AAPT News December 2008

AAPT eNNOUNCER: December 2008

New Physics and Astronomy
Faculty Workshop

The Frederick and Florence
Bauder Endowment

AIP Statistical Research

2009 Teaching Fellowships

K-State Physics Lab

Nanoparticles

Teacher Sharing Via WAN

Hispanic Scholars Program

Presidential Awards

Published December 2, 2008

This month we have a couple more new staff members, information on the upcoming Winter Meeting in Chicago, news about the New Physics and Astronomy Faculty Workshop, the Fnet=ma exam, another Physics Day at NSTA and The Physics Front—enriching the high school physics experience.

Happy Holidays!

As we consider the many things for which we are grateful this holiday season we count you, our friends, colleagues, and fellow supporters of physics education near the top of the list. Thank you for all you do to help us succeed in our mission to enhance the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching. Our gift to you, your 2009 AAPT Calendar, is waiting for you at www.aapt.org/Events/upload/calendar09.pdf.
We wish you a joyous and prosperous new year.

Deliverability of this publication will depend on your email address being current. If you have recently changed providers, jobs, or schools, please update your profile online at www.aapt.org as soon as possible. Adding ennouncer@aapt.org to your address book will also help ensure that your copy is delivered to your mailbox.

Thanks for your readership and your support of AAPT.

New AAPT Staff Members

Chad_Phillips AAPT National Office welcomes Chad Phillips as the web designer. Chad comes to us from the U.S. Naval Academy where he worked as a developer/designer. He has also worked as a freelance web developer. He was drawn to AAPT by the idea of working to help a nonprofit organization fulfill “a fantastic mission.” When he saw the position offering he knew it was a perfect fit with his career goals.

Chad has a Bachelor’s in Information Systems from UMBC and is pursuing his Master’s at the same university in the same field. He plans to complete his degree in the spring! Chad and his fiancée, Stephanie, are looking forward to a summer wedding in 2010. He lives in Annapolis and considers Maryland his “home” with Ohio as a runner up. His father was in the Navy and the family traveled wherever his father was stationed. He has lived in FL, VA, OH, and a little island in the Persian Gulf called Bahrain for two years. In his time out he prefers to “sit on the beach, doing something entirely nerdy (games, reading, etc), listening to anything “classic rock” (Beatles, AC/DC, Stones, CCR). He also really enjoys traveling and seeing new places.

Krystal_Board AAPT National Office welcomes Krystal Board as the accounting clerk. Krystal comes to us from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission where she was an intern in the Office of Financial Management. She has also worked at the Library of Congress while attending high school.

After high school in 2004 she enrolled in the Art Institute of Washington for culinary arts; her dream was to start her own catering company. Two years later she realized this wasn’t the path she wanted to take as a career. In 2006 she enrolled at Stratford University where she is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in finance/accounting. Krystal plans to complete her degree by winter 2009 then pursue her Master’s degree in the same field with a CPA.

Krystal was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and currently lives in Fort Washington, Maryland. In her spare time she likes to bowl, watch scary movies, travel, and cook coming up with new recipes.

2009 AAPT Winter Meeting in conjunction with the AAAS Annual Meeting

TheBean_WM09logo The 2009 AAPT Winter Meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the AAAS Annual Meeting, presents a unique opportunity to take part in a variety of events that are based on physics education and the principles that AAPT represents. Enjoy a variety of sessions and activities including internationally known physics speakers, committee meetings, awards, workshops on various facets of physics teaching, presentations, poster sessions, and most of all, over 1,000 physics teachers. AAPT also hosts a broad range of physics equipment suppliers, resources, and booksellers in our large exhibit hall. AAPT’s meeting gives you a chance to exchange ideas, network with colleagues, and gain professional development. We hope that you will join us in Chicago for the 2009 Winter Meeting. Online Registration is now available at www.aapt.org/Events/WM2009/index.cfm.

The 2009 Symposium on Physics Education
“Early High School Physics: Building a Foundation for Understanding the Sciences” will be the theme for the 2009 Symposium on Physics Education. The symposium will be conducted by a distinguished panel and moderated by Nobel Laureate, Leon Lederman.

Considered by many to be the most concrete of the sciences, physics is the basis for understanding the more abstract concepts introduced in chemistry and biology. At an earlier time when biology primarily concentrated on classification and chemistry focused on applications rather than the atomic structure of matter, it made more sense to follow a biology/chemistry/physics sequence. Putting physics first gives students a basis for understanding the theoretical nature of more advanced science concepts.

This movement to reverse the traditional B-C-P science sequence first took hold over twenty years ago in response to the recommendations of A Nation at Risk. Interest in Physics First has recently accelerated due to the strong advocacy by Leon Lederman. Now over 1200 schools have adopted some version of the Physics First idea as a result of successful national and statewide awareness and implementation efforts.

The 2009 Symposium is scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 15th during the Winter Meeting. For more information visit http://www.aapt.org/Events/symposium.cfm.

Abstract submissions are now being accepted via http://www.aapt.org/events/abstractform.cfm. The deadline is December 31.

The AAPT Winter Meeting Job Fair is scheduled for February 13-14, 2009.
http://www.aapt.org/Events/JobFair/index.cfm

Awards
George F. Smoot III will be accepting the Oersted Medal and Vera Rubin the Richtmyer Award. Smoot shares the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Mather and Vera Rubin received the National Medal of Science in 1993.

Connecting
For the Winter ’09 meeting, AAPT is, for the first time, offering conference attendees a social networking tool that connects attendees to each other. Using SquareHive http://www.squarehive.com, an internet-based tool, you will be able to see who is already registered for the Winter ’09 meeting and interact with your colleagues before and during the conference. Watch for more details as AAPT develops this capability for your benefit.

Sponsorship and Exhibitor Information—Look to the web soon for updates.

Save the Dates:

Summer 2009, July 25-29 (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI)
Winter 2010 w/APS, Feb 11-18 (Washington, DC)
Summer 2010, July 17-21 (Portland, OR)
Winter 2011, January 8-12 (Jacksonville, FL)

AAPT News December 2008

This month we have a couple more new staff members, information on the upcoming Winter Meeting in Chicago, news about the New Physics and Astronomy Faculty Workshop, the Fnet=ma exam, another Physics Day at NSTA and The Physics Front—enriching the high school physics experience.

New AAPT Staff Members

The Frederick and Florence Bauder Endowment for the Support of Physics Teaching

Barbara Lotze Scholarships for Future Teachers

AAPT Venture Fund

Physics Day at NSTA

The Physics Front

AAPT Section News