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Pomona
College Workshop Provides “Cool & Groovy” Physics
Lessons For High School Teachers
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As concern continues to mount about U.S. competitiveness in
math and science, Pomona College will host its Fifth Annual
Physics Teachers Workshop on Sunday, February 24, 2007,
providing Southern California high school physics teachers
with both updates on advances in physics and hands-on
experiments designed to meet the time and budgetary
constraints of a typical high school.
Focusing on “Cool & Groovy,” the workshops include a
demonstration measuring the speed of light and two hands-on
lab activities:
• In “Physics on the Electric Guitar,” a “pick-up” on an
electric guitar uses magnetic induction to detect the motion
of strings. In the loudspeaker, the process is reversed.
Students are led through a series of explorations on
magnetism and electromagnetism designed to build
understanding of these phenomena. The lab culminates in an
activity where students use a homemade pick-up and speaker
along with an inexpensive amplifier to play a mock electric
guitar.
• “Too Cool to Resist” focuses on superconductivity, one of
the most exciting macroscopic quantum effects in physics,
leading to Nobel prizes in both theoretical and experimental
physics. Working with liquid nitrogen, participants will
cool samples down to approximately 77K and see the effect of
temperature on the resistance of a “normal” conductor, and
the radically different effect on a superconductor. The lab
ends with a demonstration of the Meissner Effect, a
superconducting classic!
According to David Tanenbaum, an associate professor of
physics at Pomona College, “Most students get their first
introduction to physics in high school classrooms, and we
realize that many high school teachers have only minimal
budgets and facilities. Our goal is to excite teachers and
give them additional tools to excite their students. We hope
the hands-on experiments will do that.”
The 2007 Pomona College workshop is co-sponsored by Pomona
College, the CNS Institute for Physics Teachers and the
National Science Foundation. Breakfast and lunch will be
provided. Five and one-half in-service credits will be
awarded for participation. The event will be held at the
Pomona College Milikan Laboratory, 610 N. College Ave.,
Claremont, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For a more detailed
schedule, call (909) 621-8724.
Pomona College is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions. Its hallmarks include small classes, close
relationships between students and faculty, and a range of
opportunities for student research. Visit Pomona College on
the web at www.pomona.edu.
# # #
CONTACTS:
David Tanenbaum
Associate Professor of Physics, Pomona College
Phone: (909) 621-8722
Email: dtanenbaum@pomona.edu
Monica Plisch
Director, CNS Institute for Physics Teachers and
Lecturer, Applied and Engineering Physics
Cornell University
Phone: (607) 255-2102
Email: mjp11@cornell.edu
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