Spring 2025 SCAAPT Meeting


1	SCAAPT Spring Meeting
2	Saturday, May 17, 2025
3	Pierce College, Room 91120
4	Parking in Parking Lot 7 ("Victory Parking Lot"). Enter from Victory at Mason.
5	Please RSVP for the Meeting
6
7	Order of Magnitude Question: How many milliliters of ballpoint pen ink are used in a typical 24-hour weekday in the United States?
8
9	Schedule
12	9:30	Workshop: Experiments in Modern Physics
13			As this is the "International Year of Quantum Science and Technology" SCAAPT is offering a morning workshop on Demonstrations and Labs on these topics. Participants will be trained to use and receive equipment related to the photoelectric effect, quantum tunneling, and wave-particle duality. Lab equipment is limited to the first 20 RSVP'd participants.
14	10:15	Welcome
15	10:20
16			Physics Club at Pierce College
17
18	10:35	Preparing teachers to pass the Physics CSET Exam
19			Norman Herr, CSU Northridge
20
21	10:45	Transforming Physics Learning: Problem Posing and Conceptual Change
22			Camillo Eugene Allevato, Los Angeles Pierce College
23			This presentation explores problem posing as a tool for conceptual change in physics education. By encouraging students to confront their preconceptions, this approach fosters deeper learning experiences through the process of constructing their questions and critically reflecting on their reasoning. The session will highlight research findings, instructional strategies, and practical applications that leverage problem posing to help learners move beyond misconceptions and achieve a deep understanding of physics concepts.
24	11:15	Physicists Wanted: Test Engineering as a career path for post-BS or post-PhD in Physics
25			Phil Lawson, VAST
26
27	11:45	SCAAPT Business Meeting, followed by Lunch
28	1:00	Show & Tell
29	1:30	Photons & Photoelectric Effects: LED-based student experiences
30			Eric Schiff, Syracuse University
31			Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used to create an inexpensive lab experience that illustrates important features of the photoelectric effect. In this implementation, six fixed pairs of LEDs of three colors are used: red-red, red-green, red-blue, green-green, green-blue, blue-blue. Only the blue diode will create photocurrents in all three colors of LED, and red only makes currents in the red LED. The experience supports student understanding of the photoelectric effect needed for AP Physics 2 and introduces an important technology.
32	1:45	Scientific Thinking Skills in Action
33			Peanut McCoy, Azusa Pacific University
34			(co-authors Daniel Hogue and Ryan Carroll) We recently redesigned the labs in our introductory calculus-based sequence to focus on teaching scientific thinking skills. In each lab project, students are given a research question and then they work with a group to design and execute an experiment. We also provide scaffolded instruction in scientific thinking skills as prelabs. In this talk, I will present analysis of real-time scientific thinking for one group as they work through a lab project. We find that even for a low-performing group, scientific thinking frequently occurs.
35	2:00	NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA: Twelve Years of Discoveries from the Stratosphere
36			Dana Backman, SETI Institute
37
38	3:00	Pasco Modular Circuits: The Good, the Bad, and the Modifications
39			Alan DeWeerd, University of Redlands
40			I describe what I like and dislike about Pasco's Modular Circuits, as well as the modifications done to make them work well for my laboratories.
41	3:15	Let's Look at Lenz' Law
42			Larry Stein, University of La Verne
43			Beside the standard magnet-through-a-copper-tube, we show some more Lenz' Law demos, and discuss some other consequences and applications of it.
44	3:30	Working for Veritasium
45			James Lincoln, Edison High School
46			A few years ago, I was recruited by Derek Muller, of youtube’s top science channel Veritasium, to contribute script content and demonstration equipment to the video "Risking my life to Settle a Physics Debate." In this video, Derek drives a car that is powered by the wind – yet – travels faster than the wind. The physics seems so impossible that many of us were asked to help explain how it is all possible. In this talk, I provide a backstage pass to see how these videos are made, explain my role in the project, and which explanations were written by me. I also demonstrate my prototype toy version of the “Black Bird” vehicle, built with found materials, that can be replicated in any high school or middle school classroom.
47	3:45	Closing, Raffles, and Order of Magnitude
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59