June 2002
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SESSIONS AT THE BOISE MEETING
There will be lots of physics and society activity at this meeting. Due partly to the existence of our P&S Education interest group, and due partly to the fact that the meeting is in Boise near some important energy facilities, AAPT decided to make "Energy" the central theme of this meeting (see the cover page of the Summer 2002 Announcer). In addition to our usual "Physics and Society Education" invited/contributed session (the 8th annual such session) and our crackerbarrel session, there will be several sessions on energy, sponsored by various AAPT committees, and a Plenary Session featuring Al Bartlett. Here is a brief summary of all of these sessions and events, listed in the order of their occurrence:
* Monday 08:30-10:00, Physics and Society Education
Invited talks: Idaho's water at risk; The aquifer and the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Lab. Contributed talks: Energy flow diagrams for physics teaching; Nuclear winter, nuclear summer or nuclear freeze, nuclear drought.
* Monday 10:30-12:15, 21st Century Energy
Invited talks: Description of a direct-use geothermal heating district; Energy for the 21st century--the role of a physics teacher. Contributed talks: Utility screening curves--changes and their implications; Energy 2100--a class project; Electrical energy use--home activities for pre-college and college.
* Monday 10:30-12:00, Best Energy Bites I
[Unfortunately, this and the preceding session conflict. We tried to avoid such conflicts, but apparently it couldn't be helped.]
Contributed talks: Why I consider nuclear power superior to coal and other available alternatives; Middle school science and public understanding of nuclear energy; Lab experiments with solar energy devices; Sugar or TNT--which releases more energy; Active Physics chapters on energy; Physics for a coal chemist.
* Monday 15;30-17:00, Crackerbarrel on Physics & Society Education
JOIN US to discuss how our group can be more effective in promoting the teaching of physics related societal topics such as energy, environment, arms control, and pseudoscience. What can or should physics teachers be doing in relation to such topics? We also need to discuss some organizational issues, such as how to best set up invited or contributed sessions and keeping our lines of communication clear. Jane Flood will be our discussion leader.
* Tuesday 08:00-10:00, Best Energy Bites II
Contributed talks: An energy-modeling approach to college physics for bioscience majors; Disappearing energy and energy bingo; Earth-orbiting satellites--how much energy; Searching for energy models; Introducing energy with learning cycles; use and misuse of the work-energy theorem; clarifying energy concepts in thermal physics; introducing renewable energy photovoltaics into a thermal physics course and into an advanced lab.
* Tuesday 10:00-13:30 & 15:00-17:00, Poster Session II
"Topic 1" is titled "Energy." Under this topic, the following 7 posters will be grouped together: How much oil; Teaching about energy in homes using the Earthship example; Energy and the confused student I--work; Energy and the confused student II--language; Energy and the confused student III--systems; energy and the confused student IV--disconnected energy equations; teaching energy-related concepts conceptually.
* Tuesday 10:30-12:15, Global and National Energy Policy
Invited talks: The Yucca Mountain project; The global energy budget--a student exercise in modeling; Now, can anybody here count. Contributed talks: The fundamentals of sustainability; Surprising facts about the current population of Earth. [The 3rd invited talk and the 2 contributed talks focus on exponential growth and overpopulation.]
* Wednesday 10:30-11:30, Plenary Session III: Albert A. Bartlett
"Arithmetic, Population, and Energy." This talk examines the consequences of steady growth on populations and energy resources. In so doing, it becomes clear that there are limits.
* Wednesday 14:30-16:30, More Energy Bites
Contributed talks: Where do they shave the mass when energy is released; Teaching physics formulas must include motion and various field elements; Quantum gravity--a dilemma of energy in GR and QM; Disproof of the principle of local conservation of energy in a continuous medium; Energy from an underutilized sourse; Calculating the escape velocities using the principle of energy conservation; Force and potential energy in a space with n dimensions; The mechanical twisting cat-energy explanation.
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