April 25, 2008: Six Flags Math, Science, and Physics Day
Full details, curriculum materials, order forms and more . . .April 26, 2008: SIUE/SLAPT Physics Contest and Fuel Cell Car Workshop
When: Saturday, April 26
Where: Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.
Host: Tom Foster
Student Contest & Teacher Workshop: Fuel Cell Cars in the Classroom presented by Phil Weyman
May 10, 2008: Spring Picnic, Weldon Spring Tour, and Planning Meeting for 08-09
When: Saturday, May 10th, 9am to 1pm
Where: Weldon Spring Site, 7295 Highway 94 South, St. Charles, MO 63304
What: Come and help us plan the workshops and activities for the upcoming 2008- 2009 school year. A picnic lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Jim Cibulka- We originally intended to have our Spring planning meeting at Boeing this year, however they cannot offer us a factory tour or a Saturday date. Since we had such a good experience at Weldon Spring last year, this year's meeting is scheduled there again. We (SLAPT) have the conference room at the Weldon Springs Site reserved for Saturday, May 10th, 2008 from 9:00a until 1:00p.
Bring: $5 to chip in for lunch and your ideas on how you can contribute to SLAPT next year. Think about what you can contribute to SLAPT. Would you be willing to take on a leadership role? Would you be willing to present a workshop? Could you help with paper mailings to area schools? Are you willing to mentor new or crossover teachers? What should SLAPT be doing to keep it a strong force for physics education in St. Louis? What do you want the future relationship between SLAPT and AAPT to look like? Think about what resources and support SLAPT could provide for you that would benefit you and your students. Even if you can't attend the meeting, send your ideas to Jim Cibulka, <mailto:jacibulka@gmail.com>jacibulka@gmail.com we'll incorporate them into our discussion.
If you have not toured the Weldon Spring site, we will have some time to do so. The site itself is an engineering marvel, and also offers many educational exhibits on radioactivity.
In addition, we are also taking nominations for the Gene Fuchs Award. To nominate someone for the Gene Fuchs award, send a note to Jim Cibulka with the name of your nominee and a brief description of the nominee's excellence in physics teaching. Please try to have these in by May 6th.
Opportunities for Leadership in SLAPT
At the planning meeting, our past president, Katy Chole, will rotate out of official SLAPT leadership, Gary Taylor will become past president and Jim Cibulka will guide us through the 08-09 school year as president.
President-elect nominees sought
At the planning meeting, we will select our president elect. You may nominate someone for the position, including yourself, by sending the nominee's name to Jim Cibulka.Driving Directions:
The Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center is located in southwestern St. Charles County, Missouri, approximately 35 miles west of St. Louis. It is located on Missouri State Route 94, 2 miles south of the Route 94 and U.S. Highway 40/61 junction.
Discussion about the relationship between SLAPT, MAPT, ISAAPT, and AAPT
SLAPT President's Welcome
Welcome to a new school year with the Saint Louis Area Physics Teachers. I would like to take a moment to invite everyone to check out this year's agenda and to come to some of our meetings. SLAPT will be offering an impressive array of professional development opportunities. We are also adding more social contact activities with the goal of increasing the level of comfort each of us has in contacting others (as well as just having some fun.) Please take advantage of the unique opportunity to tour Fermi Accelerator Laboratory as part of our Chicago Field Trip in late September. SLAPT is about sharing teaching experiences, offering and getting help, building a teacher network, and giving physics teachers and students the best learning experiences possible.
SLAPT, mindful of the "physics-first" trends in science curricula, have arranged this year's schedule to provide lessons that can go immediately into classroom use. This is part of a two-year plan to cover the major topics of physics. Materials and lessons will be directly applicable to 9 th grade physics through upper-level physics courses. The presentations have been arranged to emphasize energy and mechanics this year and electricity and magnetism next year. Many of our presenters often present at national conferences. Virtually all of the presentations are participatory in nature.
I hope to see many new and familiar faces at our meetings.
Sincerely,
Gary Taylor, President - Saint Louis Area Physics Teachers
