]
Workshop Abstracts: [Link]
Workshop Registration: [Link]
Meeting Home Page: [Link].

On April 1st-3rd, 2004, Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, will host the Spring 2004 Joint Meeting of the Texas Sections of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the American Physical Society (APS), and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students (SPS).


Continuing Professional Education

"New teachers or recent teachers need Continuing Professional Education (CPE). We are a providing organization for CPE. We need to let teachers know that they can attend [the Spring meeting] and get CPE credit for our conference. I looked up our status with State Board and our number is 500473 for providing CPE." -- Antonio Elizondo, TSAAPT Immediate Past President

We will try to provide certificates of attendance for those teachers that are interested. Please contact Antonio, me or another TSAAPT Officer at the meeting for this certificate.

"The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) is required by the Texas Education Code to specify the period of validity for an educator certificate, determine requirements for the renewal of an educator certificate, and identify courses and programs that fulfill educators' CPE requirements." -- http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/certinfo/regprov.asp


TSAAPT Nominations Needed

Nominations for TSAAPT 4-year member at large and vice president can now be sent to Dr. David Donnelly (donnelly@swt.edu).


Contributor's Links

Who's Hiring Physics Bachelors?
http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/emptrends.htm

Scheduled Urban PTRA sessions for Spring 04
http://www.tsaapt.org/2004Spring/Scheduled%20Urban%20PTRA%20sessions%20for%20Spring%2004.doc

AIP Career Services
http://www.aip.org/careersvc/

Little known Texas facts
http://www.texascoffeetraders.com/austin_calendar.htm

Two simultaneous 'naked-eye' comets expected
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/27comets/

NASA's Cassini spacecraft returns a new postcard as it approaches the ringed planet.
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1192_1.asp

This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/BlueMarble_Closeup.html

Mars Rover Status
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Physics Question of the Week
http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/outreach/QOTW/active/questions.htm

Physical Science Resource Center (PSRC)
http://psrc.aapt.org

AAPT Teaching Resources
http://www.aapt.org/Resources/

What's new at APS?
http://www.aps.org/WN/


What is AAPT?

The American Association of Physics Teachers was established in 1930 with the fundamental goal of ensuring the "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." In addition to helping you learn more about traditional teaching methods, we can help you learn new teaching methods and use modern technology to entice your students with the wonders of science. AAPT Home Page: http://www.aapt.org/

Established in 1954, the objectives of the Texas Section of AAPT "shall be the advancement of the teaching of physics and the furtherance of appreciation of the role of physics in our culture. These objectives shall be carried out exclusively for education and scientific purposes." TSAAPT Home Page: http://www.tsaapt.org/

Most of the members of TSAAPT are physics and physical science teachers at high schools, colleges, and universities. These newsletters will be used to share information and web links that can be helpful in the classroom for the challenging job of teaching physics.


Organization Links

   *  TSAAPT: http://www.tsaapt.org/
   *  AAPT: http://www.aapt.org/
   *  TSAPS: http://www.aps.org/units/tsaps/index.html
   *  APS: http://www.aps.org/
   *  SPS: http://www.aip.org/education/sps/index.html


If you know anyone at a high school, college, or university that would like to be in contact with other physics teachers, please forward this newsletter to them. Anyone can subscribe to this newsletter by going to http://www.tsaapt.org/ and clicking on "Subscribe".

Feel free to send any interesting links that you find. This email message is sent to Texas physics teachers, students, and friends of TSAAPT. If you would like to be removed from the emailing list or are getting multiple copies of these newsletters, then feel free to reply to this message with your request.

Clear skies,
Dan Bruton
astro@sfasu.edu