TSAAPT
Texas Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers A newsletter for physics teachers at high schools, colleges, and universities in Texas
July 2004

Upcoming Meetings

AAPT 129th National Meeting, Sacramento, CA, July 31-Aug. 4, 2004
http://www.aapt.org/Events/129th/index.cfm

October 7-9, 2004: Baylor University in Waco, Texas, will host the Fall 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).
http://www.baylor.edu/tsaps/

October 10-15, 2004: International Accelerator Conference (CAARI2004) in Fort Worth
http://orgs.unt.edu/CAARI/.

High School Enrollments in Physics - by Daniel Marble, Vice President of TSAAPT

I found the following enrollments numbers (see below) in an article in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram for Mar 15, 2004. The percent of students in each course comes out to be Bio = 23.2%, IPC = 17.1%, Chem = 14.7%, Phys = 6.2%, Earth = 0.5%, Tech = 0.3%, and AP-Env = 0.1% Multiplying by 4 years gives about 1/4 of Texas students taking physics of some type during high school. This appears to be below the national average.

Current Enrollments

There are 1,142,355 high school students in Texas. Here are the number of students taking core science classes, including applied science and International Baccalaureate courses, and earth-science electives:

  • Biology: 265,768 (core)
  • Integrated Physics/Chemistry: 195,663 (core)
  • Chemistry: 167,962 (core)
  • Physics: 70,471 (core)
  • Geology/Meteorology/Oceanography: 5,507 (elective)
  • Principles of Technology I: 2,880 (core)
  • Advanced Placement Environmental Science: 1,270 (elective)

    High School Physics Report - Representative: Karen Jo Matsler

    SBOE
    These are the dates and location for the July State Board of Education (SBOE) Meeting:

    July 15 9:00-5:00
    July 16 9:00-3:00
    Location: TEA (1701 N. Congress; Austin, TX 78701) in the Board Room
    Proposal for the 4 Years of Science [DOC]

    STAT
    The Board of Directors of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT), a statewide organization that represents more than 5,500 science educators from kindergarten through college, recommends that the following qualifications be considered in identifying Highly Qualified Science Teachers: STATDraftScienceTeacher.doc

    We need your input on these documents. Please send your comments to your High School Representative in TSAAPT, Karen Jo Matsler.

    TEA Correspondence Web Page
    http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa

    The State Board for Educator Certification has approved test frameworks for the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES).
    http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/standtest/testfram.asp

    Two-year College Representative Report - Representative: Jerry O'Connor

    The AAPT Committee on Physics in Two-Year Colleges page includes reports and other available resources such as the "Annual Committee Report and Review Board Comments", and "Guidelines for Two-Year College Physics Programs"
    http://www.aapt.org/Directory/tyc.cfm

    Homepage: http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/aapt/TYC

    SPIN-UP/TYC - Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics at Two-Year Colleges
    Find out about exemplary physics programs at two-year colleges:
    http://www.aapt.org/Projects/spinup-tyc.cfm

    Jerry O'Connor
    joconnor@accd.edu.

    Four-year College Representative Report - Representative: Mike Sadler

    A goal I had when I started my tenure as four-year college representative was to initiate a cooperative program in which upper division physics course offerings could be made available via distance learning within the state. Using ACU as an example, we typically have insufficient enrollment in these courses to warrant offering them every year. This situation is usually not a problem for students who enroll continuously on campus and do not need to retake a course. Circumstances sometimes arise, such as a student participating in our growing campus abroad program or sitting out a semester, in which a course needed for graduation is missed.

    When I brought this topic up at my first executive meeting of TSAAPT I learned that the Texas A&M branch college system already has such a system in place. I had hoped to obtain permission to tap into it last semester but the one upper division course that I taught (Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics) was not offered. I understand that the system works very well and solves the very problem that I have experienced.

    Advantages of such cooperation that I can list are:

    1) More frequent offering of courses needed by students for graduation,
    2) Fewer courses taught outside the areas of expertise of the limited faculty at smaller institutions.
    3) Enhanced interaction between faculty and students of the physics departments involved.

    There are some obvious disadvantages/difficulties, such as the coordination of schedules, procuring the apparatus for a distance-learning environment, and adjusting to a new mode of operation. I am interested in other input, particularly from anyone who has experience in a distance-learning situation (I do not).

    My successor is Dr. Toni Sauncy from Angelo State University. I have enjoyed serving in this capacity for the past three years.

    Michael Sadler
    sadler@physics.acu.edu

    Texas Section Representative Report - Representative: David W. Donnelly

    AAPT 129th National Meeting, Sacramento, CA, July 31-Aug. 4, 2004
    http://www.aapt.org/Events/129th/index.cfm

    2005 "World Year of Physics"
    http://www.physics2005.org/

    Definitions - by Dan Bruton

    As organizer of these newsletters I often get lost in the lingo. Here's a collection of acronyms to help those like me.

    AAPT - American Association of Physics Teachers
    TSAAPT - Texas Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers
    APS - American Physical Society
    TSAPS - Texas Section of the American Physical Society
    SPS - Society of Physics Students (Zone 13)
    SPS - Society of Physics Students
    AIP - American Institute of Physics
    NSHP - National Society of Hispanic Physicists
    STAT - Science Teachers Association of Texas
    CAST - Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching
    TEA - Texas Education Agency
    SBOE - State Board of Education
    TBEC - Texas Business and Education Coalition
    TASB - Texas Association of School Boards
    TheCB - Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
    GRE - Graduate Record Examination
    SAT - Scholastic Aptitude Test (formerly)
    ACT - American College Test (See link for national average)

    Example 1: The TAKS Tests and Answer Keys were recently released.
    http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/release/taks/index.html

    Example 2: "The statewide assessment program includes the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), the State Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA), the Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE), and the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS)."

    SpaceShipOne Makes History

    With pilot Mike Melvill at the controls, SpaceShipOne's fourth powered flight on June 21, 2004, sliced through the sky high over Mojave, California desert. It was the first commercial astronaut flight by exceeding 328,000 feet (100 kilometers) -- to the edge of space. The flight marked the first time an aerospace program had successfully completed a piloted mission without government sponsorship. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sso_rutan_archive.html

    Tucked underneath its carrier aircraft, the privately-built SpaceShipOne departed from an airstrip at about 9:47 a.m. ET.
    http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/info.htm

    What is the X PRIZE?
    The ANSARI X PRIZE is a $10,000,000 prize to jumpstart the space tourism industry through competition between the most talented entrepreneurs and rocket experts in the world. The $10 Million cash prize will be awarded to the first team that:

    • Privately finances, builds & launches a spaceship able to carry three people to 100 kilometers (62.5 miles)
    • Returns safely to Earth
    • Repeats the launch with the same ship within 2 weeks

    http://www.xprize.org/press/what.html

    Contributors' Links

    Dog on Skate Board (Movie) - You gotta see this!
    http://observe.phy.sfasu.edu/courses/ast105/lectures105/99-Interesting/Skate%20Board%20Dog.WMV

    Titan's Surface Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft
    http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/04jul_titanrevealed.htm?list1065276

    Cassini Spacecraft Recent Images
    http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/latest/index.cfm

    BLUE MOON IN JULY
    According to "old folklore," the second full Moon in a calendar month is called a "blue Moon." Not so. While the term has been around a long time, its calendrical meaning has become widespread only recently -- all because of a mistake in a 1946 issue of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine.
    http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/07jul_bluemoon.htm?list1065276
    http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_127_1.asp

    August 12th Perseid Meteor Shower
    http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/25jun_perseids2004.htm?list1065276

    NASA chief announces plan to transform agency
    http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/24/nasa.recs.cnn/index.html

    "The Dark Side of the Universe" - Watch this Online!
    http://www.pbs.org/saf/1405/video/watchonline.htm

    Whatever happened to ... Virtual Reality?
    http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/21jun_vr.htm?list942833

    Orbiting astronaut calls in to wife's delivery
    http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/18/space.station.birth.ap/index.html

    Human Space Flight Gallery - See STS107 for Columbia Images
    http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/index.html

    Urban Legends (False)
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/shark.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/bigcat.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/iceberg.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/shuttle2.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/blackout.asp

    Not Urban Legends
    http://koti.mbnet.fi/~soldier/towboat.htm
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/carwash.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/deerfire.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/landing.asp
    http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bigcat2.asp

    Digital Photo of the Day
    http://www.steves-digicams.com/daily_dpotd.html

    Astronomy Picture of the Day
    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

    Awesome Image
    http://www.fredmiranda.com/hosting/showphoto.php?photo=10734&papass=&sort=1&thecat=

    Mars rovers on 'brand new mission'
    http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/03/mars.rover.trucking/index.html

    Pictures of Venus Crossing the Sun in June
    http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/venus_transit_040608.html
    http://www.astroclark.freeserve.co.uk/transit.venus/
    http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1276_1.asp

    It's time for another Windows Update
    http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

    Federal Business Opportunity
    http://www.eps.gov/

    Astronomy Picture of the Day
    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

    Will concrete barriers in front of secure buildings stop traffic? - Movie
    http://www.cox-internet.com/ast305/index.html

    OPPORTUNITY REACHES ENDURANCE CRATER - Mars News
    http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1253_1.asp
    http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040526a.html - Color Picture

    GOOD ENGINEERING
    A high-tech parachute unfurled from a special gap in the fuselage of small plane hurtling to the ground this week, carrying the aircraft down safely and saving the lives of four Alberta residents. The plane, a Cirrus aircraft, started spiraling out of control after taking off from a refueling stop in Kelowna Thursday night.
    http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0211/22parachute/

    If all of the recent vulnerabilities in IE have you afraid, you can try the Mozilla Firefox.
    http://mozilla.org/products/firefox/

    Lady Liberty Fireworks
    http://www.njagyouth.org/Liberty_.htm

    The Homepage For Texas School Officials
    http://www.texasisd.com/

    AAPT Listservs
    http://www.aapt.org/Membership/listservs.cfm

    2005 "World Year of Physics"
    http://www.physics2005.org/

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

    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/

    So this neutron walks into a bar, orders a pint of lager and begins to open his wallet when the barman says, "For you, no charge!". http://physicsweb.org/article/world/16/9/2#pwpov1_09-03

    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".

    Thanks to the TSAAPT officers and others for the links and information above. 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