Thomas was interested in how the brain makes its own beat, and put together this little sound test. You'll need headphones to appreciate it properly, but it is interesting to listen to on speakers as well.
Loosely focused on KS3 (but when have we ever stuck to the brief), this episode looks at ways to teach sound with David Cotton, the most enthusiastic proponent of the topic.
We are delighted to be joined by Mark Robinson (@mark_robo) who has had some deep thoughts about how to write and mark questions. So much so that he has taught a computer to do it for him and you can use it too!
Thomas and Robin are joined by Patrick Kaplo from Wyndham, New Hampshire to follow up on a question he asked way back at the beginning of the Covid crisis, namely "How will this change our practice?"
We are delighted to be joined once more by Friend of the Podcast and Physics Teacher Support Polymath Carole Kenrick (@HelpfulScience) to talk about Literacy for Physics.
We are so privileged this week to be joined by Christina Astin. 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.
Thomas and Robin have a couple of goes at sharing the ideas our dear listener has given us about teaching about magnetic fields and magnetism. We were particularly thinking about non-specialists who are likely to be covering this with the younger kids.
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.
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.
Robin and Thomas are joined by Rajani Nair (@NairPhysics), (who before answering our tweet had not heard of the podcast) and who shares her ideas about teaching Specific Heat Capacity at A-Level. She also has a wonderful memorable practical which involves throwing eggs. We are then joined by James de Winter in a (hopefully) regular slot "Dispatches with de Winter" where he talks about the book 5 Easy Lessons.
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, before talking to FoTP, Carole Kenrick about Domains and Zines.
Thank you so much for making such a great job of teaching with the Covid restrictions! Given the circumstances, schools have done an extraordinary job, and this episode shows how teachers will always find a silver lining. We get a raft of ideas from folk turning the situation to their advantage; for example using visualisers to zero in on the crucial points of practicals, using OneNote to 'write' equations for you... we could go on.
Way back at the beginning of series one we were thrilled to hear from an international school teacher named Matt who had just landed in Lima. Fast forward two years and we have finally managed to organise a chat with the fabulous Matt Bowman.
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.
