Physics Subject Specialism Training 2016/17 Overall aims Address gaps in subject knowledge and adoption of new teaching approaches. Increase confidence to extend the most able students. Introduce new ideas for student practical activities and class demonstrations Introduce and optimise required practical activities for GCSE Develop use of scientific models, identify and challenge misconceptions. Review what is required for GCSE exams and enhance teaching of exam technique. Review maths requirements and the teaching of maths skills within Physics Two sets of 5 face to face days are offered and whilst it is anticipated these will run over two years some may wish to attend only the Key Stage 4 course or take both concurrently. Each session will be a balanced mixture of theory, demonstrations and practical investigations and will include discussion of how to enliven our teaching, how best to teach the maths involved and frequently refer to what is required in the GCSE exam. Tasks will be set between these sessions to practise skills, initiate further discussion, to reflect on and enhance current practice and address the wider requirement to teach scientific thinking and working scientifically. Webinars will be used to offer extra support and cover such topics as maths skills, astronomy and exam technique. Our physics TSST course carries IOP community accreditation for 2016/17 Tutor: Simon Fitzjohn Ex-Head of Science with over 30 years experience at teaching Physics, Electronics and Computing up to A-Level. Now enjoys working on subject specialism training such as these, being a tutor on the Troops to Teachers programme, A level Physics examining and even some overseas consultancy. Interested to develop new apparatus and accepts that it often falls to Physics teachers to be the first to embrace new technology and exploit technological advances. A RaspberryPi, Python programming enthusiast who is also looking forward to help kids do real science with their BBC micro:bits. He remains convinced that most of us learn best from hands-on experience, We often ask our students to imagine things that can t been seen so it s incumbent on us to get the very most from the experiences we do create in the laboratory.
Key Stage 3+ These sessions will develop the Key Stage 3 topics which underpin work at GCSE and will include optimising 3 of the core practicals as described in the subject specifications for first examination in 2018 Day 1 Content Matter States of Matter Physical properties Particle model Changes of state Pressure caused by gases Outcomes Use of atomic models Measurement of density (Core practical, part CP1) Demonstration of phenomena associated with changes of state Qualitative investigation of melting ice (Core practical, part CP1 ) Appreciation of how pressure is caused by gases Use of water manometers Application of simple Gas Laws (ie P 1 V 1 =P 2 V 2 ) Day 2 Day 3 Static Forces Non-contact forces (Electrostatic, Magnetic and Gravitational forces) Contact forces Forces and Motion Measuring speed Force and acceleration Measuring acceleration Newton s Laws Appreciation nature of paired exchange of push/pull forces Magnetic fields and forces between magnets Force on a current carrying conductor Simple operation of DC motor Meaning of weight Equilibrium turning forces, moments Pressure in fluids Some fun ways to demonstrate and measure pressure. Upthrust and flotation Deformation stretching springs (Core practical, part CP2) Comparison with stretching of a rubber band. Understanding of proportionality Familiarity with methods used to measure speed (rule/stop watch, light gates, ultra sound sensors, time lapse photography) Appreciation of: vector and scalar quantities key features of velocity time graphs meaning of terminal velocity determination of distance travelled. Skills needed for core practical on motion (part CP3)
Day 4 Day 5 Energy Energy stores Energy transfers and machines, efficiency. Heating and thermal equilibrium Waves Wavelength, frequency, period, wave speed, amplitude. Longitudinal and transverse waves. Reflection and superposition to form standing waves, musical instruments. Light: reflection, refraction, refractive index and effects of refraction. Total internal reflection. Lenses, focal length and forming real and virtual images, cameras and telescopes. Measurement, units, costs Development of new approaches to teaching energy Application to wide variety of energy transfers Measuring performance of simple machines, efficiency. Investigation of the effect of various surfaces which effect heat loss (Core practical, possible part CP5) Investigation of energy stored in springs (Core practical, part CP2 and CP5) Getting more from slinkies to teach the basics of waves. Understand and being able to explain reflection, refraction and diffraction (and why the sky is blue!). Measuring wave speed (Core practical, part CP8) Appreciate the conditions needed for standing waves and how this explains musical instruments. Be confident to use ray boxes to investigate reflection and refraction, measure the refractive index of a medium and go onto explain total internal reflection and the behaviour of fibre optic cables. Perform investigations with convex lenses and use ray diagrams to explain formation of real and virtual images. Observation of total internal reflection and discussion of importance and uses of fibre optic cables.
Key Stage 4 These sessions will essentially develop topics to higher tier GCSE level, include the associated maths skills and cover many of the required core practicals. Computerised capture and analysis of data will be included along with exploiting recent technological innovations. Content Outcomes Day 1 Electricity Electrical quantities: potential difference, voltage, current, charge, resistance, power. Units Series and parallel circuits I-V Characteristics of electrical components. Review of models used for the simple circuit Ohm s Law and firm grasp of what is meant by proportionality. Use of ammeters and voltmeters in series and parallel circuits (Core practical, CP7) Understanding of meaning of potential difference and current. Clear grasp of difference between power and energy. Electrical characteristics of resistors, thermistors, LDRs and diodes (Core Practical CP6) Review of how above devices can be used as sensors in real applications. (And as sensors with BBC micro:bit) Day 2 Thermal Energy Electrical conduction, effect of temperature on conduction understanding meaning of temperature and heat Specific Heat Capacity Latent heat Thermal conduction and insulation Better understanding of the atomic model for electrical conduction and the effect of temperature Appreciation of electron drift velocity. Absolute zero, Kelvin and Celsius temperature scales Improved confidence to extract information from graphs Understanding Specific Heat Capacity and what this tells us about meaning of internal energy. Finding SHC for metals and water (Core practical, CP5) Measuring latent heat involved in changes of state Review of tougher GCSE exam questions and exam specs.
Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Force, Mass and Acceleration Mass and weight, friction Work done and Gravitational Potential Energy gained Newton s Laws of motion, velocity and acceleration, momentum, conservation of momentum in collisions Kinetic Energy. Electromagnetism and AC Waveforms Electromagnetic induction and transformers. Force on a conductor (DC electric motors and rules to predict direction of forces) AC waveforms The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Nuclear Physics Electromagnetic spectrum, Black body radiation, Light waves or particles? Nuclear model(s) Radioactivity Nuclear fission and fusion Avoidance of common misconceptions with Newton s Laws and circular motion Measuring speed and acceleration with varying force (Core practical CP3) Investigation of collisions forces involved and conservation of momentum. Electronic capture and graphical representation of data. Application of laws of conservation of momentum and energy. Using BBC micro:bit to measure deceleration forces during collisions investigating crumple zones. Investigate and understand operation of a transformer and its role in electrical power distribution. Revise force on a conductor and electromagnetic induction. Understand operation of microphones and loudspeakers. Use of laptop based oscilloscopes to display AC waveforms, measure amplitude and period, determine frequency Measure speed of sound in air and metals (Core practical, part CP4) Enlivened teaching on the electromagnetic spectrum Understanding significance of black body radiation and nature of green house effect Using lasers to demonstrate light as a wave AND as a particle (photon) Nuclear model, size. Atomic (proton) and mass (nucleon) numbers Effects on electrons by absorption or e-m radiation (photons) Ionisation Radioactivity and background radiation Mass defect and understanding of processes involved in nuclear fission and fusion. Using and producing models to enhance teaching of above. CP1-8 from DfE s Biology, chemistry and physics GCSE subject content, June 2015, Appendix 4