Shows
The Physics Teaching PodcastModelling Electricity with Ben Rogers
With Thomas still away on his travels, Rosie and Robin take the opportunity to catch up on all that’s been happening. Robin spills the beans on some new tips and tricks he’s picked up at his new school. Think hands-on modelling for sixth form—it’s practical, fun, and downright genius!
We’ve also got a special treat for you—a guest appearance from none other than Ben Rogers, a brilliant friend of the podcast! Ben dives into his fascinating research on introducing primary school children to models for electricity, a topic that’s notoriously tricky but oh...2025-05-0832 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastInspiration with Sir Peter Ogden
The first in our series of interviews with the Ogden Trust and a glimpse into the key life experiences that motivated Sir Peter Ogden towards a life time career supporting physics educators and education.
Thomas, Robin and I reminisce about the inspirational teachers that lead us into careers in physics education; Quirky characters and memorable methods abound. We also share our favourite practical actives to bring fun, flair and engagement into the classroom.
The Ogden Trust
Marching Soldiers Activity – Explaining Refraction
Energy Ball – Teaching Circuits with students
Brainiacs – Electric Fence Video
“Air is Heavy”- Thomas’ blog post fr...2024-10-1128 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastPrimary Physics with Ben Rogers - Space
This week, as the term starts, Rosie has been using plastic bottles to allow her year 10s to ‘feel’ gas pressure increasing with temperature. Thomas has had to slow down and take things easy having lost his voice (but thankfully he recovered in time to join us to record this podcast) and Robin has made the time within his fast-and-furious schedule at his new school to speak with Ben Rogers, author of Big Ideas in Physics and How to Teach Them, about Physics in Primary Science and more specifically the topic of Space.
Dear listener, what advice woul...2024-09-2528 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastRamps and Trolleys
Welcome back for another year of Physics Teaching ramblings. It has been a momentous Summer with Thomas cycling off into the mountains for his sabbatical, Robin becoming ever more important in his new school and the arrival on board of the new co-host Rosie McTavish. Robin and Thomas visited Rosie at McTavish Towers to deliver her vacuum cannon and think about the year ahead. We forgot to take a photo though. We have new theme music – it is called Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science
The new season starts without Robin who is up to...2024-09-0619 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe Ogden Trust - Teaser Episode
Thomas tells Rosie about some special episodes coming next term.
As the summer holiday is finally on the horizon, Robin is off sailing and Thomas cycles his way into his sabbatical, crossing Northern Spain from Santiago de Compostela to A Coruña, and stops to take a breather and share with Rosie some of the exciting new episodes lined up for September.
Listen in as Thomas asks some titans of the Physics teaching world “What does the Ogden Trust mean to you?” and gives us a taste of episodes to come in September.
Links2024-07-2314 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastIntroduction to The Ogden Trust
Thomas is fresh off the chunnel from Belgium and can’t wait to share exciting news that is nothing at all to do with Physics Teaching (sorry) – he’s been cycling and staying with a World Champion cyclist, Johan Museeuw. As you will see from the picture below M. Museeuw was less excited to meet his number one fans… until of course he found out that one of them was a world-famous podcaster. Rumours that we are doing a “Ways to Teach… stalking” are entirely untrue…
When we get Thomas back on to physics teaching we steer (like a world-cha...2024-03-1425 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThat Einstein Fellow
Thomas and Robin were bowled over to hear from the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow 2023-24. Thomas caught up with Michael Stewart to talk about the amazing opportunity he has had to be involved with Education policy at the highest levels in the USA.
Michael reminded Thomas about an episode in 2021 (GCSE Long Answers and MyMarkingMachine.com) in which Mark Robinson talked about a structured way to address questions: PVsELS. Thomas has run with this and renamed it the “DVEL’S in the Detail” to help his students process their way through questions.
Robin had alread...2024-01-1233 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastChat(GPT)ting
Everyone has been talking about it for a year or more so high time your finger-on-the-pulse physics teaching nuggets got to grips with ChatGPT (other AIs are available).
To start though, we cantered through another week of physics teaching. Robin was finishing electricity with his year 10 groups, and wondering what others do with those odd bits of the specification that someone up the exam-board food chain (presumably) feels it’s ‘important’ for children to learn. For Robin, this was ‘mains safety’ in electricity which has minimal physics but lots of detail. How do you deal with this? Back when...2023-12-1216 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastRetention Done Well
We talk to Doug Simon, who takes issue with the assertion that CPD is not C, P or D for Physics teachers.
Having heard from Mark Whalley last episode about some of the gotchas that schools can fall victim to when trying to hang on to their (physics) teachers, we hear this week from Doug who reports some of the positive things they do to support their science teachers and keep them teaching.
First up, though, Thomas and Robin talked electricity as that is what they both had been doing this week.
Thomas...2023-11-2323 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastRevising for Exams
It’s that time of year: as we prepare to bid farewell to our exam groups, how do we teach students to prepare effectively for GCSEs or A-levels? Thomas and Robin talk through how they help students revise for exams.
Both agreed that past papers form the core of their revision strategies and there are various sources for these, not least the relevant exam board, but also some excellent sites that have grown up in support of past paper practice.
There’s an overarching theme: the students need to be taught to revise and shown what...2023-04-1737 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastUCAS and Preparing for Uni
We need physicists and so A-level teachers know how important it is to give the next generation of aspiring physicists and engineers the best chance of getting into uni. Thomas and Robin are thrilled to welcome Will Pope (@PopeDoes) to talk about all things UCAS. What is our role as teachers, what is the right way to write the reference and how does the reference get used down the line?
Will’s Head of 6th Form, Sarah, kindly talked us through the reference do’s and don’ts. Key take-aways:
Relentlessly positive. Don’t put in anything...2023-03-0941 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastNewtons Laws for Non-Specialists
So fundamental… such a minefield. Newton’s laws are central to school physics and so can be daunting for those heroes who teach physics but would not describe physics as their specialism. Even as specialist physics teachers, Thomas and Robin have struggled with “reaction”, free body diagrams and force arrows so it was great to welcome physics coach, teacher educator and veteran of “S1E1” Jessica Rowson joins us to put things right.
Jessica is a teacher educator and senior lecturer at St Mary’s Twickenham, as well as Teaching and Learning Coach for the Ogden Trust. If you need an...2022-12-1538 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSLOP
We all get in to teaching for the gratitude. Oh yes. Happy students bounding to your door thanking you for your teaching; parents clogging the school switchboard begging to speak to you so they can effuse about the long evenings spent marking an planning; politicians, officials and regulators all falling over themselves to… oh, you get the idea: people don’t say thank you that often.
He doesn’t like to mention it
So we are celebrating this month: our very own Thomas WP receiving one of the IOP’s Teacher Awards. This is so well-deserved. Thomas is a pas...2022-11-1732 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach... The Start of A-Level Physics (16+)
Thomas and Robin return after an extended break, inspired by a Tweet from Ruth Cheesman, who joins us to ask for tips to get started with her A-level class this week (good luck Ruth!).
We also welcome Sarah Dowd to help answer Ruth’s query, Sarah teaches at UNIS in New York and joins to share her practice in the first of two upcoming appearances (she’ll be back in a few weeks to talk ChatPhysics!)
Thanks to all the contributors via Twitter who came up with some great tips which we’ve summarised below (althou...2022-09-0438 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to Teach... Space
Space is a challenging subject to teach, so a good subject for the first “Ways to Teach…” of this academic year.
Thomas and Robin start with a look at some physics in the news. The proton is smaller than we thought! About 5% smaller which will make it even harder to find one if you lose it, but let’s not be negative…
In other news, a new wonder-polymer promises transparency, strength and lightness all in one. Will it be as successful as graphene (which Robin made the mistake of questioning in front of an engineer).
And so t...2022-02-1745 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastGirls in to Physics II
Thomas and Robin return after an extended break to talk A-level expectations, girls in physics and strategies for inclusion.
Thomas and Robin start with a chat about how to identify early on whether students are likely to succeed in A-level physics. We identify a number of strategies and challenges here…
Whilst many students might choose physics as an A-level that they study for interest alone, most are looking to also achieve a grade that will allow them to progress. If a student is unlikely to achieve much better than a C it is only fair to have...2022-01-1334 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBig Classes, Small Classes and Thank Yous
Thomas and Robin return for season 4, inexplicably without any awards for podcasting gold, but there are bigger mysteries in the world. Not least, how does Thomas survive his DIY attempts?
We start talking about BIG classes at A-level, and ways to get around a lack of equipment, but also address the other end of the size scale thanks to a question from “Thomas Young” (not that one) who has a rolled-together year 12/13 group of 3 students. Thomas and Robin make various logistic suggestions, but if you have any experience of this we’d love to hear from you: contact...2021-09-2342 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSeason 3 Finale!
Well, we made it. What. A. Year. Robin and Thomas hook up with Patrick Kaplo to hear about how he has been getting on in the North Eastern USA and, as usual, get somewhat distracted. Thomas nobly tries to steer the whimsical chat towards physics teaching with limited success.
Patrick had to cancel his extraordinary trebuchet competition because of the pandemic (see video below) and has also been suffering under incredible heat. This leads to him crushing another of Thomas’ stereotypes about the USA and for Thomas to explain how he used his Physics teaching knowledge to sa...2021-07-1544 min
The Physics Teaching Podcast(Why) We Love Physics (Teaching)
100 not out! Thomas and Robin salute the balcony with a good old-fashioned ramble about what excites them about physics teaching, making the subject live if you’re not a specialist and the challenges of teaching science in a ‘post-truth’ world.
Thomas — Robin
We go round ALL the houses, and talk about where our love from physics comes from, but we’ve distilled out the most eclectic links list we have ever produced! Here it is…
Links
13 Minutes to the MoonNASA – the Apollo ProgrammeThe Smithsonian National Air and Space MuseumQuantum TunnellingBehind the Curve – Netflix Flat Earth documentar...2021-06-1743 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastTAG, Mass and Weight
The teacher assessed grade plan has thrown a curveball at the profession, leaving teachers scratching their head on what exactly is needed as ‘evidence’ to support the grade that they award. Of course, we are particularly worried about those teachers who wouldn’t call themselves physics specialists but are assessing grades anyway. Thomas and Robin discuss a few strategies you might use.
Once again, the profession is being asked to go above and beyond, and as always, we will rise to the challenge, but make sure you take care of yourselves and remember the maxim: good enough is goo...2021-04-2233 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastCovid Positives
Thomas and Robin are joined by podcast stalwart and all-round hero of physics teaching, Patrick Kaplo from Wyndham, New Hampshire to follow up on a question he asked way back at the beginning of the Covid crisis, almost 1 year ago now, namely “How will this change our practice?”
We discuss some ways in which we’ll never “go back” to pre-pandemic teaching before hearing from some students about what they thought was successful in terms of lockdown teaching methods
Some of the highlights of the discussions included:
online tools. Nearpod, Plickers, Quizlet and Kahoot all get a...2021-03-0435 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe definitive GCSE core practical guide...
We are so privileged this week to be joined by Christina Astin (@ChristinaAstin). She wears so many hats she would keep a division of milliners employed, but she kindly talks us through some of her most recent and most important work. She makes a passionate case for school partnerships, not just in physics but across all aspects of school life, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We start off chatting through some really helpful work that Christina has done assembling a collection of free resources (or at least currently free in some cases) to support teaching th...2021-02-1832 min
The Physics Teaching Podcastnearpod
Thomas and Robin are joined by the marvellous Will White not only a great guest but also an NQT physics teacher who teachers at the school where Thomas and Robin both used to teach, and indeed where they met (there is no blue plaque – shouldn’t we write a letter or something?) Will also has the pleasure of teaching Thomas’s daughter and works with the brilliant Wendy who we would like to clone (but who knew how bad our biology was, so wouldn’t let us try).
Will introduces us to Nearpod which is a beautifully designed...2021-02-1128 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastAnother Lockdown Lowdown
Thomas and Robin chew the fat over how they are progressing in the new lockdown. We’ve been thinking about how to backfill gaps in the curriculum, in particular practical work.
We have been making use of YouTube to draw on the generosity of colleagues who have filmed and uploaded videos, for example MissLowePhysics who we’ve linked to below. A huge debt of gratitude to all of you who have uploaded videos. And on that note, don’t forget our friend of the podcast, Lewis Matheson and his physics online channel for GCSE and A-level. You guesse...2021-01-2931 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastGood enough is good enough.
A physicist would tell you that it would be illogical to expect a non-sentient life form to change its behaviour based simply on passing a particular point on an arbitrary time scale… which is why they’re not often invited to parties. And so it is that 2021 carries on in much the way that 2020 ended, but that is no reason for the podcast not to celebrate all that’s good about the physics teaching community.
Thomas and Robin return to talk survival as we lock down again. With many teachers now doing hybrid teaching, we discuss strategies for ke...2021-01-1522 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastFestive Demos and Practicals
Ah, the end of term beckons! Mince pies, tubs of choccy selection and of course “Sir/Miss, can’t we watch a video?”. Thomas and Robin are both wary of 45 minutes of Shrek as a Christmas treat – Thomas tells the story of his daughter coming home and asking to see “the rest of Ratatouille” having seen the first 50 minutes 8 times!
And so we present a series of fun physics experiments that will give your students a taste of physics fun at Christmas.
Given that it’s been a tough old term and we are close to the end, we...2020-12-1035 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to Teach... Magnetism and Magnetic Fields
Excitement and a jam-packed episode this week as we tackle Ways to Teach… magnetism! We start with some feedback from last episode about extended writing in physics. Thanks to William Pope for getting in touch. See the links section below for couple of free lesson resources to help your students become better written communicators in physics… I could do with some myself.
Years of hacking away at computers trying to get ms-2 or 1.6 x 10-19 have taken their toll on Thomas(to type these, I had to open Word, type them, undo the automatic capitalisation of he ‘m’ and...2020-12-0345 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastRanking Tasks and Resources
Robin and Thomas go for another ramble … and for a walk in the country as well.
Albert Einstein was in charge
They start by chatting about using self made simulations to enhance your teaching (especially now that students are limited in their access to practical work). Thomas had put together a cracking simulation to find resistivity on a wire in Excel.
Thomas has been looking at ranking questions, where students are asked to rank their answers in order of confidence, and he catches up with James de Winter who recommends TIPERs: Sensemaking Tasks for Introductory Ph...2020-11-2628 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastLong Answers
How great to reach out across the pond and catch up again with Patrick Kaplo (an early hero of the podcast who teaches in Windham, NH). He has been hunkering down and adapting to new paradigms, and it is refreshing to hear that the problems we are all dealing with are pretty similar, no matter where you are in the world.
Patrick has been adapting to less opportunity for lab work with some useful online tools, like Pivot (see links below!). It’s a commercial product but it allows your students to make measurements of real-life situations an...2020-11-1927 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastPhET
Thomas and Robin meet outside, at an appropriate social distance, to remember Tim Hardingham and introduce an interview with the PhET Head of Development Ariel Paul (@DrArielPaul). Surely all physics teachers have heard of this outstanding free source of simulations and demos provided by the University of Colorado Boulder.
Support PhET!
PhET was the brainchild of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman, and the 158 interactive SIMS are racing towards a billion downloads. Ariel tells us about the herculean efforts that go into developing new sims and keeping them up to date. It’s resource-intensive work and de...2020-11-1242 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastA-Level RP: Specific Heat Capacity
Robin and Thomas are joined by Rajani Nair (@NairPhysics) who answered a Twitter call about A-level required practicals and was whisked in front of a microphone to talk to us. If you fancy coming on to talk about an aspect of physics teaching, just drop us a line in the contact form below.
Rajani had some really interesting variations on the standard Specific Heat Capacity practical, many of which would be of interest at KS4 as well as A-level, so do have a listen. Rajani shared a wonderful memorable practical which involves throwing eggs to demonstrate that...2020-10-2233 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastIoP Domains
Thomas and Robin mull over the recent Nobel Prize for Physics, then chat to Carole Kenrick about IoP Domains and zines.
The Nobel Prize is still the ultimate accolade and viewed with envy by the fields that don’t have a Nobel Prize (in your face, maths!). This week we start by congratulating the three winners of the 2020 physics prize: Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez.
We catch up with Carole Kenrick (sadly without Benji the cat – see episode 8 of season 1 – he was hungry and had to be banished). Carole tells us about IOP Domain...2020-10-1532 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays To Teach... Under Covid Restrictions
(aka Elysia and her Magic Box of Physics)
Robin and Thomas meet Elysia (@PhysicsMumma) who helps them talk through the dear listener’s ideas for teaching under the current social distancing guidelines. She then talks them through her box of physics and introduces Frank the Flamingo.
My 'box of physics' everyone laughs at me but that's part of the fun.Also made up electricity demo boxes for teachers doing that topic and hopefully I can make some up for the next topic too pic.twitter.com/XKUblUfgNK— PhysicsMummaElysia (@PhysicsMumma) September 30, 2020
Thank you so m...2020-10-0837 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastJames de Winter is Electric
Season 3 continues to deliver physics royalty as James de Winter joins us. James is the physics tutor on the Cambridge PGCE course and has seen generations of physics teachers through their training. Having met a fair sample I can say that all of them hold James in the sort of reverence that Luke reserved for Obi Wan.
A talk with James is always an education and this episode is no exception. There’s lots to think about in terms of reflection on your lesson: James encourages us to stay as practical as feasibly possible during these strange ti...2020-09-2439 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastFirst Thoughts on Covid "Secure" Teaching
Robin and Thomas reflect on a first week back under the new Covid guidelines and find time to talk through a simple required practical – timing a trolley rolling down a ramp.
It’s a strange world at the moment as we eye winter warily and a second wave threatens. It is interesting to reflect that school openings have been one of the rare success stories of the pandemic. As usual, teachers and schools have taken on the impossible mission and delivered. We know it’s a stressful time, but we did want to urge you to take a mome...2020-09-1730 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastLet's Brock and Roll
Thomas and Robin look forward to a new – albeit different – school year with some reflections on “the new normal” and an interview with physics-teaching Royalty.
Season 3 is here! And Thomas and Robin start by thanking you for all your feedback after last year. We got some good ideas for this year and we’re looking forward to more Ways to Teach, more on the Core Practicals and more of the guests you have told us you love!
This week we have a couple of zingers to kick off the season.
First up, Thomas’s ‘boss’ joi...2020-09-1033 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastA Couple More Nuggets
Thomas doesn’t know which week it is; thinking there is one more week of term he drags Robin to his garage to test some vacuum cannon upgrades. Thomas and Robin also look back through the podcast’s second season, and forward to a possible season 3.
A Tight Collar
Thomas has been experimenting with the collars that are used to join vacuum cannon spec pipes. After initial excitement (described in the podcast) Thomas does some further testing (described in an addendum) and finds that they don’t seal perfectly when pushed on dry and that the ho...2020-07-2330 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSpend spend spend!
Jonathan Shaw joins us to talk over your suggestions for essential physics kit.
What will the well-dressed physics lab be wearing this year? Jonathan Shaw secured £53,000 of funding to kit out his physics department and asked Thomas and Robin to throw this over to the physics-teaching hive mind, and you did not disappoint! We had some fantastic suggestions, and some surprises.
Power packs or data loggers? An observatory or a coffee machine? Where would you invest if you had budget for kit. The consensus that money would be best spent on a teacher and / or a...2020-07-1633 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSharing is Caring
Dr Peter Edmonds (@edmunds_dr) joins us to talk about sharing resources, ways to spend other peoples’ money (kitting out a department) and Archimedes.
Peter is one of those special people who is a finisher. Dissatisfied with the resources available to him in his trainee year, Peter set about creating his own resources. Not only that, he shared them through his web site, sciencedoctor.school.blog. His one problem with all this #sharingiscaring? The endless requests for the answers. If you use the resources and there are no answers, then please send them to him.
Fr...2020-07-0937 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastA Gimmicky Demo Fan
Robin and Thomas meet John Hudson, a self confessed gimmick demo fan who also makes pdf interactives.
Links
Young Modulus Interactive (in TES resources)Thomas’s oscilloscope Screen Shot SimulatorMillfield Physics on Twitter (John’s department page)An example of conservation of angular momentum from MITThe chain fountain explained in this Royal Society videoGrand Illusions YouTube Channel and where to get Talking Tapes
Wall-to-wall gimmicky demos on this week’s podcast as we welcome John Hudson. Although we call them gimmicky, nothing could be farther from the truth: John introduces us to some great experiments and de...2020-06-1124 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBits and Bobs
Robin asks Thomas what the bits and bobs were he sent home to his A-Level students. What would you send? Tell us by tweeting @physictp #tptpbitsandbobs
Links
Thanks to Frank Noschese for pointing us at the “String and Sticky Tape Physics” PDFs: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/edge-one.pdf and http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/edge-two.pdf .
We also mentioned Laura Pankratz’s speed of sound measurements with a bottle. There are similar experiments here https://www.thenakedscientists.com/get-naked/experiments/blowing-bottles and here https://www.physicslessons.com/xlab-speedsound.html If anyone can find a...2020-06-0423 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastKEEP Teaching
Thomas and Robin are back, locked down, but still exploring new ways of teaching physics. Thomas has been exploring the potential (and limitations of) Microsoft Forms and has found a collection of shared resources at https://groups.io/g/PhysicsQuizzes. There’s a lot of power here to help you remotely assess your students’ learning, but a few gotchas too.
We are delighted to talk to Mark Whalley, IOP Education Manager, former headteacher, and of course, a physics teacher. Robin caught up with him to chat about KEEP Teaching, a project funded by the EEF, run by the...2020-05-2137 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastTeacher in Residence
The “new normal” has once again shrunk the globe, as Thomas and Robin reach out to Alberta, Canada to talk to the inspirational Laura Pankratz of the Perimeter Institute. Just as well we talked to her when we did, because apparently we’ve discovered a black hole next door…
We first met the Perimeter Institute courtesy of IOP Scotland Education Manager and friend of the podcast Stuart Farmer, in Season 1, Episode 5 of the podcast, when hand-shaking was still a thing and you could buy carbohydrates in the shops. Even then we knew that one episode could never do the P...2020-05-1425 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastAssessment and CPAC
Thomas, Robin and Patrick chat about using teacher judgement to assess students, and wonder whether more trust should be placed in a teacher’s view of a student’s performance in future.
The “new normal” is just another way of saying “weird” as far as we’re concerned. In this episode, we range around the emergency assessment routines that OFQUAL have put into place, reflecting on the humanity and fairness that they have managed to salvage from what is a stressful and potentially difficult end to our GCSE and A-level students’ studies. It is interesting to contrast with CPAC, as th...2020-05-0736 min
The Physics Teaching Podcast@MissNeutrino, a Physics NQT
In an almost covid free podcast, Thomas and Robin meet Alexia, a newly qualified teacher (NQT) in Physics.
Summary
Alexia has a Physics degree from Imperial (which made Robin happy) and a PGCE from the London Institute of Education (which made Thomas happy). She has many strings to her bow. In addition to being a physics teacher, Alexia is a LaTeX guru, has a fascinaton with neutrinos and tweets as @MissNeutrino.
MASTER THREAD OF ALL MY ARTSY BITS I will link to all new creative bits (#sketchnotes and other #graphics mainly...2020-04-3039 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastLockdown Lessons Learned
Thomas and Robin hook up for a quick catch up after the Easter holidays. They talk about what they have heard, what they have learned and what they miss about being in school.
Summary
Thomas and Robin have heard some strange tales of what is going on in different schools. Virtual learning walks sounds like unnecessary stress at this strange time and what about detentions for the kids if they don’t turn up on-line?
They have had some success with Teams and discuss how they are trying to set work for the ch...2020-04-2320 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastLearning about remote learning...
Patrick, Thomas and Robin try out zoom to hear how Patrick has been getting on, and then talk through plans for the week. Emma Brown gives us her tips from Shanghai.
Links
zoom – video conferencing with breakout roomsWebAssign – calculation problemsresources.physicsteachingpodcast.com
https://twitter.com/katierosman/status/1240663251387645952?s=20
Israeli (not Spanish!) mum lets rip about the work set.
Summary
Patrick, Thomas and Robin try out zoom. Patrick tells us his successes and failures and gives Thomas the top tip of zoom breakout rooms. Thomas is clueless about what to do with Year 7 and asks...2020-03-2934 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach Physics... Remotely
Summary
Thomas and Robin summarise the advice they have been given about teaching remotely.
Content
So much has happened in such a short time, Thomas and Robin decide to talk to some experts about how to support their students remotely. YouTube is a great resource, but also Physics teachers all over the World are cooperating and sharing. The podcast scrapes the surface of this but we get some good advice along the way.
YouTube Channels:
Physics Online Primrose Kitten’s website and her YouTube ChannelGorilla PhysicsScience ShortsVeritasium
Web sites:2020-03-2140 min
The Physics Teaching Podcast#ChatPhysics
Summary
Fabio Di Salvo joins us to talk about Chat Physics, Physics chat on Twitter. Robin asks for advice about the photoelectric effect.
Content
Covid-19 dominates the news and the podcast is no exception. We got in to and then had cancelled the NSTA talk in the same week. Thomas cheered himself up by redoing the web site with a new archive and a new World map of all the listener locations. Before we talk to Fabio, Robin also
Fabio started Chat Physics for the same reasons as we started the...2020-03-1929 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe International Year of Sound (Good Vibrations)
Summary
Keeta Jones from the Acoustical Society of America joins us to talk about the International Year of sound.
Content
Keeta tells us about the way that the ASA are supporting the Year of Sound with a resource pack for teachers and a competition for kids. She also describes the myriad of places that acousticians are found in the workplace.
Thomas and Robin follow up by discussing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and a recent experiment to explore the sound of the windpipe in an ancient mummy.
Links
Explore...2020-03-0533 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastDensity Required Practical, Accuracy and Precision (Two Dense Objects)
Photograph: Jane Ni (see below for link)
Summary
Thomas and Robin chat about another required practical in UK GCSEs, measuring the density of regular and irregular objects. They run down the rabbit hole of accuracy vs precision before chatting about crazy ways of measuring everyday values.
Photograph: NSO/AURA/NSF
Physics in the news this week is the recent close up photograph of the surface of the Sun, or “golden nuggets” as Thomas called it. Each pixel is 30km, meaning that if this were the whole sun the photo would be metres across.
The...2020-02-1324 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastMeeting the AAPT
Thomas and Robin meet Mark Hannum from the AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers).
Summary
Robin is fascinated to meet Mark Hannum from AAPT. AAPT support teachers in the USA, much the same role that Robin played when he was leading Teacher Support for the IoP. Mark tells us how the AAPT works and also shares his favourite pracitcal – projectiles.
Links
S01E21: The Rev – with links to Tim’s spreadsheetsStep Up Physics andStep Up Physics CurriculumS01E11: Slice the Pendulum with Patrick Kaplo.Dr Dave Farmer’s video is linked below.
Love...2020-02-0637 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastMocks
Thomas and Robin chat about mocks and how they use them. The podcast ends on a sad note as Thomas talks about a recent family bereavement and asks for donations to Brain research.
Bartholomew Beal
Summary
For reasons that are explained late in the podcast, Thomas has been feeling very low, and travels to Robin’s house (aka Studio 13) for a chat about Mocks. When and what do we set for the exams and how do we use them?
Robin hurts Thomas’ brain with some entanglement Physics in the News. Thomas then explains his...2020-01-3032 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastYear Olds and GCSE Required Practical
Robin and Thomas busk through teaching Sound and Waves to 11-year-olds and the Ripple Tank GCSE Required Practical.
Summary
“Physics in the News” this week looked at a story that casts doubt on the idea of dark energy. It’s a good illustration of how the scientific method and peer review is used to challenge ideas and present evidence.
Thomas and Robin chat about teaching KS3 waves and how we would introduce concepts. Robin likes Thomas’s approach of using sound vibrations to introduce wave concepts. Both love slinky springs and oscilloscopes – and don’t forg...2020-01-2324 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastTaking a Trip to CERN
Robin and Thomas talk to David Cotton and Aris Dacanalis about taking a trip to CERN.
Timestamps
Aris @ 01:40Chatting with David @ 08:20David’s Practical in Memoriam @ 30:30
Summary
David’s CERN page on TalkPhysics.orgSalad Bowl AcceleratorOur original tweet and the replies
Ever taken a trip to Geneva and @CERN? Please RT and reply with your best tips. We'd love to have someone on to chat about their visits – please get in touch of you are happy to come on the podcast!— The Physics Teaching Podcast (@physicstp) November 6, 2019
Join in...2020-01-1633 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastUses for a Vacuum Cannon and Deconstruction of Energy
Happy New Year! Thomas and Robin reflect on some questions from the Dulwich IoP Physics Conference and are joined by Patrick Kaplo to talk about uses for the Vacuum Cannon and whether teaching just two energy stores is the way forward.
Timestamps
New Year Resolutions @ 00:35We’re going on tour! @ 03:51Uses for the Vacuum Cannon @ 06:40Dr Ben Still’s views on Energy @ 19:23
Summary
Happy New Year dear listener! Do you make New Year’s resolutions, then share them in the vain hope you will keep them up? Thomas asks Robin and Patrick to share...2020-01-0930 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSpecific Heat Capacity (GCSE Required Practical)
Happy Christmas! In the last full podcast of 2019, Thomas and Robin chat about one of the core GCSE Practicals: Measuring Specific Heat Capacity. Also, stealth physics in “fun” Christmas lessons.
Timestamps
Bikes follow up @ 00:54Stealth Physics “fun” lessons @ 02:10Chatting about measuring Specific Heat Capacity @ 15:50
Summary
Thomas doesn’t like “fun” lessons, and is a bit of a Scrooge, but Robin has a great one on Christmas lights that is much deeper than you think.
A few days ago we talked through doing the Specific Heat Capacity experiment and we talk about the cognitive...2019-12-1235 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBikes - An Accessible and Versatile Context
James de Winter and Alan Denton join us to tell us the many ways in which a simple bicycle can be used to provide an accessible context for Physics. Moment, pressure, forces, sound, power and more can all be looked at through the lens of a bike.
Timestamps
A Fifth Fundamental Force? @ 00:47Bikes for teaching physics @ Why use a bike? @ 05:56How to draw a bike @ 06:43Free Body Diagrams @ Forces on a bike @ 08:11Free Body Diagrams @ 8:40Mechanical Advantage @ 14:00Pressure @ 17:18Sound@ 23:10All the other things you can do @ 25:00Post interview chat @ 31:00
How to sketch a bike
Summary2019-12-0539 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastUnderrepresentation (the elephant in the room)
Moses Rifkin came to the attention of Fox news for his short course on underrepresentation in Physics and Science and this led to the The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project. He tells us his story.
Timestamps
The Underrepresentation Curriculum with Moses Rifkin @ 00:53Moses’ Practical in Memoriam – eggs from the sky! @ 31:50
Summary
Moses Rifkin came to the attention of Fox News for his short course on underrepresentation in Physics and Science (video below), but this has led to the growth and promotion of The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project (www.underrep.com). Thomas, Robin and Patrick agree that as w...2019-11-2844 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBirdsong - Connecting Physics with the Real World
Friend (now Hero, surely?) of the Podcast James de Winter talks birdsong and uses it as an example of how to connect physics with the real world in more imaginative ways.
We all know how it goes, you teach newton 3, you talk about a rocket, you teach momentum you talk about trucks and cars colliding. Vectors? Aeroplanes… pressure? stilettos and snowshoes… friction? car tyres. It’s not that these examples don’t give context; they do! And mightily useful it is too, but James challenges us to find something a bit different. Go outside our comfort zone and brin...2019-11-2139 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastForce or False (Forces @ Primary School)
Ex -colleague and ex-colleague Andy Harrison is writing a scheme of work for Primary Science and asks Thomas and Robin to help him with his understanding of forces.
S02E09 Timestamps
What’s a force? @ 02:40Gravity @ 04:20Electrostatics @ 08:20Reaction/Support force @ 17:30Energy @ 21:12
Summary
Ex-colleague Andy Harrison reached out to Robin last week for some help. Andy, a Biologist, is no longer in the classroom but working as an Outreach Officer for a medical research organisation. Andy has been working with Primary Schools and is working on a scheme of work around Forces. Sensing an op...2019-11-0732 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach... Ionising radiation
Listeners have been more than generous with some tips for ionising radiation and how to teach it. Thomas, Robin and Patrick introduce some great ideas and discuss how to put IR in context.
Wisdom and wit
Patrick, Thomas and Robin get together to tackle ways to teach Ionising Radiation with context proving to be the most common tip.
Friend of the podcast, Dan Toomey shares his love of the radioactive sources and how to build a radiation detector, while Sarah Nunn and Mary Wild both weigh in with some tips on the best...2019-10-2436 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastCPD at SPEED
Our first foray in to the wild as we took our shiny new audio recorder (aka Albert Einstein) to the SPEED Physics teaching conference in Cambridge. SPEED is organised by the legend who is Ally Davies and is a well-established and popular CPD event for teachers in East Anglia. If you would like to pop along to your local CPD day, see the “Forthcoming events” link to Talkphysics, below.
S02E07 Timestamps
Physics in the news – Nobel Prize 2019 @ 2:06 Robin has had a fun time teaching electricity @ 04:16Thomas has been doing revision in the round @ 06:25Charlie the non-sp...2019-10-1731 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastMary, Mass and Melting
Our first T-shirt winner, Mary Wild, joins us to chat about helping Charlie with mass, weight and gravity and also to share a practical she loves: Specific Latent Heat of fusion for Ice.
S02E06 Timestamps
Introducing our guest Mary Wild (@MaryWild) @ 01:10Physics in the News – Static Spiders @ 02:15Charlie’s audio diary @ 05:06Mass and Weight @ 07:00Forces at a Distance @ 12:30Weightlessness @ 16:40Mary’s Practical In Memoriam (PIM) Specific Latent Heat (Fusion) of Ice @ 21:09
Summary
We are joined by Mary Wild, a teacher in West Sussex. She kicks of with a Physics in the News that s...2019-10-1032 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastActive Instruction
Trying to cheer up Thomas, who has had a bad day, Patrick introduces the concept of Active Instruction. Also an update from Charlie and our first contact through WhatsApp!
S02E05 Timestamps
Thomas has an announcement @ 00:44Thomas has had a bad week @ 02:00Update from Charlie @ 04:45Patrick introduces Active Instruction @ 09:02Contact on calculators via WhatsApp @ 26:31Please help with Ionising Radiation! @ 32:37
Summary
A bad day for Thomas made the team (Thomas, Patrick and Robin this week) reflect on the nature of teaching, often lonely and sometimes a bit manic. Every teacher has moments of anxiety...2019-10-0335 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastOpen Evenings
It is Open Evening time of year. Dan Toomey (@MrDToomey) joins us from Dublin to share what he does to entertain parents and students and also give some advice to Charlie the non-specialist who is starting to enjoy teaching Physics.
S02 E04 Timestamps
Introducing Dan Toomey @ 00:48Open evenings @ 01:43What Should Charlie Do? @ 13:42Circus vs Carousel @ 18:02Dan’s Practicals in Memoriam @ 23:00Planck’s constant with LEDs @ 23:07Dropping a ball and timing it @ 27:31Please send in Ideas for teaching Ionising Radiation @ 31:24
Summary
Patrick, Robin and Thomas are joined by Dan Toomey in Dublin to dicuss open...2019-09-2633 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastNUSTEM - helping you find context for the physics
With Robin back from holiday we meet a non-specialist hero, setting off to teach Physics and have a long interview with Carol Davenport from NUStem who are working to encourage young people to choose science as their future careers including their website nustem.uk/primarycareers/ that links KS3 topics with real careers.
Timestamps
Intros @ 00:23Charlie the non-specialist’s audio diary @ 1:50nustem and Carol Davenport @ 05:24Post interview chat @ 17:00First lesson redux @ 19:20Thomas made Patrick’s Black Box @ 20:10Chatting about Science never being definite @20:44Robin’s teaching this year @ 22:20Contact the podcast @ 25:36
Summary
Patrick Kaplo is una...2019-09-1228 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBlack Boxes and Beginnings
With Robin away hiking in the Canadian Rockies, Thomas and Patrick hook up to chat about the coming academic year. They share their thoughts on the first lesson (of A Level/AP). Robin contributes his thoughts on the coming year via an audio diary.
Timestamps
Where is Robin? @ 00:13Thomas apologises to Moses Rifkin @ 01:12Going back to school and the UK/USA similarities and differences @ 02:02First lessons @ 02:16Thomas and two sig figs @ 06:32Patrick and uncertainty @ 08:48Patrick’s black box @ 10:30What are you teaching first @ 16:07Practical work and getting through the content @ 17:25How were your results (and do th...2019-09-0531 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBonus for 10,000 Plays
A couple of nuggets
Thomas and Robin celebrate 10,000 plays by looking forward to next season and backward to the mistakes we made along the way.
Timestamps
Looking forward @ 00:20Mistakes @ 05:42Edna @ 14:10
Summary
Thomas is back from cycling the Galibier in the Alps so Robin and Thomas hook up to talk about what is planned for next season and also to play some of our favourite mistakes over the year. Hopefully our beloved listener won’t be turned away by this peek behind the veil!
Join in!
Please share ideas or su...2019-08-1716 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastA Couple of Nuggets
Thomas shows Robin reminisce about (nearly) an academic year of podcasting. They describe their favourite practicals and are joined by Patrick Kaplo. Robin and Thomas between them share five practicals that they really enjoy as well as describing their best and worst moments of the year.
A Couple of Nuggets
Timestamps
Robin has an exciting announcement @ 00:46Physics in the news, Hayabusa2 lands for the second time on an asteroid @ 01:22Highlights @ 02:54Finding the mass of a 1m ruler using a 1N weight @ 07:17SHC using a kettle @ 11:41Exploring uncertainty and efficacy of measuring devices using measuring 4 ohm resistors @ 20:16...2019-07-1852 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWorking Abroad
Thomas shows Robin his package… A montage of chats he’s had with teachers who have worked abroad. The Rev (Episode 21), regular co-host Patrick Kaplo and one of Thomas’ old student teachers all give their thoughts on this adventure.
Timestamps
Introductions @ 00:15Physics in the News @ 01:18Working Abroad @ 03:17How did it happen? @ 05:39What about the kids? 09:08Anecdotes @ 11:48The value of working abroad @ 14:17Post Package Chat @ 17:47Ruben’s Practical in Memoriam @ 24:35
Summary
Physics in the news is another atom imaging breakthrough using a combination of a scanning tunnelling microscope and MRI. The main body of the podc...2019-07-1131 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastMisconceptions
Thomas and Robin are joined by IoP Misconceptions expert, Alex Mathie.
Timestamps
Introductions @ 00:15Physics in the News @ 01:25Misconceptions @ 02:47Mistake vs Misconception @ 03:00Why are misconceptions important in physics? @ 04:07Examples of misconceptions @ 06:27Models and misconceptions @ 08:55Addressing misconceptions @ 10:33IoP Spark and misconceptions @ 15:50PIPER @ 24:37What could a teacher do tomorrow to address misconceptions? @ 26:17Physics and Philosophy @ 30:10
Summary
What is it that makes physics a unique teaching challenge? Well dealing with misconceptions must be one of the prime candidates. More than perhaps any other subject, physics students end up with some stubbornly embedded ideas that might be along...2019-07-0435 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe End of the NQT Year
Thomas and Robin are joined by Patrick Kaplo and NQT, Imogen House to talk about our first years in teaching, which leads to a wide ranging chat about highs and lows, being liked vs respected and teaching pedagogy.
Timestamps
Introductions @ 00:23NQT Mistakes @ 01:32NQT Best Bits @ 12:28Respect vs Being Liked @ 15:12Pedagogy in teacher training @ 19:09Survey Feedback @ 23:48
Summary
What’s the collective noun for a group of physics teachers? Answers on a postcard please (or on Twitter, @physicstp).
Episode 31 finds Thomas, Patrick and Robin re-joined by Imogen who was a guest of an ea...2019-06-2733 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastTeaching Forces to 11 Year olds
Thomas and Robin try something else new. Discussing how they would teach the first three lessons on Forces to 11 year olds.
Timestamps
IoP Spark @ 00:37How would you teach forces to 11 year olds? @ 05:00Guidance for a non-specialist @ 21:10
Summary
Robin and Thomas were back to basics this week. With Patrick busy bringing physics joy to a
new generation of New Hampshirites (that’s really what residents of New
Hampshire are called – I Googled it and everything), it was just the two
physics geeks getting together to talk forces.
Before we got to the main...2019-06-2029 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastMeasuring the Young Modulus
Thomas talks Robin and Patrick through his method of measuring the Young Modulus that can be done as an individual experiment rather than in groups.
Timestamps
Physics in the News – James Webb Telescope update @ 02:20Remember the Survey @ 03:54Measuring the Young Modulus @ 04:25
Summary
A brief cameo from Thomas’ daughter who is staying with Patrick Kaplo kicks off the podcast and leads to a chat about interns in American Schools before Thomas steers back to the James Webb Telescope which has cleared its final Thermal Vacuum test. Then on to the topic of the day – how to...2019-06-1331 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach... Waves
Thomas, Robin and Patrick introduce and discuss many ways of teaching waves that have been shared by the listener.
Timestamps
Physics in the News – Blue Origin @ 01:07Ways to teach… Waves @ 01:50Cara Wood and a piece of string @ 02:20Slinkys @ 06:50Making many nodes @ 10:54Salt Pendulum @ 13:47Acetates @ 14:58Jed’s wave visualisation experiment @ 16:48How to remember the difference between Transverse and longitudinal @ 18:59Alom Shaha and the Jelly Baby Wave Machine @ 20:17Standing waves @ 24:51Ruben’s Tube and Kundts Tube @ 28:01Showing colour mixing and projector polarisation @ 30:43Young’s slits – lab scale with sound @ 32:47PhEt @ 33:38Mexican Wave @ 34:20Tell us misconceptions! #tptpmisconception @ 35:25Who won Alom Shaha’s...2019-05-2340 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastFinding Physics Teaching at Fifty-Three
Thomas, Robin and Patrick Kaplo hear from Jonathan Shaw, a late career change to Physics teaching who is in his NQT year at 53 years old. Jonathan also challenges the team to select the most important equipment for a new physics department.
Timestamps
Vacuum cannon update @ 00:39Ways to teach… Waves reminder @ 01:04Physics in the News: Coal Free Electricity in the UK @ 02:39Energy storage with cars @ 03:56Jonathan Shaw, NQT @ 04:47After the interview discussion @ 20:40Swiss Roll @ 20:44Gatsby on Practical Science @ 23:06Teacher Training differences @ 25:02Which equipment should a Physics department have? @ 29:35
Summary
Thomas reminds us that the Va...2019-05-1638 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastFusion, Triangular Teaching and Avoiding Dead Leaves
Thomas, Robin and Patrick Kaplo discuss the re-release of the vacuum cannon, the ITER fusion project, Prof W Brian Lane tells us his PIM and James De Winter talks about avoiding “Plugging and Chugging”.
Timestamps
Welcome back Patrick Kaplo @ 00:37The Vacuum Cannon is back @ 01:10Physics in the news: ITER and fusion @ 02:07Prof. W Brian Lane and his Spring Lab @ 04:23Differences between US and UK systems @ 13:21James De Winter and Maths in Physics @ 20:24Please give us some Waves teaching tips @ 27:31
Summary
Patrick Kaplo joins the team once more. Thomas announces that the Vacuum Cannon can...2019-05-0930 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastTechnicians and Teacher Talk
In 1927, the Solvay conference brought together the likes of Einstein, Curie, Schrodinger, de Broglie, Dirac, Bohr and on and on. That was the highest density of physicists until a couple of weeks ago when Robin caught up with Chris, David, Steve and Ben at Uppingham school.
In the same way that drunk guys start to talk about their mums, teachers will start talking about technicians and how wonderful they are. We point out how essential, precious and endangered they are. We encourage teachers to make sure their technicians are given professional recognition. Make sure they are fully...2019-04-0437 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe Rev
Robin and Thomas gush somewhat when chatting to ex-colleague The Reverend Tim Hardingham, Physics Teacher and ordained minister who qualified as a teacher in 1972.
Timestamps
Introducing “The Rev” @ 00:30Nuffield @ 02:05Tim’s advice to non-specialists @ 03:40Tim’s favourite practical? @ 05:18Thomas and Robin reminisce about working with Tim @ 07:32Modelling SHM @ 08:20Tim on teaching with modelling @ 12:12Patrick Kaplo Challenge Lab (Crash Point) @ 14:17The World needs physicists @ 21:00
Summary
A bugbear of mine is the recurrent attempt to somehow set science up in opposition to the arts or humanities. I have met countless cultured scientists with deep interest...2019-03-2822 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach... Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration
The second “Ways to Teach” episode where we channel tips from our wonderfully generous contributors. Teachers of Physics are heroes as we never tire of saying, and they have been so generous with their time, sharing a wealth of wisdom on helping students get to grips with displacement, velocity and acceleration.
Timestamps
Vacuum cannon back in stock (and new t-shirts) @ 01:38General advice on teaching displacement, velocity and acceleration @ 2:56Measuring real things in the real World @ 07:56Using an ultrasound displacement sensor @ 22:15Data on real things in the real World/ worksheets @ 23:57Maps and treasure hunts @ 25:18Simulations @ 31:01Videos @ 34:50Plenary Yoga...2019-03-2139 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe "New" Model of Energy
Thomas and Robin feel the pain of Physics teachers all over the UK and attempt to get to grips with the new model of energy as promoted by the IoP. No more energy types, just energy stores that increase and decrease in magnitude and transfer processes that are allowed by the energy differences.
Timestamps
Philae lander found @ 00:30Shooting nuclear waste in to the Sun @ 2:00What is energy? @ 3:25Energy Stores and the IoP’s different model @ 5:34Tom Norris talking explaining the “new” model of energy @ 7:59Robin helps Thomas talk about energy @ 17:27Thomas and Robin grapple with a roll...2019-03-1437 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSpin, Shared Resources and Social Media
Photographic Physics in the News (great for a podcast) before Paul Reynolds tells us about his web site, planetphysics.co.uk that started as a personal site for storing files for printing but has slowly become a resource for non-specialists. Thomas and Robin then discuss how the internet can support non-specialists.
Timestamps
Single atom visible @ 00:54A new particle @ 3:53PlanetPhysics.co.uk @ 6:00Shared resources (and where are they?) @ 12:11New T-shirt @ 18:20How twitter can be useful @ 19:54Robin agrees with OFSTED @ 23:23
Summary
Thomas is blown away by a photo of single atom that won the 2018...2019-03-0727 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastSmashing Neutrons, Supporting Non-Specialists and Surviving No Practicals
Thomas and Robin chat about Kilonova (neutron star collisions that create heavy elements), ways of supporting non-specialists and what to do when practicals fail.
Timestamps
Neutron Stars and Kilonova @ 2:45Science(ish) Podcast and their episode “Is LIGO right?” @ 4:05Flywheels for energy storage @ 5:22Faking being a Physics Specialist @ 5:54Tips for non-specialists @ 8:20Practicals going wrong – ripple tanks @ 10:42Practicals going wrong – cloud chamber @ 13:17Dealing with practicals that go wrong @ 15:44Teaching Physics with no practicals @ 17:09Send us your tips @ 23:29
Summary
Physics in the news this week talks about Neutron Stars and how their collisions (Kilonova) create the heavier...2019-02-2826 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastThe Vacuum Cannon!
Thomas, Robin and Patrick Kaplo discuss the amazing vacuum cannon and how it can be used to make physics thrilling. The cannon is now available in the shop. Buy it and you’ll be supporting the podcast while you have a BLAST! It is half term next week in the UK so it will be two weeks until episode 17.
Timestamps
Mars rover named for Rosalind Franklin @ 00:47Introducing the Vacuum Cannon @ 1:20Robin and Thomas test the cannon @ 4:43A joyful enterprise @ 11:40Safety considerations @ 13:14Tips and tricks for firing it @ 14:46Ways to calculate speed @ 17:06Selling the cannon @ 23:52
Su...2019-02-1429 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastExtended Interview with Nicky Thomas about Diffraction
Full interview with Nicky Thomas about teaching diffraction (29 minutes). She covers how she teaches it in more detail as well as more context and thoughts about doing diffraction as a practical EPQ.
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but...2019-02-0729 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastWater, Waves and Woodlice
Sea slugs use physics to move up to 90 km a day. Who’d have known? In the main body of the podcast Robin talks to Nicky Thomas about teaching diffraction. She has much to share so we released an extended interview podcast Finally woodlice can also assist in physics teaching by being a source of real distance/time data.
Timestamps
Our secret plans @ 00:30Plea for people to share their ideas about how to teach distance, speed and acceleration @ 1:54Physics in the News: Sea Cucumber escape strategy @ 2:55Nicky Thomas on Diffraction @ 5:09Biologist Sylvia and using Woodlice to te...2019-02-0727 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastCataracts, Cameras and (CERN) Competitions
Thomas and Robin respond to a request from a listener and investigate the BL4S Competition run by CERN. Win an all expenses trip to a high energy beam lab where you will be supported to do your own experiment. They also announce the subject of the next “Ways to teach…” episode: Distance, Speed and Acceleration.
TimeStamps
Cataracts @ 00:58Cameras that (don’t) see round corners @ 2:20LSST and its huge camera @ 3:40Beam Line for Schools (BL4S) Intro @ 5:12BL4S @ 6:03The next “Ways to teach…” Episode (Distance, speed and acceleration) @ 19:04
Summary
Robin describes a Camera that...2019-01-3121 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastLasers, Labs and a Large(r) hadron collider
Thomas and Robin had such fun talking to Patrick Kaplo (Episode 11) from Windham, New Hampshire that we talked to him again about his Challenge Labs. These are graded practicals where there is a one-shot event at the end of the practical that gives you your final grade. You can listen to how this works in an optics lab… err… practical in this episode or rewind to episode 11 for the sliced pendulum experiment.
Time Stamps
CERN Plans @ 00:20Thomas uses Podcast ideas in his lesson @ @ 2:57Challenge Practicals @ 6:48Formative Feedback @ 9:53Refractive Index based Challenge Lab @ 11:15Post interview chat 19:40
Summ...2019-01-2424 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastShrink-Rays, Spectrum and String...
Thomas and Robin discuss why – when they are less likely than a podcast from the gym in January – media are still obsessed with Shrink Rays and mysterious (not Alien) Space signals. They soon move onto far more entertaining matters as they talk about teaching the EM Spectrum. Thomas tells us about his lovely “How long is a piece of String?” lesson. One of Robin’s favourites, it’s a great way of engaging reluctant students in the exploration of measurement, errors and uncertainty.
Time STamps
(not) Shrink Ray @ 2:50Signals from Deep Space @ 4:50Electromagnetic Spectrum @ 6:37How Long is a piece o...2019-01-1724 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastPoppers, Pendulums and Pond-hopping
The days are getting longer, and the monster Christmas term is behind us. Thomas and Robin refuse to let January blues dull the joy of physics teaching as they kick 2019 off with a cracker (pun intended). Two kinematic experiments are the focus, one using a pop-up toy and one that needs fire and blades.
Thomas and Robin also mourn those long-forgotten pieces of equipment buried in obscurity at the back of the cupboard. Please don’t leave them there to fester. If you have a piece of equipment you are unsure about, why not send us a ph...2019-01-1028 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWays to teach... Electricity
Merry Christmas Physics teachers! In a bumper festive edition, Thomas and Robin have rounded up your ideas and tips on how to teach electricity. It’s quite rare to reach a clear conclusion in a discussion of teaching, but there was consensus that if you are going to use a model, then the rope model is a great starting point, and Thomas has written a full description of a way to use the rope model in his blog. We also acknowledged some other models and their usefulness: the important thing is to reflect and evaluate, but then again isn’t it al...2018-12-2034 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastMentors, Motors and Merch
Robin hadn’t heard about the recent Falcon landing failure so Thomas filled him in. Cutting-edge space technology is still frontier science: we need your students to be the engineers of tomorrow! Regular listeners will know how much Matt Groening influences the podcast, and just in time fro Christmas, we have launched our first ‘merch’, setting up a shop on the web site. A shop where you can buy the T-Shirt? Yes, all your Christmas present problems are solved! Listen out for a secret (??) code that allows you to get your shirt at cost. This time next year we may be stoc...2018-12-1324 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastVenn Hats, Meows and a Mysterious Tube
Mr Benjie
As David Bowie once mused “Is there seismic activity on Mars?” ( I think that’s what he said…), and who are we to argue? So we kicked off discussing NASA Mars Insight Lander and then Robin confessed to group about his tendency to get on a self-righteous soapbox (see episode 7!). Luckily this week’s chat was the perfect antidote to stress as he chatted to Carole Kenrick: primary teacher, secondary teacher, artist and PhD student, she wears many metaphorical hats … and has a podcasting cat called Mr Benjie.
Carole tells us about two of the practicals s...2018-12-0626 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastBen, Big Ideas and beginnings
Ben’s Book
Thomas and Robin talk about the podcast’s roots and where it all started, to help all teachers of physics to feel a sense of professional community. You can help by sharing it with your friends, and if you do that you have a chance to win a podcast T-Shirt! The competition lasts until 30th November 2018 and the winner will be announced in the Episode 8.
We were joined by author and all-round lovely man Ben Rogers, whose books The Big Ideas in Physics and How to Teach Them is taking the physics teaching commun...2018-11-2926 min
The Physics Teaching PodcastWhat happens when your jelly won't hold your weight? Is it time to lose some mass?
Jelly chair aftermath
Thomas and Robin got together in the same room for a chat this week. Don’t worry, as a good physicist and a good engineer they avoided eye contact*. The big news last week was the redefinition of the kilogram which was originally based on the mass of Napoleon’s leg**, but latterly on a lump of metal held in what looked suspiciously like a cake container. So we discussed misconceptions about mass and weight and about one of Thomas’ favourite experiments: the jelly chair.
*Well, that’s an unhelpful stereotype! In fact we were highl...2018-11-2225 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastWhy Don't More Girls Choose Physics?
Thomas and Robin try to find A New Hope in Episode 4 by addressing the perennial problem of the small proportion of girls choosing A Level Physics.
In this Episode:
World Dark Matter Day, 31st October: How did you celebrate it?The Perimeter Institute and their Free Resources.Where are all the girls? Jessica Rowson, former IoP Gender Balance Guru explains why girls don’t choose physics (lack of good teachers of Physics, parental influence and societal pressures), and suggests three easy things to do to make Physics a more attractive option (teach in context, link physics to...2018-11-0824 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastReading, Research and Reversing Through Time
The latest outing for Thomas and Robin in the world’s foremost (only?) podcast for teachers of physics talks about the weighty issues for physics teachers everywhere.
In this thrill-packed episode…
Hawking’s Last Book
As Matt Groening once said: “It’s all about the merch” Robin and Thomas decide on the logo for the first podcast T-shirtIt had to happen. Griffiths’ law states “In any gathering of nerds, talk will always turn to time travel in a time period inversely proportional to the total geekiness of the participants” Robin and Thomas discuss time travel after Stephen Hawking’s l...2018-10-2520 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastA New Physics Teacher
We made it to Episode two! Thank you for coming back, or a very warm welcome if you’ve just joined us. In this episode:
Secret identity: Robin finally gets round to introducing himselfOut of this world: Thomas tells Robin about the recent exomoon discoveryGoldfinger: Thomas will not make it as a Bond villain. He couldn’t pop a balloon with the school’s 1mW laser. Can you help him in his quest?A New Hope: We talk to Imogen, a first year Physics teacher, about the joy of doing something new in the classroom.Journey and Destination: Imogen e...2018-10-1819 minThe Physics Teaching PodcastBalloons!
Thomas and Robin sincerely hope you enjoyed the first episode of the physics teaching podcast, and that you are enthused to do some more practical work in your classroom. The physics teaching podcast is all about celebrating the professionalism of teachers of physics. We know that many of you don’t have the professional physics networks enjoyed by other subjects – either because you are the only physic teacher in your school, or you are a teacher of another subject who is stepping up to teach physics in the absence of a specialist. Either way, your professional identity as a physic...2018-10-1117 min