2011/2012 Past Meetings and Events - See Home page and "SLAPT Workshop Central" for upcoming events (linked above):

Note: SIUE is offering three hours of graduate credit for attending SLAPT workshops.  To be eligible one must show evidence of attending and participating in 40 hours worth of workshops, or 10 normal workshops over the course of a three year period.  The Refresher Physics/New Teachers Workshops that were offered this year were 8 hours each and count for two normal workshops.  In addition to attending workshops, a reflection of how you used the ideas gained from at least one SLAPT workshop in your own teaching and how you modified it to meet your students’ needs, resources, budget, etc. must be submitted.  This paper should around 5 page in length and written like a Physics Teacher article. The cost is as follows for the three hours (this price does not include fees): Instate (Missouri is included): $751.50 Out of state:  $1,878.50 Thank you to Thomas Foster for making this opportunity available to us.  Contact him at SIUE for more information.Tom Foster; tfoster@siue.edu

December 3, 2011: Audacity and Ruben's Tube Make-N-Take

Jen Meyer and Bob Brazzle let the participants in two parts - one was learning about the audio analysis and recording computer program called Audacity. Teacher notes, instructions, and computer files for several lab activities with Audacity were provided along with the free program. Jen obtained all the materials required to construct a Ruben's Tube - the great demonstrator of sound waves using a stove pipe with a series of holes that when charged with natural gas and ignited provide a striking visual of standing sound waves. Particpants then constructed the tubes. The workshop was held at Parkway Central. Click HERE for the Ruben's tube construction instructions. If you want further information contact Jen Meyer at: jmeyer3@parkwayschools.net or Bob at: bobbrazzle@yahoo.com

November 12, 2011: PTRA Workshop – Demonstrations

Val Michael took us through a good look at the role of demos in teaching physics.  Several demos that are personal favorites were demonstrated and discussions ensued on how to engage students using them along with connecting demos to active activities such as writing across the curriculum, practicums, and 5E lesson planning. Attenders received the PTRA manual as well as more demos on the PTRA websites. Host/Presenter:  Val Michael vmichael@jburroughs.org

October 1, 2011: Teacher day at Six Flags

To learn more about how to include amusement park physics into the classroom, Six Flags sponsored a free workshop with a behind-the-scenes tour of the engineering that makes the rides work. A overview of the resources available to use with students in preparation for the annual Physics Day in April was also provided. Presenters: Rex Rice and Six Flags Personnel

September 17, 2011: Energy Transformations

Energy transformations was the focus at Parkway Central High School. Activities were shared from the “Modeling of Energy” workshop from a few years ago that was presented by Debbie Rice, Rex Rice, and Mark Schober .   Participants performed the activities and left with lessons to go right into the classroom.Contact person: Suellen Cedergreen at:   scedergreen@parkwayschools.net or scedergreen@gmail.com

August 27, 2011: Uniform acceleration Apparatus Make and Take.

Gene Bender led a make and take at DeSmet High School for a great apparatus to allow students to visualize and model acceleration at a pace they can comprehend. It consists of a wheel and axle rolling slowly down an incline made of two pipes. Contact person: Gene Bender at: gbender@desmet.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE for a listing of archived 2009 and earlier events

Past Meetings and Events (2010 and later):

July 12-14, 2011: Investigate Physical Science - Washington University Science Outreach Workshops
Washington University Science Outreach and The Department of Physics, along with School Specialty, sponsored a three day Physical Science workshop. Click HERE for further information. Point of contact: Jessie Herman of School Specialty at jessie.herman@schoolspecialty.com.
May 14, 2011: SLAPT planning meeting for 2011-12 - at Suellen Cedergreen's House 8:30 - 12:00
Contact: SLAPT president Gary Taylor for info: gary.e.taylor@att.net
May 7, 2011: 26th Annual Physics Contest at SIUE
Schools competed in this annual competition. Results and a link to historical information on this event on this website at THIS LINK. Contact person: Tom Foster: tfoster@siue.edu.
April 29, 2011: Physics Day at Six Flags
Another great Physics Day at the best and largest outdoor high school physics lab! See the Six Flags Resources page on this web site. (link in right hand sidebar) .
April 16, 2011: Power Behind the Labadie Power Plant
We met Jim Dean from Ameren at the coal fired electric plant in Labadie, MO. It was a very informative and interesting discussion and tour. See the video and photo gallery at THIS LINK. Contact person: Gail Haynes, Eureka: haynesgail@rockwood.k12.mo.us.
March 10, 2011: St. Louis Section, American Chemical Society Topic Group Meeting
The Spring ACS meetings was held on March 10 at Rockwood Summit High School. The primary topic was project-based learning. Both Summit and Burroughs teachers have developed programs around the exploration of biofuels. We had a liquid CO2 demo and a simple redox lab. Contact person: Mike Howe, Clayton: mikehowe@claytonedu.us. .
February 12, 2011: PVC Musical Instrument Workshop
Bob Brazzle led a workshop at Parkway Central focussing on the construction of a musical instrument from common materials and learning the "Wave in a Box" model of resonance. The unit culminates with a performance assessment playing a prescribed song. Participants received a CD containing the files from the unit as well as plans for making various instruments. POC: Bob Brazzle bobbrazzle@yahoo.com. .
January 15, 2011: Freshman Physics Waves Workshop
Jim Cibulka led a workshop centered on Kirkwood's 4-6 week Freshman Waves Unit. Based on the Modeling waves units it incorporates mechanical waves in 1-d and the wave model of light. Participants went through an introductory lesson that utilized slinkies, video, simulations and ripple tanks, then visitied various stations with the labs, demonstrations and simulations that teach the rest of the unit. POC: Jim Cibulka jacibulka@gmail.com. .
December 4, 2010:Vernier Workshop
Gary Taylor and Hal Harris led a workshop at UMSL focussing on digital data collection with Vernier equipment. The event included a guest speaker from a manufacturing company. POC: gary.e.taylor@att.net. .
November 13, 2010:Video Analysis Workshop
Jen Meyer led a great workshop at Parkway Central on using video analysis in the physics lab. POC: jmeyer3@parkwayschools.net. .
November 3, 2010: Hal Harris and "Irrational Science"
Hal Harris, Phd, from UMSL led a discussion on how society gets influenced by public discourse about science that sometimes is misleading - part of the St. Louis Academy of Science series of FREE Public Science Seminars -- Click HERE for a brochure of their 2010-2011 events.
October 9, 2010: Six Flags Workshop for teachers
A half day look for teachers behind the scenes at the biggest physics lab -- Six Flags Amusement Park. Click HERE for further information on Six Flags and SLAPT's partnership.
August 28, 2010 and September 11, 2010: Refresher Physics/New Teachers Workshop I and II Grant from AAPT for two workshops that were a walk through of activities for the first year of physics in a physical science class, a Physics First class or an upper level general physics class.
Contact: Valerie Michael: vlfmich@gmail.com
July 17-21, 2010: National AAPT Summer Meeting 
Place: Portland, Oregon (home of Vernier Software and Technology, by the way)
http://www.aapt.org
May 8, 2010: SLAPT planning meeting for 2010-11 - at Valerie Michaels House 8:30 - 12:00
Contact: SLAPT president-elect Jennifer Meyer to RSVP: jmeyer3@pkwy.k12.mo.us
May 1, 2010: Twenty-fifth Annual SLAPT High School Physics Contest - this year held at Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville, IL; This contest is open to all high school students and will include two different exam levels. Click HERE for complete details on entering the contest. Point of Contact: Frank Cange at fcange@trinitycatholichigh.org
April 30, 2010: Six Flags Physics Day - click link below for information
http://www.slapt.org/resources/sixflags/index.html
April 15 and 22, 2010: PTRA Workshops - Ranking Tasks and TIPERS
Place:St. Louis Community College at Meramec, Science West Room 206
Click HERE for additional details
Contact: Valerie Michaels: at 636-458-9498 or email at vlfmich@gmail.com
March 26-27, 2010: Spring Meeting of the Illinois Section of AAPT
Place: Blackburn Coll., Carlinville IL
http://helios.augustana.edu/isaapt/
February 27, 2010: Joint ACS-SLAPT meeting – DVD Spectrometer Make-n-Take Workshop
Place: John Burroughs School
Contact: Hal Harris hharris@umsl.edu
February 13-16 2010: National AAPT Winter Meeting with APS
Place: Washington, DC
http://www.aapt.org
January, 2010: Nuclear Physics Update
Presenter: Linda Kralina:linda5975@yahoo.com