Physics Alive

The Maple: Sweet Siren and Physics Phenom

Maple Syrup. Champion of breakfast, the perfecter of pancakes. Sweet addition to butter, beans, and even bacon. But how does that treat travel from tree to table? Phenomenal physics is in no short supply, and Abby van den Berg, a Research Associate Professor at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center, shares her joy and her expertise. She discusses the wonder of sap flow, long-term tree health, production methods, and the pigments associated with autumn foliage.

Full show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/maple

Episode notes and resources:

Where to go for all your maple news?

Start at the Proctor Maple Research Center website:

• https://www.uvm.edu/cals/proctor-maple-research-center

Also visit other University of Vermont webpages:

• UVM Proctor Maple Research Center YouTube channel

• UVM Extension Maple Program

Other links Abby suggested:

• North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual
• Mapleresearch.org from the North American Maple Syrup Council

Today's Guest:

Abby van den Berg is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center. Her areas of expertise and research include plant physiological ecology and maple syrup chemistry.

She writes: Much of my research focuses on the ecophysiology of maple sugaring, including the effects of tapping and carbohydrate extraction on tree growth and health, the physiology of stem pressure and carbohydrates in xylem sap, and ultimately on helping to develop management practices and tapping guidelines to ensure the long-term sustainability of maple syrup production. Recently, my work has expanded to include studying the physiology of stem pressure development in birch trees, and investigating sap yields and the potential profitability of adding birch syrup production to existing maple operations in the Northeastern US.

This only scratches the surface of Abby's work. Learn more about her work:

• Abby van dem Berg's University of Vermont faculty profile
• Listen to Abby on Science Friday!

Universal Design for Learning and Multiple Means of Engagement

The universal design for learning (UDL) framework is an approach based on educational research that can guide the development of flexible learning environments that are supportive of and accessible to all learners. I’m speaking with Melissa Eblen-Zayas and Kristen Burson, authors on a recent paper describing their efforts to implement UDL and promote student mental health. They specifically focus on physics course modifications that provide multiple means of engagement.

Go to the full episode show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/udl

 

Today's conversation is with Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Professor of Physics at Carleton College, and Kristen Burson, Associate Professor of Physics at Grinnell College. They author a paper, along with Danielle McDermott, titled "Course Modifications to Promote Student Mental Health and Move toward Universal Design for Learning."  Their paper appeared in the November 2022 issue of The Physics Teacher. 

You can access the paper below:

• Course Modifications to Promote Student Mental Health and Move toward Universal Design for Learning

The CAST website provides great resources for Universal Design for Learning. CAST's mission is to transform education design and practice until learning has no limits.

• The UDL Guidelines
  • UDL chart
  • UDL checklist

Other resources that were recommened:

• Book: Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone by Thomas J. Tobin and
  Kirsten T. Behling
• YouTube video: Shelley Moore: Transforming Inclusive Education

Learn more about today's guests:

• Kristen Burson's faculty webpage
• Melissa Eblen-Zayas faculty webpage and personal website
  • Listen to Melissa speak about how she uses metacognitive reflection exercises to address student biases in the podcast Tea for Teaching.

Physics with Phones with David Rakestraw

What if I told you that you could do velocity, acceleration, friction, rotations, impulse and momentum, pressure, sound, color, and magnetic field labs all with a single measurement device? And what if I told you that almost every student is walking into the classroom with their own device already in hand? Welcome to Physics with Phones curriculum. Each lesson details activities using built-in smartphone sensors to illustrate key physics concepts, including elevation, g force, and angular velocity. David Rakestraw, a senior science advisor at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, has put together many lessons that are freely available online. He’s here to talk about how he got involved with this technology, what sensors our students can access, and how we can use these in our classes.

Full show notes available at:

www.physicsalive.com/phones

 

Webpage for Physics with Phones

• https://st.llnl.gov/sci-ed/Physics-with-Phones

Phone apps to try out:

• PhyPhox
• Vieyra Software

David Rakestraw is a senior science advisor at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) in California. A multi-program national security laboratory, its primary stated mission is to enhance the nation’s defense and reduce the global threat from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Prior to LLNL, he spent 12 years at Sandia National Laboratories, where he engaged in a wide range of research and development activities. He even co-founded a company that specialized in applying microfluidics for chemical analysis.

Today, he’s not going to talk about any of that! Instead, this conversation will be all about doing physics with phone sensors. Physics with Phones is a series of presentations outlining a wide range of experiments that are well-aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. These were developed for the classroom, but many can be done by students in their own homes. 

Learn more about David from his alumni biography:

• https://www.onu.edu/alumni-profiles/david-rakestraw-bs-83

Webpage for Physics with Phones

• https://st.llnl.gov/sci-ed/Physics-with-Phones

See even more opportunities at LLNL's Teacher Research Academy

• https://st.llnl.gov/sci-ed/teacher-research-academy

 

The Physics Alive Road Journal

The Physics Alive podcast is on the road this week! A busy semester has made it challenging to produce new episodes, so your host has taken his microphone on the road, recording while driving. Hear updates about Brad's classes and experiences this semester at his new teaching institution, Plymouth State University. The ups, the downs, the good, the frustrating -- the teacher's journey.

The Investigative Science Learning Environment with Eugenia Etkina

ISLE, the Investigative Science Learning Environment, is an intentional holistic learning environment for physics. It addresses two main goals: to help students learn physics by engaging them in the processes that mirror scientific practice and to improve their well-being while they are learning physics. Eugenia Etkina started this approach nearly 40 years ago and has been an ardent teacher educator in the years since. This interview with Eugenia provides the educational philosophy behind ISLE, specific examples of how the approach works, and the support network that can get you started.

Show notes: www.physicsalive.com/ISLE

Learn more about Eugenia and her work:

• www.islephysics.net

• Eugenia's faculty page

You can email Eugenia at:

• eugenia.etkina@gse.rutgers.edu

ISLE website:

• www.islephysics.net
• Adopting the ISLE approach

Join the Facebook group -- Exploring and Applying Physics

ISLE resource page on PhysPort

• https://www.physport.org/methods/method.cfm?G=ISLE

ISLE Implementation Guide on PhysPort

• https://www.physport.org/methods/Section.cfm?G=ISLE&S=What

Articles:

• 2020 - Implementing an epistemologically authentic approach to student-centered inquiry learning
• 2015 – Eugenia’s Millikan Lecture
• 2007 – ISLE guide, a chapter from “Research-Based Reform of University Physics”

Diffraction of DNA and the DNA of my Physics Class

In this episode, I talk about DNA: a simple DNA diffraction and interference experiment using the spring from a pen, and the DNA, the structure of my introductory physics class during the spring '22 semester. 

 

Full show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/dna

 

DNA Diffraction and Interference Lab and/or Demonstration

Figure 1: X-ray diffraction pattern of B-DNA labeled Photo 51 by Rosalind Franklin.

Figure 2: Interference pattern from a pen spring. Pattern produced from a red diode laser passing through the spring from a pen. Projected on a screen 8 meters away.

Here are the articles I referenced about DNA interference and diffraction experiments:

• DNA Science AAPT Digi Kit
• How Rosalind Franklin Discovered the Helical Structure of DNA: Experiments in Diffraction

• Revealing the Backbone Structure of B-DNA from Laser Optical Simulations of Its X-ray Diffraction Diagram

X-ray diffraction and DNA optical transform from the ICE (Institute for Chemical Education) Online store at wisc.edu

• Optical transform demo kit
• DNA optical transform kit

DNA of Brad's introductory physics class (Spring 2022)

Star grading system:

Here's the entire syllabus for the spring 2022 semester of PHYS 105: Survey of Physics II for life science majors:

• Moser Syllabus 2022 Spring

Specifications grading:

• "Specifications Grading" by Linda Nilson
• Short article about Specs Grading by Linda Nilson
• Blog post on Specifications Grading by Robert Talbert

 

 

We’re Going on a Planet Hunt with Sara Seager

Sara Seager is Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on discovering new exoplanets and characterizing their atmospheres. She hopes to find and identify another Earth and searches for signs of life. In this episode, Sara describes how we find planets around other stars and how we can possibly know how their atmospheres are composed.

 

Check out the full show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/exoplanets

 

Learn more about Sara and her work:

• https://www.saraseager.com/
• Sara's MIT faculty page

 

Here are some of the great resources that Sara Seager suggested!

Discover some of the great exoplanets we've found at:

• NASA exoplanets
• Eyes on Exoplanets

For instance, you can check out the travel posters for some new worlds you might like to visit.

 

The NASA website is full of great information.

You can also learn more about Sara's Venus work:

• Venuscloudlife.com

 

For some great images, a tutorial on light curves, and the data from my transit classroom experiment, go to the full show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/exoplanets

 

 

The Future of Education with Jeff Young

Jeff Young is an editor and reporter focused on technology issues and the future of education. He is currently the managing editor at EdSurge and the producer and host of the EdSurge Podcast, a weekly look at the future of learning. We talk about developments he’s seen throughout his career reporting on education, MOOCs and their place in education, the themes of the EdSurge podcast, and his take on the future of education. Check out the EdSurge Podcast!

 

Go to today's Show Notes at:

physicsalive.com/edsurge

 

EdSurge reports on the people, ideas, and tools shaping the future of learning. EdSurge is at the forefront of reporting on changes in education and their consequences. They do this through award-winning journalism, research and analysis. They share stories that elevate the voices and experiences of educators, entrepreneurs, researchers and other stakeholders working to support equitable opportunities for all learners.

• edsurge.com

 

Check out some of Brad's recent favorite episodes of the EdSurge Podcast:

• Educators Have Some Pointed Advice For Tech Companies Building the Metaverse
• What Educators Should Know About the Latest in Brain Health
• Are Upstart Online Providers Getting Better at Teaching Than Traditional Colleges?
• The Tyranny of Letter Grades
• How Are Final Exams Changing During the Pandemic?

 

Jeffrey R. Young is an editor and reporter focused on technology issues and the future of education. He is currently the managing editor at EdSurge and the producer and host of the weekly EdSurge Podcast about the future of learning.

 

Learn more about Jeff and his work:

• Jeff's webpage
• Jeff at EdSurge

 

Twitter

• https://twitter.com/jryoung

 

 

Podcast Reflections and Recent Articles from The Physics Teacher (Winter 2022)

In this episode, I summarize four articles from the Winter 2022 issues of The Physics Teacher: reflecting on a difficult year, group work equitability, lab activities on temperature and thermodynamics, and polarimetry measurements for food science. I also reflect on the purpose of this podcast, the many types of episodes you can expect to hear, and how I might better support you - the listener, the educator - to put new ideas into practice. Also, Physics Alive is now on Slack!

 

www.physicsalive.com/tptwinter22

 

Physics Alive is on Slack. Join the Slack workspace.

You can also leave comments and share discussion on the Physics Alive Twitter feed.

 

Journal: The Physics Teacher

Article #1:

• Title: Just Physics? Reflecting on a Difficult Year
• Authors: Deepak Iyer and Shannon Wachowski
• Find more Just Physics? articles

 

Article #2:

• Title: Share It, Don't Split It: Can Equitable Group Work Improve Student Outcomes?
• Authors: Danny Doucette and Chandralekha Singh

 

Article #3:

• Title: Lab activities on temperature and thermodynamics
• Author: James Lincoln

 

Article #4:

• Title: Polarimetry Measurement in a Physics Lab for Food Science Undergraduate Students
• Authors: Ivan Cescon and Alberto Stefanel

The Physics Rundown on Running with Wouter Hoogkamer

Wouter Hoogkamer, Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the director of the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab. He studies human locomotion, integrating neurophysiology, biomechanics and energetics. In today’s episode, learn about his research on running economy and breaking the two-hour marathon mark. Plus, we’ll take his expertise and distill it down to some experiments and concepts that we can use in the high school and college intro physics classroom.

 

Show notes: www.physicsalive.com/running

 

Learn more about Wouter and his work:

• Wouter's UMass Amherst faculty page

Twitter

• https://twitter.com/woutersinas

 

The University of Massachusetts Integrative Locomotion Lab (UMILL)

• The lab's webpage

 

National Biomechanics Day

• https://thebiomechanicsinitiative.org/

 

Video analysis software

• Kinovea
• Tracker
• ImageJ

 

Force plates

• Vernier force plate
• Pasco force plate

 

Selected articles written by or quoting Wouter Hoogkamer

• Breaking the Two-Hour Marathon Barrier (2017)
• A Comparison of the Energetic Cost of Running in Marathon Racing Shoes (2018)
• The Benefits of Drafting (2020)
• Altered Running Economy Directly Translates to Altered Distance-Running Performance (2016)

More articles at Media Coverage on the UMILL website