PHYSICS & SOCIETY EDUCATION NEWSLETTER

July 2004

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SESSIONS AT THE SACRAMENTO MEETING

This meeting will have even more physics and society sessions than we've usually had at the summer meetings: 4 workshops, 1 plenary lecture, 2 invited sessions, 2 invited/contributed sessions, 1 contributed session, and 1 crackerbarrel session. Here is a brief summary of these workshops and sessions, listed in the order of their occurrence. If I've forgotten anything, please inform our group about it by sending a message to our listserv.

Try to attend these sessions! We need your ideas and your energy!

• Workshop W15, Saturday July 31, 13:30-17:30

Humanized Physics Activities

Workshop leader: Robert Fuller, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Not exactly societal physics, but "humanized" in the sense that the physics activities are related to the actions of the human body. See http:www.doane.edu/hpp/.

• Workshop W19, Saturday July 31, 13:30-17:30

The Population Game: a Socially Significant Laboratory Activity

Workshop leader: Art Hobson, Univ. of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Teaches population dynamics via a game using dice-like cubes that model random exponential population growth, the effects of longevity, family planning, and other aspects of growth. See The Physics Teacher, April 2003, pp. 227-233.

• Workshop W28, Sunday August 1, 8:00-12:00

Teaching Physics with Purpose: Considering the Social Consequences of Teaching

Workshop leader: Melissa Dancy, Western Carolina University

How does our teaching affect society? Do our methods empower students or do we teach them passivity and conformity? Participants will explore teaching methods that promote individual empowerment and a just society.

• Workshop W17, Sunday August 1, 13:00-17:00

Energy in the 21st Century

Workshop leader: Gregory Mulder, Linn-Benton Comm. College

Engaging students in predictions of future energy consumption, resources and technologies is a successful way to generate enthusiasm for physics. In modeling exercises, participants manipulate future resources and include population, cost, and efficiency considerations.

• Invited session AD, Monday August 2, 8:00-9:00

History of Nuclear Physics

Presider: Betty Preece, Indialantic, FL

1. "Lise Meitner and Marietta Blau." How World War II, gender, exile, and Nobel decisions affected their lives. Presenter: Ruth Lewin Sime, author of "Lise Meitner: a life in physics."

2. "Big Science and Strong Medicine." The legacy of Ernest Lawrence, father of "big science," the cyclotron, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and of his brother John, who established a medical program at the new cyclotron. Presenter: Margaret McMahan, LBNL.

• Invited/contributed session AK, Monday August 2, 8:00-9:15

Pseudophysics

Presider: John White, Livermore, CA

1. "Facing the 'Face' on Mars: Critical Thinking and Debunking Pseudoscience." Debunking Martian silliness. Presenter: Philip Plait, Sonoma State Univ (invited).

2. "The Mind's Eye: A Physicist's Lighthearted Look as ESP." Telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. are demonstrated using audience volunteers; is it real or fraudulent? Presenter: Thomas Zepf, Creighton University (invited).

3. "Physics in Films: The Pseudoscience Flavor." Uses scientific analysis of popular films to debunk pseudoscience. Presenter: Costas Efthimiou, Univ. of Central Florida (contributed).

• Crackerbarrel (discussion session), Monday August 2, 12:30-13:30

Crackerbarrel on Physics and Society Education

Discussion leader: Jane Flood.

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.

• Invited session DF, Tuesday August 3, 13:00-15:00

Physics and Civic Engagement