London and South East
London and South Eastern Branch Newsletter
Autumn 2006
In the Chair - a year to remember
By the time you receive this newsletter I will have been branch chair for a year, and I would like to thank members for making it such an active and successful period.
In the past 12 months some 40 talks have been given at various centres around the UK (London, Hertfordshire, Kent and Milton Keynes) attracting an audience of some 4000. We are pleased with the attendance, but I must put in a plea: if you wish to come to one of the London talks, please notify Beverley Harker (b.j.harker@open.ac.uk) so that we know how much food and drink to order.
Our first Branch Dinner was held at the Royal Institution. Although the event was attended by just two dozen people, it was an enjoyable evening. Our next Branch Dinner will be held at Institute headquarters in Portland Place on Wednesday 1 November and will immediately follow Dr Cyril Isenberg's celebrated lecture on bubbles. The cost of the evening is £30, which includes wine. Please book your place by contacting David Pick (d.r.pick@breathe.com).
The Institute's Schools' Lecture "Gravity, gas and stardust" by Dr Pete Edwards had its London airing at Queen Mary, University of London, in the brand new Perrin Lecture Theatre of the Queen Mary Medical School. About 600 school students attended the two performances, and the lecture was professionally recorded. The Institute will distribute DVDs of Edwards' lecture to schools.
The Royal Institution normally hosts this lecture in central London, but it is undergoing extensive renovation this year and next, so we expect the 2007 Schools' Lecture to be at Queen Mary, University of London, again. We are grateful to the Royal Institution for its help with bookings.
The student section of the Branch has been active, with some members travelling to Turkey to observe the total solar eclipse, and others travelling to the International Physics Student Conference in Romania to gain experience for their hosting of the 2007 Conference in London. The students received financial assistance to cover travel expenses.
The Retired Members Section has again been very active. More details on their events programme for the remainder of 2006 are here.
Paperclip Physics, a competition for schools, was held on a regional basis this year. Our Branch fielded 42 teams from 33 schools, and there were 12 teams from the South Central Branch. Consequently there were rather a large number of heats. The final of the competition was held at the National Maritime Museum in London. Until recently it was uncertain whether the competition would take place next year owing to a lack of finances and effort. Fortunately the competition is able to go ahead on a somewhat reduced budget. The Branch contact for information on Paperclip Physics is Bob Boutland. Malcolm Cornwall is organising the combined competition for the L&SE and South Central branches.
The Institute of Physics Committee, which consisted of the chairs of all branches, has been renamed the Nations and Regions Board (nations refers to Scotland, Wales and Ireland; regions refers to branches in England) and has been given some delegated powers. In line with this, there are some proposed changes in the constitution of branches. Most changes are simplifications, giving the branches more scope in dealing with Institute matters, but one existing rule is being emphasised: the Institute is a charity, and the Charity Commissioners are keen that members of committees rotate, so that no individual remains on a committee for too long. For our Branch Committee the time limit is four years, so we will be looking to elect new members at next year's AGM.
I hope that the coming year will be as successful as this one has been.
Peter Kalmus, Chair
British Physics Olympians take home bronze medals from International Physics Olympiad
This year thousands of A2 students throughout the UK sat Paper 1 of the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) Competition. Some 1500 students performed sufficiently well to tackle Paper 2, of which 50 were invited to take the more challenging Paper 3. From this, just 16 finalists were chosen to attend a three-day training camp at Abingdon School near Oxford. The camp culminated in a three hour experimental project and a another theoretical paper. Finally, five students were selected as the BPhO team to compete in the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) held in Singapore on 8-17 July.
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The BPhO team included Peter Ford, Royal Grammar School Worcester, Jinyang Liu, Millfield School, Somerset, Michael Mackay, Royal Grammar School Newcastle upon Tyne, Matthew Norris, Wilson's School, Surrey, and Jonathan Rees, St Paul's School, London.
Following the selection of the team, a presentation ceremony was held for the finalists at The Royal Society in London, together with the outstanding GCSE Physics Challenge students and their teachers. The astronomer Prof. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was in the chair and gave an illuminating talk about the discovery of pulsars, which captured everyone's imagination. Prof. Sir David King, chief Government scientist, presented the prizes and in his speech predicted a bright and challenging future for British science. This was followed by a lecture by Prof. Martyn Chamberlain, from Durham University, on terahertz technology. This field is proving to have applications in forensic science investigations and in screening passengers at airports, among others.
Some 85 countries sent teams of five students, accompanied by teachers, to the IPhO in Singapore. The opening ceremony was impressive with many VIPs and Nobel prizewinners in attendance.
The students subsequently tackled, on an individual basis, a challenging five-hour theoretical paper and a five-hour experimental paper. Refreshments were provided during the examinations. While the papers were being marked there was a full programme of scientific and cultural visits, social events and entertainment for the students.
The BPhO team consisted of Peter Ford, Royal Grammar School Worcester, Jinyang Liu, Millfield School, Somerset, Michael Mackay, Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, Matthew Norris, Wilson's School, Surrey, and Jonathan Rees, St Paul's School, London. They were accompanied by Guy Bagnall, Robin Hughes and Anson Cheung from the Olympiad Committee and two teachers who were awarded scholarships to attend the IPhO as observers: Steven Martin from Hills Road Sixth-form College, Cambridge, and Andrew Brittain from Wilson's School, Surrey.
At the closing ceremony each member of the British team received a bronze medal. In 1988 and 1990 a British student gained a gold medal and the top prize at the IPhO. Unfortunately the National Curriculum does not provide the depth of knowledge and skills to enable students to excel in solving the challenging quantitative problems in physics posed by the IPhO. However, this year's team did very well considering their current knowledge.
Next year the IPhO will be held in Isfarhan, Iran, on 13-21 July. All schools will receive information about the next BPhO competition in September.
Physics well represented at the BA CREST Awards
"Quantum approach to measuring angles", presented by St Clement Danes School, was just one of a number of physics projects that were on display at the regional BA CREST Awards event.
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Two members of the team from Watford Grammar explain their project "New Stop Plank design for lock repairs" to assessors Ian Williamson (Young Engineers Co-ordinator SETPOINT Hertfordshire) and Bob Boutland (London and South East Branch).
The awards were organised by Hertfordshire SETPOINT and hosted by GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on 21 June.
The event covered the whole of the eastern region, from Norfolk to Buckinghamshire, with the winners in each of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards proceeding to the national finals in London.
Of course, chemistry and biology projects were also on show, including: "Split ends", (Hertfordshire and Essex), "Expanding marshmallows", (Ralph Sadlier) and "Polymerase chain reaction/DNA fingerprinting" (Chesham Park Community College).
Physics was represented in a number of projects, including Watford Grammar's "New Stop Plank design for lock repairs", where the strength of a material was used to calculate the thickness of material required. "The optimum conditions for a water theme park ride" was investigated in an interesting way by a team from Tabour Science College. Other projects that were presented included "Heat mats" (Birchwood High), "Formula 1 racing car challenge" (Birchwood High), "Stopping distances" (Queenswood) and "Modelling planetary changes by measuring changes in light intensity" (Hitchin Girls).
The winner in the Gold Award class was "Design of a water filter extraction unit" by the City of Norwich School team. They used the available materials in a highly innovative way.
Science Day is a success
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Pupils at Cardinal Hinsley High School in Brent are eager to take part in the science demonstration.
Year 8 pupils at Cardinal Hinsley High School, Brent, were excited and enthusiastic about their Science Day on 10 July, which was sponsored by the London & South East Branch. The rocket session, which was led by Dr Ronan Wall, was hugely popular and produced some innovative designs from the students.
John Sparrow and Frances Bryant demonstrated some of the latest available information technology and allowed pupils to produce their own ring tones for their mobile phones.
The field of biology was also represented, with Dr Malanie Hanna and Dr Koyle Balogun helping pupils to produce their own DNA necklace.
The "Beauty of Physics" posters provided by the Education Department at Portland Place were in evidence and a set of "Do this at home" postcards were distributed among the pupils when the event finished.
Download the tools to build interest in physics
Have you ever considered visiting primary schools to excite young children's interest in physics? Sessions should be fun for the children; explain the numerous basic concepts clearly; support the curriculum; and provide support for teachers. To do this successfully takes time and careful preparation.
To help you, a team from Sheffield University - under the leadership of Prof. Gillian Gehring - has developed a website of suitable material, which is hosted by the Institute. To access this information go to www.iop.org (under "Our Activities" click on "Engaging the Public" and then "Physicists and Primary Schools Project").
The site will soon have 10 presentations covering different areas of the curriculum. Each session has fun activities; games that engage the whole class; and novel demonstrations. These are clearly described with details of the apparatus used and safety notes. Possible misconceptions that children may have are explained so that these can be corrected. A well illustrated, downloadable PowerPoint presentation has been provided for each session. The site is extensive and has detailed guidance notes.
If you would like to get involved, do take a look at the site.
Gehring's team would like to get your feedback after your first visit. If you would like more information, contact Ann Marks. The members of the Sheffield team are Prof Gillian Gehring, Prof David Mowbray, Dr Susan Cartwright, Dr Richard de Grijs and Dr David Lidzey.
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