Chat Physics

Summer Holidays are here. Which can only mean one of 2 things. 1) Teachers discuss plans for new year and help develop resources and teaching tips or 2) CIVIL WAR!!! - fight about current teaching news and developments. Please go ahead and do BOTH and have fun!!

Before earning her PhD, Carol Greider made her #NobelPrize discovery at age 23. Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn discovered telomerase – an enzyme that creates telomeres, which are protective "caps" at each end of a chromosome. Discover more about Greider: bit.ly/2D5sHpu

Not all those who wander are lost, but this black hole sure seems to be! Our Swift observatory caught a rare lone black hole devouring a star on the outskirts of a faraway galaxy. This event was seen after the star got too close to the black hole. More: go.nasa.gov/4yNQl4o

@LizNourshargh @HelpfromHobson @PhysicsKeith @TurnbullPhysics @CurnowPhysics @FergusonMr1 yes - or if you haven't already used the 'Transition' booklet that many Exam boards do then use some of this. Checks basic algebra and trig etc. -

@HelpfromHobson @ChatPhysics @PhysicsKeith @TurnbullPhysics @CurnowPhysics @FergusonMr1 Do a maths test - rearranging equations, standard form, fractions to decimals, plotting a graph (including axis scales). I have an old one but will have to search for it -dm if you don’t get anything better. It was a good predictor of final results.

Does anyone have an A Level Physics baseline assessment for the new y12s? @ChatPhysics @PhysicsKeith @TurnbullPhysics @CurnowPhysics @FergusonMr1

To @andyburnham and @LucyMPowell, There are lots of problems and things to worry about with the introduction of a new technical route at age 14. As mentioned in the article (and flagged by union bosses) there are substantial workload and resourcing implications. Schools don't have lots of slack, and we will be teaching our current curriculums full time as soon as September hits. When will we plan and resource a whole bunch of new technical pathways? Which workforce will teach them, and with what physical infrastructure? How will schools figure out which ones to deliver? How will they be examined? Announcing this in the holidays is traditionally considered a poor move. The Tories were big for it, Labour have consistently done it in the first week back to school to match The Grid, and broadly it is anxiety inducing and not very fun for anybody. I have more substantive issues though: Focusing on your local area's job market somewhat renders the entire project of social mobility dead. The point of schools and education is to take students beyond their horizons, not constrain them within it. Yes, we want students to gain employable skills, and yes, from a purely utilitarian perspective it makes sense for those skills to be local ones, but we cannot lose track of the fact we want students to be *universally* employable, and to communicate to them that the world is their oyster and they can do anything they want. Channeling students into vocational routes at age 14 is - in my opinion - far too young. As much as you say you want parity between the two routes, you won't have it. There is literally an entry in Urban Dictionary for the term "BTEC" to mean a crappy knock-off. The current GCSE regime we have is the best we have ever hand in terms of its rigour, robustness and richness and all students should have the right to access it and carry its credentials with them for life. In the past when we have done stuff like this, it is always "other people's children" who end up doing the technical routes. High performing and middle class schools will magically end up with fewer children in technical routes, and poor performing schools will shovel their toughest students (who are statistically from lower socio-economic backgrounds) into them. This is what happened last time, and it will happen again. It will not help social mobility, and it will ironically decrease employability. Yes, this child might be more likely to be employable as a bricklayer (which, to be clear, is fine), but they will be less employable as a data manager, software engineer, accountant, events planner or retail manager (which, to be clear, is not fine). It's definitely the case that there is a small % of students in a small % of areas that might need different approaches to what we currently have. But it is a logical fallacy to take that small % and extrapolate it to a nation-wide policy change. I would strongly urge you to look at the reams of research that have already been conducted in the area, and established that - potentially alone in the west - our education system is doing pretty damn well. We have a flawed but strong curriculum, improving behaviour and standards across the board and a workforce that is ever more engaged with the research base. After decades of two- and three- tier systems, we have state schools that are now proving that disadvantaged students can leave school with astonishingly high academic qualifications. Let's not row that back. (PS there are plenty of people with rich experience and expertise in this area [who aren't me]. These people are deeply invested in getting the best life outcomes for our students, they aren't fusty old Govian academic snobs. I am always happy to try and help you find them.) tes.com/magazine/news/…

Lots of Questions needing answering? Will all schools be expected to deliver these alongside GCSE course? Will there be 'centres of excellence' which allow technical pathway courses to be delivered at aged 14? Will English and Maths be the only compulsory element to compare?

The Andromeda galaxy isn't making stars like it used to. A new study using @NASAHubble data shows that star formation in Andromeda has been slowing down over the last 40 million years: go.nasa.gov/4yE0X5z

This is the result of many bad legacy decisions taken by UKRI hastily and without proper consultation, overseen by a government department that no longer exists. Surely the new @andyburnham government will want to take time to review this.

Teaching science and RE in a ‘more connected’ way could lead to increased interest in Stem careers, according to new UCL research tes.com/magazine/news/…

Take a look at Albert Einstein's abgangszeugnis (diploma) that he received 126 years ago. Einstein got the diploma after his studies at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich during 1896-1900. More documents regarding Albert Einstein via ETH Zürich: bit.ly/3hJ1oF8

Today the Voyager Program completes 35,000 days of operations in space. Because I was launched 11 days before sister Voyager 1, its not quite evenly split, but I think it is a splendid record, don't you?

Curiosity is your greatest tool. Put it to work with this week's #GCHQPuzzle 🧩 There's no time limit, so take your time and enjoy the challenge before adding your answers below🧙‍♀️

GCSEs should allow students to pursue their passions while developing skills for the workplace or further study. But are they delivering on this? Current A-level student Hannah O’Brien gives her view tes.com/magazine/analy…

@shahinsmith @chatbiology @ChatChemistry @ChatSci lots of no!

@ChatPhysics @chatbiology @ChatChemistry @ChatSci No, no, and no.

Hello Chat Physics (and @chatbiology @ChatChemistry and @ChatSci First major discussion point on TWITTER for the Summer Most of us remember Coursework for GCSE (I still remember POAE!) 1) Did you like coursework? 2) Did teachers mark fairly? 3) Do you want Coursework again?

@gazz567 @chatbiology @ChatChemistry @ChatSci so is that a maybe?

@ChatPhysics @chatbiology @ChatChemistry @ChatSci 1. No it was awful to mark 2. No, the UMS alone proved it was massaged to within an inch of its life 3. I’d rather quit the profession…

Take a look at this wedding photo from 26 July 1895 of the most renowned couple in the history of the #NobelPrize: Marie Skłodowska and Pierre Curie. Instead of a bridal gown, Marie Curie wore a very dark blue outfit that would serve her for many years as a laboratory outfit.

#OTD in 1969, Apollo11 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, fulfilling the second half of JFK's Moonshot: "...and returning him safely to the Earth."

Einstein, Curie, Bohr, Planck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger… how many Nobel Prize laureates can you spot? Some of the world’s most notable physicists participated in the 1927 Solvay Conference. In fact, 17 of the 29 scientists attending were or became #NobelPrize laureates.