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PHYSICAL SCIENCES

A MAGAZINE FOR SECOND LEVEL TEACHERS OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY September 2007 Issue 8

Dear Colleagues,

We hope you enjoyed the summer break and that you are looking forward to the teaching enjoyment andchallenges of the year ahead.

This issue of the Physical Sciences contains updates on support courses available, articles from colleagues sharingtheir classroom experiences, feature articles on When is an experiment not an experiment and The Digital dividebetween teachers and students and lots more.

We thank all who contributed articles for this issue and invite you to submit comments on our website forum andlet us know what you think. We would also like to invite you to submit an article to the Chemistry or Physics Co-ordinator for the next issue of the magazine.

We look forward to working with you and wish you and your students every success throughout the academic year.

Brendan Duane, Chemistry Co-ordinator SLSS Tim Regan, Physics Co-ordinator SLSS

Supported by

SLSS Physics &Chemistry Support

• The magazine ‘Physical Sciences’is circulated to all second level schools in Septemberand January.

• A consultation service by phone, faxor email is available.

• A limited number of school visits will be provided, resources permitting.

• Regional Network Meetings to support local identified needswill be facilitated.

• Details of courses onoffer are contained inside.

• The Physical Sciences website,www.slss.ieis regularly updated and contains new useful resources and news of upcoming in-service and events.

www.slss.ie

Log on to www.slss.ie where you can go directly to the Chemisrty and Physics homepages.

You will find a wealth of downloadable resources which will be continually updated.

You can access details of all upcoming support events and application forms for courses arealso available for download.

Upon logging on, please register and contribute to the Forum section of the website.

The Physics support programme for the school year 2006-2007 included three modular courses which focussed onthe teaching of physics in the classroom, datalogging induction and physics experiment courses, a limited numberof school visits as well as regional support network meetings. Our consultation service proved to be increasinglymore popular. Further support was offered through two issues of the magazine “Physical Sciences” and the websitephysics.slss.ie

Modular Courses SL0622 Induction Course for Physics TeachersThe physics teachers who attended were mainly new to the professionwhile others were new to the revised Leaving Certificate syllabus. Day 3 focussed on practical physics laboratory work.

The course introduced teachers to the structure and content of thephysics syllabus, the teacher guidelines and the teacher supportstarter pack. Teachers also explored effective teaching methods forcommunicating physics and had a hands-on experience with most ofthe experiments listed in the syllabus.

Feedback from the teachers included: ‘As a new Physics teacher I found the lab day very useful and helpful’

‘The diverse and active layout sessions were very effective’

‘I intend to use many of the techniques and demonstrations in class’

‘I found lots of little tips invaluable’.

SL0623 Using ICT to enhance learning in the physics classroomThis course was hosted by the Blackrock, Laois, Mayo, Navan, West Cork Education Centres and the Waterford Teachers’ Centre. The course included learning strategies using ICT tools such as PowerPoint, CD-ROMs, Internet Applets and Datalogging to engagethe learner. The participants did action research in optional topics from their own work situations, reflected on practice anddocumented the outcomes.. All physics classroom resource materials generated by participants during the course were compiledand distributed to all contributors.

Feedback from the participants on what they found the most useful included:‘Sharing of very simple ideas and ways of improving physics teaching and learning’

‘Use of PowerPoint to make the subject interesting and relevant’

‘The realisation that there are so many resources out there and the (relative!) ease with which to import into the classroom’

SL0705 Flash Animations in Classroom Physics

This course was offered to physics teachers who had alreadycompleted a physics ICT course and who were interested inexploring the added value of using flash in the classroom.

Kildare Education Centre hosted the course which exploredpractical ideas and strategies for communicating physics anddeveloped participant experiential teaching skills. All theparticipants undertook some action research project anddocumented the outcomes. These projects were then compiled anddistributed to all contributors.

Feedback from the participants included: ‘I found the embedding of

flash animations into PowerPoint Presentations most useful’

‘I enjoyed networking with peers and learning physics classroom skills on

PowerPoint’

‘Very useful and helpful’, Really enjoyable, great to have experts there to

answer questions, thank you’.

P H Y S I C A L S C I E N C E S M A G A Z I N E

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Physics Induction Course, Cork.

Physics teachers at the Flash Animations course in Kildare

Physics Support January - June 2007

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Datalogging InductionFive one day datalogging workshops were organised during the school year. The Monaghan, Kildare, Wexford and Galway EducationCentres as well as the Springfort Hall in Mallow were the venues. The Mallow course supported different datalogging systems whichcreated a lot of interest. It is planned to organise a similar type course in the Blackrock Education Centre on Friday December 14,2007.

These workshops were facilitated bycolleagues who have a lot of experience inusing datalogging in their teaching. The focuswas on hands-on activities to highlight theadvantages of using datalogging in selectedexperiments and to give participants theconfidence needed to use their dataloggingequipment.

Feedback from the participants included: ‘I found the practising of key skills and the time to

practise most helpful’

’Great to have the time to re-learn how to do

datalogging experments’

‘I feel more confident with the equipment now’

‘Excellent day, well worth attending –hope to

incorporate datalogging in my teaching’.

Leaving Certificate Physics ExperimentsThis one day workshop was hosted by the physics Department UCC. It focused on different methodologies for many of theexperiments listed in the syllabus and included hands-on sessions where participants choose the experiments they wished to do.

Feedback from the teachers included: ‘Great to network and share info/teaching tips/resources with other physics teachers’

‘I found the new ideas of how to approach certain experiments most helpful’

‘I found not doing every experiment but doing a few thoroughly very helpful’.

Physics Network Meetings Twenty eight physics network meetings werefacilitated by physics associates during the2006/2007 school year in thirteen differentEducation Centres. These meetings took place inteachers own time and were organised incollaboration with the local Education CentreDirectors and in cooperation with the Junior ScienceSupport Service, the Irish Science Teachers’Association (ISTA) and the Institute of Physics (IOP).

Almost all indicated that they found the meetingshelpful or very helpful. The plan for this year is tooffer the physics network support to more teachersand to broaden the support topics on offer.

Physics Support January - June 2007

Physics teachers at the Datalogging course in Mallow

Physics teachers at the Cork Labday


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SL0522 (Modular) Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers

This course is modular and spread over three days one of which isoutside of school hours. The three venues this year were NUIMaynooth, University College Cork and Athlone Institute of Technology.New teachers were introduced to the revised Chemistry syllabus andall participants were delighted to get direction and advice so early intheir careers. They have also benefited from hands-on practice of allthe organic practicals.

These inservices are an opportunity for teachers to share theirexperiences in teaching among likeminded colleagues and many tipsand useful resources were shared. New teachers also got advice and achance to try out effective teaching strategies in their own classrooms.Teachers also tried datalogging for the first time.

. . . having been thrown in at the deep end this course was a godsend.

. . . Great to get a chance to get hands-on experience and to be aware of any difficulties which might arise……… Great tips and advice given.

. . . Very good atmosphere among teaches

SL0523 (Modular) Using ICT in the Teaching of Chemistry

This elective course in ICT is proving very popular. It caters for all, from thevery inexperienced to the fairly competent.

The focus of this course is to empower teachers to use ICT skills in a variety ofways to explain key Chemistry concepts in their classrooms. The making of aPowerPoint presentation was demonstrated with emphasis on what keyelements are needed for effective presentations. Too much variation betweenslides and too much text on each slide are not recommended. The feedbackfrom the participating teachers was very positive. All resource materialgenerated by the participants will be burned to a CD and distributed to eachgroup.

. . . I didn’t think I could ever master PowerPoint but my progress to date has been amazing.

. . . Easy to follow instructions.

. . . Had a working PowerPoint in no time.

. . . Inserting Media looked very difficult at first but now it’s a piece of cake.

. . . My lessons will benefit so much from this course

DataloggingThere were three workshops on the use of Datalogging in Chemistry held in the schools listed below:Causeway Comprehensive, Kerry March 6th 2007Ballinamore Post Primary, Co. Leitrim, March 8th 2007Dunmore Community, School, Galway March 13th 2007

Ten experiments using many different sensors were laid on for teachers.Comprehensive step by step notes were provided on the day and these may bedownloaded on the www.slss.ie website.

. . . I feel more confident using the equipment now.

. . . everyone had a chance to do each experiment as there was enough equipment for all

. . . will definitely take out the dataloggers in the press in the lab.

. . . Could use this with TransitionYear.

Maynooth Induction

Cork ICT in Chemistry

Datalogging in Dunmore

Chemistry Support January - June 2007



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Just when you thought it was safe to laminate those lesson notes.the NCCAdecides to take another look at chemistry, biology and physics. Don’t be toohasty about hitting the shredder button, however. Review doesn’t necessarilymean ‘all change here’. It is a considered process which provides an

opportunity to address issues experienced by teachers in the classroom. So with the focus on key skills,assessment and learning outcomes and the emphasis on retaining the best features of the currentsyllabuses you may find yourself drawing smiley faces on your lesson notes in the future!

The development and revision of thescience syllabuses are part of TheSenior Cycle Review and will involveembedding the key skills, asappropriate, in each of the curriculumcomponents. The key skills arecommunicating, working with others,being personally effective, criticaland creative thinking and informationprocessing. The process will alsoinvolve • considering the balance between

content and skills in the course • reviewing the assessment methods

with a particular emphasis on moving beyond terminal written examinations

• updating and modernising the course where necessary and appropriate.

The review offers the opportunity towiden the scope of the assessment processto acknowledge and reward candidates fortheir participation in practical workthroughout the course of their LeavingCertificate studies. The current Biology,Chemistry and Physics syllabuses werewritten with the expectation that asecond component of assessment would bedeveloped and thus are framed within thecontext of a practical approach toteaching and learning. Thus, a secondcomponent of assessment will bedeveloped that assesses those learningoutcomes and key skills that cannot beassessed through a written examination.This second component will be consistentacross the science subjects and will helpto shift the emphasis towards a morepractically based method of teaching.

The syllabuses will be presented interms of learning outcomes, definedin terms of what students will be ableto do at the end of a unit of studyrather than what they should betaught. This will place particularemphasis on the links betweenknowledge, skills, attitudes andvalues and will give better alignmentwith the revised Junior CertificateScience syllabus. Carrying anemphasis on an investigativeapproach to teaching and learningthrough from Primary to LeavingCertificate ensures not onlycontinuity and progression, but amore authentic experience of sciencein school and the development ofessential skills for lifelong learning.

This is a reprint of the article that appeared in info@ncca issue 6 April 2007

Chemistry Resource Day

This new one day course was held in Athlone Education Centre. Teachers whoattended were delighted to receive hands on demonstrations of variousresources and get practical advice from experienced ICT practitioners.

All took away with them a selection of resources and memory sticks were putto very good use during the day. Having the internet available was a huge bonusas lists of useful websites were visited and resources downloaded.

Teachers all agreed that a day was too short and that another day should beorganized next year. So be it.!!!!.

Network Meetings

These courses are voluntary courses and take place in the teachers own time. Nine such courses were held in April/ May and werewell attended. Useful revision resources were distributed as well as PowerPoint ,video and animations. The software packagesChemsketch, Camstudio (Screen capturing software.) and Jmol (showing 3D molecules) were demonstrated. Participants weregiven copies of these Software packages to take home.

Chemistry Support September - December 2006


A team of eleven science teachers and educators represented Ireland at theScience on Stage 2 Science Teaching Festival in Grenoble, France from 2-6April 2007. The Irish team consisted of Dr. Eilish McLoughlin from DCU;Brendan Duane, Chemistry Coordinator with Second Level Support Service;Paul Nugent, Physics Teacher Coordinator with the IOP; Joe Nugent,Chemistry Teacher Coordinator with the RSC, John Hennessy, Junior ScienceSupport Service; Rachel Linney, Confey College, Leixlip, Co. Kildare;Damienne Letmon, Presentation College, Terenure Park, Dublin 6w; RoryGeoghegan, Co. Dublin; Brian Masterson, De la Salle, Churchtown, Dublin 14;Noel Cunningham, King’s Hospital, Plamerstown, Dublin and Kevin Murphy,St. Paul’s Secondary School, Greenhills, Dublin 12.

The Science on Stage programme offers European teachers thechance to exchange successful and innovative teaching methodsand materials. It is directed towards science teachers and studentsin Europe's secondary schools. The project addresses the contentand format of science teaching in European schools, seeking toimprove the quality of teaching and to find new ways to stimulatepupils to take an interest in science. Innovative and inspirationalscience teaching is seen as a key component to attract youngpeople to deal with scientific issues, whether or not they finallychoose a career in science. Hence, Science on Stage aims tostimulate the interest of young people through the school teachers,who can play a key role in reversing the trend of falling interest inscience and current scientific research. Science on Stage formspart of the European Science Teachers Initiative (ESTI), funded bythe European Commission as part of the Nucleus set of activitiesand carried out by EIROforum together with the ‘Science in School’journal. The SOS initiative evolved from the previous Physics onStage 1, 2 and 3 programmes. Science on Stage is concerned withbasic science and also with the cross-over between different sciencedisciplines - an interdisciplinary trend becoming more and moreimportant in today's science, which is not normally reflected in school curricula. A key element of the programme is to giveteachers an up-to-date ‘insider’s’ view of what is happening in science. It also offers an opportunity to inform teachers aboutdiverse and interesting career opportunities for their pupils. Further information about the SOS programme is available at:http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Science_on_Stage/index.html

The festival is the final event of a two-year-longprogramme of events that has taken place in virtuallyevery European country and from which delegates havebeen selected for their outstanding projects promotingscience. The festival offers teachers a unique opportunityto exchange teaching materials and ideas, through thecombination of a science teaching fair, on-stage activitiesand parallel sessions and workshops. At this year’s SOS2festival the Irish delegation were commended for theirweek long fair presentation entitled “Reduce, Reuse,Recycle – A selection of demonstrations to show innovativeapproaches to teaching science using recycled andreusable materials and promoting environmentallyfriendly solutions.” Examples included wind generators,solar energy, bionic plungers, density of air, colour mixing,smelly balloons, electrolysis, wave motion using reclaimedcomponents from household appliances, air rockets,energy conservation and much more… The team alsopresented a workshop on the “Effective use of technologyin Science Education”.

Support for the Irish Science on Stage Delegation wasprovided by EIROforum, Discover Science and Engineering,Second Level Support Service, Junior Science SupportService, Institute of Physics and the Royal Society ofChemistry.

For more information on Ireland’s participation at Science on stage please go to:http://ireland.iop.org/activity/education/Science_on_Stage/page_19107.html

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Rory Geoghegan, Brian Masterson and Paul Nugentexchanging teaching ideas at the SOS2 festival.

Irish delegation at the Ireland fair stand at SOS2. Back row: (l-r) Brendan Duane, John Hennessy, Rory Geoghegan,Kevin Murphy, Paul Nugent, Joe Nugent, Brian Masterson, NoelCunningham. Front row: (l-r) Rachel Linney, Eilish McLoughlin,

Damienne Letmon.


How do we find the mass of air?Demonstration provided by Rory Geoghegan

You will need….a three-litre plastic bottlea syringe (e.g. 25 cm3)a bicycle valvea bicycle pumpa simple balancea counter weighta small piece of wood (3.6g)a punch or augera glue gun

Background:When a gas is compressed to half its originalvolume its pressure doubles.If the amount of air in a fixed volume is doubledthe pressure is doubled

Follow these steps:• Bore a hole in the cap of the bottle to hold the

bicycle valve.

• Seal the valve in the hole so that air can go inbut not out.

• Pull the plunger of the syringe to its full extent; measure the length of the air space and mark the middle with a permanent marker.

• Plug the nozzle of the syringe.

• Put the syringe in the bottle and seal the bottle.

• Hang the bottle on the balance and add a counter weight to the other side so that it is balanced.

• Remove the bottle and pump air in until the airin the syringe is reduced to half its original volume. Then replace the bottle on the balance.

So what happened?The bottle is now heavier; balance can berestored by adding the 3.6 g piece of wood to theother side.

What next?1. What is the mass of one litre of air? What is the mass of

a cubic metre of air?

2. Measure the dimensions of the room and calculate the mass of air in the room.

3. The weight of a kilogram is about 9.8 N. The pressure ofthe atmosphere is 100,000 N/m2. What mass of air is vertically above each square metre of the Earth’s surface?

4. If the atmosphere were uniformly dense what height would it be?

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Build a Cloud Chamber for €10Sean Fogarty

Instructions for use:1. Set the plunger about two thirds of the way down from the

top and seal the chamber i.e. screw on the top. 2. Push the plunger towards the top to increase the pressure and

then pull back rapidly to cause sudden reduction of the chamber pressure and super saturation of the chamber with the alcohol/water vapour and ultimately formation of the cloud trails due to the beta particles.

There are many combinations of plunger position and motion ofthe plunger that may work and one should experiment to findwhich works best, if there is a better method please let me know!

Precaution:Wipe the plastic case with a cloth regularly, the static chargecreated by this will help to clear the tube of ions and it willperform better with clearer more distinct trails.

Trouble shootingA number of problems can cause the cloud chamber not tofunction correctly. The following list may assist if problems occur.

Possible cause Solutionof problemSponge dry Wet with a 50:50 mix of methanol and water

Too much vapour/ Open front valve (needle attachment point on condensation the syringe) and move plunge a few times to in Chamber clear air in chamber. Seal again and retry.

Condensation on If the chamber has not been used for a while the source condensation can form on the front of the

source. This moisture is sufficient to block the beta particles (which helps to prove that the thick walls of the syringe should stop any radiation hazard).The best way to clear this is to open the chamber and clean the source with a cotton bud or leave the chamber open to the air till all condensation is gone.

NOTESThe syringe used is a 50 ml veterinary syringe which has a usefulscrew on end and thick walls (they are designed to be washed andre-used). However you might like to try other models.

The photos show a black card been placed on one side of thesyringe, this helps to improve the visibility of the cloud trails. Inlater versions I found painting half the syringe with matt blackpaint more suitable.

In the version shown in the photos a hand held torch was held tothe base of the chamber however in later versions I added a whiteled and a button battery and switch (taken from an led torch)which were permanently attached to the syringe, this was handierbut not essential.

Any comments or suggestion on the design would be appreciated; you cancontact me at [email protected] Fogarty, Rocklands, Hempfield, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford

Step 1Fire alarm,ionizationtype, c. €5

Step 2Remove theplate withthe ‘sealed’source. This is a ß emitter.

Step 350 mlveterinarysyringe, €5.The syringewalls stopthe ßradiation.

Step 4Attach sourceto sponge andinsert insyringe.

Step 550:50 watermethanol onsponge.

Step 6Seal inlet,use a piece ofrubber.

Step 7Set plunger2/3 way down.Close seal andpull plunger.Use a light toilluminatechamber.

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Vincent Cristopher Barry (1908-75)Ruairí Ó Ceallachair, Gaelcholaiste Mhuire An Mhainistir Thuaidh, Corcaigh


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The treatment of disease by chemicals has been carriedon since earliest times. At some times past the doctor andthe chemist were indistinguishable. The systematicapplication of chemistry to the discovery of newmedicines for diseases- chemotherapy-is of more recentorigin, its beginnings marked by the poineering work ofPaul Ehrlich late in the ninteenth century. Ehrlichshowed that the ability of a drug to kill deadly parasitesin related to it’s molecular structure and modifying thatstructure in small or in large ways can lead to dramaticincreases in its effectiveness. Soon the methods had beenextended to bacteria and other pathogenic micro-organisms, for the work of this German researcherinspired many young chemists. One such was VincentBarry.

Vincent Cristopher Barry (1908-75) was born in Cork on17th May 1908, the youngest in the family of seven sonsand four daughters of a post office official, James Barry,and his wife Agnes (nee Stack), daughter of a smallbusinessman.

He was educated by the Christian Brothers at The NorthMonastery Cork City and achieved first place in Irelandin the 1924 Leaving Certificate Gaeilge examination. Hewon a third level scholarship to UCD. He graduated inchemistry from UCD in 1928 and the year followingbecame assistant to the Professor of Chemistry at UCG.

Barry was a pure scientist with a keen sense of therelevance of his fundamental work. His work on sugarsat Galway quickly led to the establishment of an industrybased on seaweed.

The Irish State was still young and trying to createorganisations with which to serve the needs of itscitizens. One of these was the Medical Research Councilof Ireland, established in 1936. In 1943 the Governmentwas anxious to do something about the widespreadincidence of tuberculosis in the country.

On the advice of the MRCI, Dr. Barry was appointed to aFellowship in Organic Chemistry to carry outinvestigations into the chemotherapy of tuberculosis.Hehad already become the youngest ever to be conferredwith a Doctorate degree in Science (D. Sc.). In 1950 hewas appointed Director of the new laboratories formedical research established by the Council.

Over the next two decades Barry and his team ofresearchers had some notable successes. Theysynthesised and tested hundreds of new compoundsagainst mycobacteria. Because of the complexity of thesecompounds and their large number they were mostconveniently designated by a simple code number.

Several of them , especially B53 and B 283, were found tobe effective against experimental tuberculosis. Another,the Phenazine B663, proved most effective againstleprosy but was costly to make. However, it is nowestablished as one of the three first-line drugs in thetreatment of leprosy.B663, later to be known asClofazimine, was developed and used with great successin 30 countries against lepromatous leprosy. To offsetproduction costs, Dr. Barry donated patents of a newexperimentally effective antileprosy compound B1912 tothe Government of India. He arranged for themanufacture in Ireland of the drug for immediate trialuse in India. To this day, Clofazimine(Clofozine/Hansepran) is used for the treatment ofleprosy.

Dr. Barry’s interests also extended to the chemotherapyof cancer; work in this area as well as in leprosy continuesto be carried out by th MRCI research team which, in1984, moved into new laboratories in the ChemistryDept. Trinity College.

Dr. Barry has been honoured by the Royal Dublin Societywho awarded him the Boyle Medal in 1968 for hisachievements in chemotherapy. He was President of theRoyal Irish Academy in from 1970 to 1973 and wasawarded an Honary Doctorate in Science from TCD in1972. His team in MRCI was awarded the UNESCOScience Award in 1980 for “an outstanding contributionto science”.

Dr. Barry continued his work on the Chemotherapy ofLeprosy and Neoplastic Diseases until his death onSeptember 4th 1975.

Vincent Barry was always very proud of his Irish heritageand lectured as Gaeilge in UCG.In 1959 He was advisoron scientific terms for the definitive English-IrishDictionary of De Bhaldraithe. was always conscious ofthe benefits available to Ireland through the exploitationof science and technology. He never hesitated in pointingout to governments or other funding authorities thedangers of not providing adequate support for research.His own achievement is an eloquent testament thatpeople in science can play as important a part in the newIreland as they did in the Ireland of the distant past. Thebenefits transcent our borders.

On Thursday May 17th 2007 a tribute was unvailed byDr. Mairéad Hannon, daughter of Dr. Barry inGaelcholáiste Mhuire North Monastery on the occasionof the 99th anniversary of Dr. Barrys birth.


Annual Conference 2007 –Cork

The opening lecture was conducted by Mr. Colin Doyle whoexplored the wonders of human hearing. There was an emphasison the use of ICT on the Saturday afternoon workshops and theScience on Stage Team conducted an excellent display of cleverideas to teach physics. A huge array of exhibitors were presentover the weekend demonstrating the latest science teachingaids. A campaign to recruit laboratory technicians waslaunched on Sunday morning. The closing event was conductedby Keith Gibbs who demonstrated a series of useful experimentsfor science teachers.

In addition to the many lectures and workshops a number ofsocial events took place where one had an opportunity to catchup with old friends.

Well done to the Organising Committee of the Cork ISTAfor a very enjoyable weekend and we look forward tonext year’s conference in Donegal which will take placefrom 11-13 April, 2008.

The 45th ISTA Annual Conference was hosted by the Cork Branch of the Association inMarch 2007. In excess of 430 teachers attended the weekend event held in UCC andthe Rochestown Park Hotel. A whole host of lectures and workshops took place inPhysics, Chemistry and Biology.

John Daly shares some datalogging ideas with colleagues at theISTA Annual Conference in UCC

Organising Committee Front: Left to right:Michael ’O Mahony Sr. Mercedes Desmond, Fiona Desmond, AnneHealy, Siobhán O ’Sullivan, Declan Kennedy, Noel Brett, MarianHayes, Eileen Riordan Michelle O ’Brien, Sheila Curley, Paddy Daly,Seán Finn, Martina Drohan, Marian Daly, John Lucey. Absent:Nunci Mulcahy, Mary O’Dowd, Pat Walsh.

Frank Turpin, Academic Relations Manager Intel, chatting to somestudents from Colaiste Chriost Ri, Cork at the physics dataloggingworkshop at the ISTA Annual Conference.

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The inaugural Cross-Border Schools ScienceConference in Armagh Michael Grehan, Science Department, Belvedere College SJ

[email protected]

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Not surprisingly we jumped at the opportunity.Professor Mark Bailey, Director of Armagh Observatorykindly invited us to bring along 16 Second Year studentsfrom each of a few schools to this Astronomy conferencewith a difference. So it was that 48 students with aninterest in Astronomy were tracked down and offeredthe mission of being ambassadors for the day. Theysucceeded. In fact they were a credit to themselves, totheir parents and to their schools. The Dublin studentswho took part in this first ever Cross-Border SchoolsScience Conference in Armagh on Thursday, March 8,2007 were from Santa Sabina in Sutton, GonzagaCollege SJ, in Ranelagh and Belvedere College SJ in Gt.Denmark St. The Gonzaga group was organised by JoeO'Briain who also works with the Astronomy Club forwhich Gonzaga is famous. The leader of the SantaSabina girls was science teacher Paul Nugent. Paul is nostranger to Armagh Observatory and ArmaghPlanetarium, being the Teachers’ Network Coordinatorfor the Institute of Physics in the Republic of Ireland.

Dr Robert Walsh University of Central Lancashiredemonstrates a telescope and filter for observing the sun

The three groups of 14 year olds were fairly quiet in the coach on the outward journey. (We used the dawn raidtechnique, starting at 6.45 a.m.) but on the way home the atmosphere had warmed up so much you'd think they wereold friends. Actually a few of them were – Dublin being a village as they say. During the day they learned some astronomyfrom four professional astronomers; they also enjoyed the spectacular Digistar show: Astronaut in the newly renovatedstardome of Armagh Planetarium and, more importantly, they met their peers from different schools and got on

extremely well with them. Wewere warmly welcomed at theRoyal School, Armagh (Est.1608 –so you thought your school had along tradition) and extremely welllooked after by the organisersfrom the Centre for Cross borderstudies (Andy Pollak and PatriciaMc.Allister), the Armaghobservatory (Professor MarkBailey) and the Armaghplanetarium. The success of theday was to the credit of all thestudents for the excellent spiritwith which they got involved inevery activity. It was a terrificexperience and it was an honour tobe part of this significant event inits inaugural year. I hope we didn’tbreak anything because the realhope is to get invited back withsome more young enthusiasts nextYear. Wouldn’t it be great if it waslike this every year !

Students enjoy the exhibition at Armagh Planetarium


ChemEd-IrelandConferenceThe ChemEd conferences were started by Dr. Peter Childs in 1982 to meet the need for a specialist

conference in chemical education for Irish chemistry teachers. They were held in October of each year in the

University of Limerick. Each year the conference focused on a specific topic of interest to chemistry teachers.

The conference now lasts for one day, starting at 9 a.m. and finishing at 5 p.m., with 6-7 related talks to the

overall theme for the day. However due to the retirement of Dr. Childs this year the conference will take

place on Saturday Oct 20th in University College Cork. Details of the conference will be circulated to all ASTI

members in September. Further information can be obtained by contacting Declan Kennedy at

[email protected] . The conference will move to various third level institutions over the coming years.

ChemEd is specifically for Chemistry teachers in Ireland so please do try to attend.

Irish teacher wins European ICT Award

Congratulations to Tony O'Rourke, a Physics teacher at Mercy Secondary School inBallymahon, who won a major prize at the European ICT e-Learning Awards in BrugeonDecember 7, 2006. The prize, now in its sixth year, identifies and rewards excellentpractice in using ICT for learning across Europe.

Tony’s project was one of seven finalists selected out of almost 550 entries from 30countries. He was presented with a cheque for €3,000 for his school after winning theOracle Award for Science. Tony’s project was an animated physics site, entitled 'Ray Diagrams in Physics' and wasdesigned to help students to understand abstract processes.

Picture shows Tony with with Sylvia Binger from European Schoolnet

If you would like to contribute anarticle for the next issue of themagazine, or if you have tried

different teaching techniques andwould like to contribute to the

next issue of the magazineplease contact us.

Contact details are given on the back page

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Enhance your teaching . . .Do you wish to enhance your teaching and learning skills?Do you wish to find out about the added value ICT can contribute to classroom teaching?Would you like to explore different teaching and learning styles with colleagues?

The SLSS Chemistry and Physics courses on offer can assist you. See pages 31-32 and 34-35.


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When it comes to electricity it is universally agreed that themost efficient method of transmission is alternating current(AC). But did you know that for a hundred and twenty oddyears a small area of Manhattan, New York, has beenpowered by direct current (DC), the type advocated byThomas Edison. However, DC has long been abandoned byusers worldwide in favour of the more efficient andeconomic alternating current (AC)? Well neither did I until Itouched down at JFK International Airport on a beautifulcrisp Sunday morning in January 2005.

Perusing the day’s edition of the New York Times, I happenedon an engrossing article by Jim Rasenberger, entitled “Fadeto Black”. What immediately caught my eye was asubheading stating that a brand of electricity favoured byThomas Edison, DC, would “flicker to a close” by December31st of the same year. Con Edison, the service provider, hadjust announced that it was about to shut off Direct Currentelectricity. The story of the survival of DC in this small areaof New York is a fascinating one that tells of rivalry,stubbornness and a battle of wills that has left an outdatedlegacy for the 21st century. How did all this come about?

The story of direct current began with the flick of a switchat 3 p.m. on Sep. 4th, 1882 at 255 Pearl Street in LowerManhattan, when a fifty-block area came alight and theworld’s first power grid was born. Having perfected hisincandescent bulbs, Edison created a DC electrical system toilluminate them. In the ensuing celebrations, the universalfuture of DC seemed assured - but a major drawbackimmediately arose. It was soon discerned to have one majorweakness: its inability to travel much more than 800 yardsbefore losing strength. Thus, for New York alone, a powerplant would be needed in every square mile of the city.Against that was the fact that AC can be transmitted overhundreds of miles at higher voltages e.g. from distantwaterfalls/power stations.

With money, time and reputation invested in DC, Edison“went to war” (“The War of the Electric Currents”) withproponents of AC, most notably one George Westinghouse, aformer employee of his. In the ensuing “battle” it seemed to

be a no-brainer in favour of AC but Edison wasn’t going tocapitulate easily.

Edison’s main line of attack against AC was that itpresented too many risks for general consumption and toshow its “terrors” his supporters staged a number ofbizarre, lethal and even cruel events. They used“damnable current”, as they disparagingly labelled it, topublicly execute dogs, cats and, most notoriously, athree-ton elephant called Topsy.

Topsy the Electrocuted ElephantIn 1890 he recommendedAC as the ideal lethalinstrument of quickdispatch for convictedmurderer, WilliamKemmler. Edison evenscornfully suggested averb to describeexecution by electricchair: to“Westinghouse”.

Amazingly, despite ACs superiority, Edison’s DC hassurvived in New York for over a century. About sixteenhundred customers in Lower Manhattan use DC forlimited purposes such as feeding the motors of oldelevators and fire pumps, “relics from an earlier age ofelectricity”, and they have resisted every effort byCon Edison to abandon DC. The last DC power plantwas shut down 20 years ago. Since then hundreds ofunderground rectifiers convert AC to DC, thus involvingthe operation of two separate systems, surely anuntenable situation.

The December 2005 deadline for the ending of DC hasnow passed and how many of the sixteen hundreddiehards who so far have resisted cajoling letters andescalating surcharges from Con Edison have clung toDC is something I need to get an update on. Perhaps I’llsoon again take a trip to the Big Apple to find out.

LIGHT IN MANHATTANJohn Murphy, C.B.S. Secondary School, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford


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IntroductionThe method used to make soap from a triglyceride fat or oil and sodium hydroxide in most lab manuals requires the heatingof a mixture of the fat with a concentrated alkali solution. The hot mixture requires constant stirring to keep it frombumping, cooling and salting out the soap. The little bit of soap that is recovered often does not test well. A better, safermethod of making soap should be available.

A few years ago in an article about soap (I have looked for the source but have been unable to find it), I read a briefpassage about pioneers making soap by placing ashes on a dish of rendered fat. This process took a few months, but what ifpure sodium hydroxide and liquid oil were used? What happens to the reaction rate? The saponification takes less than 24hours, produces the maximum amount of soap, and the resulting soap tests well in water. No heating, no mess, and an easyclean up. The results are well worth the wait of one day. The reaction may work for solid fats, but I have not yet triedthese.

The stoichiometryThe chemical equation for the saponification of an oil by sodium hydroxide, assuming the oil to be pure glyceryl trioleate, is:

C57H104O6 + 3 NaOH 3 NaC17H33CO2 + C3H8O3

The oil used in the experiment was olive oil, in which oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid constitutes 84.4% of thefatty acid content. Ten millilitres of olive oil was used, and using the density of glyceryl trioleate1as 0.8988 g/mL, this gives a mass of 8.988 g of oil. The molar mass ofthe assumed oil is 885.5 g/mol giving (8.988 g)/(885.5 g/mol) = 0.0102 mol of oil.

This requires three times as many moles of sodiumhydroxide, or 0.0306 mol NaOH. Thus, 40.0 g/mol x0.0306 mol, or 1.22 g of NaOH, are required tosaponify 10 mL of olive oil.

Some additional ideas for teachers1. To test which oil gives the best soap, try a variety of oils in the classroom and compare results, e.g., linseed oil, corn oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil. You will likely find that olive oil is best.2. Drains at home often become plugged due to a build upof hardened fats and oils in the drain. Draincleaner is often sodium hydroxide — oftencalled caustic soda.

What action does the sodium hydroxide have on thefats? Have the students place a pellet of sodium hydroxide in 5 mL of water in a test tube and note the temperature change. What effect does the reaction between the sodium hydroxide and the water have on the fat in the drain?

Many thanks to the editor Lew Brubacher for permission to use thearticle and to the author Andy Cherkas for the idea in the first place.

John Daly, Blackrock College

Andy CherkasStouffville District Secondary School

183 Bramble CrescentStouffville ON L4A 7Z1

Safe Soap


Using a Guitar to investigate the relationship betweenthe Frequency of a Stretched String and its Length

Method 1 – Data LoggingA Little History:Some colleagues may remember placing tuning forks ona steel string stretched over a sonometer. The length ofthe string was varied until resonance occurred. Great ifyou happen to be blessed with a good musical ear – notso nice otherwise. A more modern approach is to use asignal generator and a U-shaped magnet – much easierand yields excellent results. As most schools now havedata logging equipment I thought it might be interestingto carry out this experiment using a guitar and datalogging software. The purpose was to investigatewhether data logging, and a guitar, offered advantagesover traditional methods.

Apparatus:Guitar, metre stick, sound sensor, data logging software(DataStudio) and laptop (or desktop PC).

DataStudio Setup:1. Connect the sound sensor to the laptop and run

DataStudio data logging software.2. Click on Create Experiment and add the sound sensor

with low sampling options (1x) and a sampling rate of5000.

3. On the Experiment Menu click on New Empty Data Table. Table 1 appears. In the Data List you will findan icon called New Editable Data with a sub-item called Data. Double click on this Data icon. The Data Properties dialogue box appears. On the General Tab change the x variable name to Frequencywith units Hz. Change the y variable name to lengthwith units m.

4. Click on the Calculate Button and, under definition,delete y = x. Type in Inverse Length=1/Length in itsplace. Click ACCEPT. Under your formula click on the Down Arrow Button under Variables and choose Data Measurement. A dialog box pops up titled “Please Choose a Data Source”. Click on Data (not Editable Data) – answer YES to the question that is asked. In the Calculator Dialog box click on the PROPERTIES button. Change the Y variable name toInverse Length and type in 1/m as the units. Click OK. Back in the Calculator Dialog box click on the ACCEPT button and close the dialog box.

5. In the Data List window drag the Inverse Length=1/Length icon down onto the Table icon in the Displays List. Table 2 showing Frequency and Inverse Length appears.

6. In the Data List window drag the Voltage icon (for thesound sensor) down onto the FFT icon in the DisplaysList. The FFT window which opens will display the frequency of the guitar string.

7. In the Data List window drag the Inverse Length=1/Length icon down onto the Graph icon in the Displays List. A window showing a graph of Inverse Length against Frequency appears.

8. Rearrange the 4 windows – Table 1, Table 2, FFT 1 andGraph 1 – so that they are all visible.See Screen Shot 1.

Procedure:1. Measure, accurately, the distance from the bridge of

the guitar to each of the frets. 2. Enter these lengths into Table 1. If the DataStudio

activity is saved at this stage it can, in future, be used with the lengths pre-entered – see Screen Shot 1.

3. Click the START button in DataStudio and pluck the open guitar string (no finger on any fret). The FFTwindow shows the sampled frequency – see Screen Shot 2. One peak should be much higher than all therest – showing the fundamental frequency.

Declan O’Keeffe, Ard Scoil na nDeise Dungarvan, Co Waterford

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4. Use the SMART TOOL to zoom in on this frequency (Screen Shot 3) and enter its value into Table 1 opposite the appropriate length.

5. Repeat step 3 a number of times – each time using your finger to hold down the string on increasingly higher frets.

6. As the data is entered into Table 1 the data in Table2 is automatically updated and the graph is drawn automatically. It is better to double click on some blank space within the graph window and untick Connect Data Points.

7. When all the data has been entered click on the FitButton in the Graph window and choose Linear Fit – the best fit straight line is drawn – near perfect results can be obtained – see Screen Shot 4.

Advantages: Cheap guitars are easy to come by. Students could alsobring in their own guitars. Once DataStudio has beenset up the activity can be saved with the fret lengthsentered in table 1 – see Screen Shot 1. From then on theactivity can be opened and only the frequencies need tobe sampled and entered. For this reason theexperiment is quick to carry out. The results are alsoextremely good. As the laptop display can be projectedonto a screen this method would be very suitable fordemonstration purposes.

Disadvantages:Having to use the smart tool to zoom in on thefundamental frequency becomes a little tedious and is

the one time consuming factor in the experiment. Asound sensor is also needed for each guitar which adds tothe cost of the experiment.

Reflection:Having thought about the disadvantages of this method Idecided to do a little research. I found that there are anumber of FFT software packages on the market whichuse a computer microphone to sample sounds. One ofthese is a package called OscilloMeter which has a veryaccurate FFT function. I verified this by testing with anumber of tuning forks and found its percentage error tobe less than 0.5%. This software has two other greatadvantages. Firstly, it gives a digital readout of themaximum frequency sampled without the need to zoomin on the graph. Secondly, the demo version is free andis not time limited. This version is perfectly adequatefor the experiment and can be downloaded fromhttp://www.bestsoftware4download.com/download/t-free-audio-spectrum-analyzer-oscillometer-download-wjtfrzux.html

Method 2 – Microphone andOscilloMeter softwareApparatus:Guitar, metre stick, OscilloMeter software, laptop withmicrophone – internal or external.

OscilloMeter Setup:1. Download OscilloMeter from from

http://www.bestsoftware4download.com/download/t-free-audio-spectrum-analyzer-oscillometer-download-wjtfrzux.html and install it.

2. Run OscilloMeter. Press CTRL+O to turn off the Oscilloscope window as it is not needed. – rearrangethe remaining windows as required. When a sound issampled its maximum frequency – by FFT – is displayed at the top of the MultiMeter window underthe heading PEAK FREQUENCY.

3. Decide on how the graph will be drawn – by hand or by using graphing software. I used DataStudio just forits graph drawing capabilities – no sensors were used.

4. DataStudio was set up as in the previous experiment.However, this time no sensor was added and two graphs were drawn – Graph 1 of frequency against length and Graph 2 of frequency against 1/Length.

Procedure:1. Measure, accurately, the distance from the bridge of

the guitar to each of the frets. 2. Enter these lengths into Table 1. If the DataStudio

activity is saved at this stage it can, in future, be used with the lengths pre-entered.


3. Click the START button in OscilloMeter and pluck theopen guitar string (no finger on any fret). Wait a fewseconds and click the STOP button in OscilloMeter. The PEAK FREQUENCY shows the fundamental frequency. Enter this value into Table 1 opposite theappropriate length – see Screen Shot 5.

4. Repeat step 3 a number of times – each time using your finger to hold down the string on increasingly higher frets.

5. As the data is entered into Table 1 the data in Table2 is automatically updated and the graph is drawn automatically. It is better to double click on some blank space within each graph window and untickConnect Data Points.

6. When all the data has been entered click on the FitButton in the Graph window and choose Linear Fit –the best fit straight line is drawn – very near perfectresults can be obtained – see Screen Shot 6.

Conclusion:This procedure yields almost perfect results and is veryquick to carry out. A cheap guitar was used which didnot adversely effect the results in any way. It would bean ideal method – both for demonstration and forstudents to carry out themselves. The internalmicrophone in the laptop was used so, other than aguitar and a laptop, no specialist equipment is required.Of the two methods outlined this is my method of choice– it is extremely fast to carry out and yields excellentresults. It might be interesting to combine this methodof sampling frequencies with a data logging method ofmeasuring force in order to investigate the relationshipbetween the frequency and tension of a stretched string.In the next issue I will outline my attempt to do justthat.

I hope you find some of these methods useful – try themfor yourself and see what you think.

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DO YOU KNOW IF THE SUN

SPINS? Yes, the sun does spin. Because it is a gas, it does not spin like a solid. The sun actually spins faster at itsequator than at its poles. The sun rotates once every 27 days at its equator, but only onceevery 31 days at its poles. We know this by watching the motion of sunspots and othersolar features across the sun.

The giant gas planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, also spin faster at theirequators than at their poles.


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When is an experiment not an experiment?Peter E. Childs

Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of limerick, Limerick [email protected]

When is an experiment not an experiment? This is not atrick question, but an experiment is not an experiment inthe true, scientific sense of the word:• if you know the answer before you begin; • if it is just an exercise in following a recipe; • if it if just copying a procedure from the textbook

into your laboratory notebook; if it is just skills acquisition;

• if it is just a mandatory experiment without fitting into the teacher’s curriculum;

• if it is watching an experiment on a video or DVD;• if it is a computer simulation of an experiment (as

distinct from datalogging).

You may be able to think of other exceptions that makean ‘experiment’ not an experiment at all.

Now there may be nothing wrong in some of thesealternatives to the experiment, and they may have somespecific teaching value in themselves, but don’t let usfool ourselves into thinking we are teaching a scientificapproach to problem solving, or the investigativeapproach to science, if we never give pupils a chance tosolve real problems.

Skill acquisition is an important part of practical work inscience – students (and teachers) need to be able to usea burette, weigh an object, measure a current, dissect afrog etc. But these skills are only a means to an end – theend being the ability to conduct an experiment usingthose skills to solve a problem, provide an answer etc.Often we confuse the two aspects of experimental workand very often pupils are confused when we mix skillsacquisition and using these skills – they can beoverloaded by new information. It is better to teach theskills first (ideally in some interesting context) and thenuse or apply the skills to solve a problem, preferablyseveral problems so that the skills become embedded.Thus it is a good idea to introduce the idea of a titrationusing droppers and an indicator (see below), then theskills of using a burette and pipette to measure outwater and check for accuracy and precision, and thenputting these together to do a series of titrations wherewe use the skills to investigate some problem e.g. Howconcentrated is vinegar? How do different bleachescompare for concentration of oxidant and value formoney? What is the percentage of water in washingsoda crystals? These experiments involve using standardlaboratory skills to solve a real problem, where theanswer isn’t known by the pupils. Some school chemistrystudents in New Zealand recently analysed differentdrinks for Vitamin C and found that their samples of

Ribena contained no vitamin C: the manufacturer wastaken to court and fined for misleading the customer.

Too often ‘experiments’ are introduced in the textbookand by the teacher and everything is known from thestart. Some textbooks tell you the results as well as theprocedure – not a lot of point in doing the task then.Teachers often tell students what to expect and whatthey should observe, before they’ve done the‘experiment’. It becomes an exercise in verification ratherthan an experiment and at the end it is not unusual forstudents to copy out everything word for word from thetextbook into their laboratory notebooks. They may wellthink, as I do, that you might as well eliminate themessy, expensive practical bit and just copy straight intothe books (which I believe happens in some schools!)This particular approach to science should not be calledexperimental, as it isn’t. I give some ideas below of howone could approach practical work in a different wayand in a different spirit – a spirit of enquiry anddiscovery, a real experimental and investigativeapproach.

Ohm’s Law rediscoveredIt is much better, in my opinion, to present practicalwork as a problem, as a question, as a challenge – not asa cookery recipe or a verification exercise. This maymean that we cannot allow our pupils to see thetextbooks or we must choose a different book thatdoesn’t give away all the answers! For example, considerour old friend, Ohm’s Law. This is usually presented as anexercise to verify Ohm’s Law, which is usually clearlystated, with the graph, in the book. Instead why not askthe question: is there a relationship between current andvoltage across a fixed resistance? If there is a connection,how are voltage and current related? How might wefind out the relationship? There might be a discussion


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about how to measure voltage and current, how to setup a suitable circuit, what to vary and what to measureand how to record and present the results. The pupilsthen go away (probably in a small group) to set up theapparatus and collect some data on the relationshipbetween voltage and current. These results could becollected on the blackboard. Is there any obvious trend?Does the current increase with increasing voltage or inwhat way? Would plotting a graph help? Which graphgives a straight line and what relationship does thissuggest? The teacher of course is guiding this discussionand feeding in suggestions, but the pupils do the work.The end result? A statement of Ohm’s Law, but one thatthe pupils found out through experiment!

Most of the mandatory, standard experiments can berecast in the form of an investigation so that theybecome real experiments and opportunities for thepupils to discover something for themselves.

The structure of a plantIntroducing the structure of plants? Often this is done bystudying the diagram in the book or on the board,drawing it into their copies and labelling the diagram.How might it be done differently? Bring in several kindsof flowering plants and give one to each group ofstudents. Ask them to draw the flower and stem and toidentify the different parts and see how many differentparts they can find. This requires careful observation.They should take the plant to bits and identify thedifferent components. Then give them the labelleddiagram and ask them to identify and label the parts ontheir flower. Now it is time for a class discussion. Did allthe different plants have the same parts or not? A tablecould be drawn on the board to tick off the differentparts identified for each plant. At the end of the lessonall the pupils should have first-hand experience ofobserving, identifying and naming the parts of plant andmaking a generalisation that all the plants they studiedhave the same basic structure. This is real science! Thenthey can draw and label the diagram of a typical flower.

Introducing acids and bases and titrationThe idea of titration can be introduced using droppers,dilute acids and bases and a range of indicators. Whatcolours do indicators have in acids and bases? Ratherthan learning off a list, get them to do it – set up test-tubes with a small amount of acid in them, and a secondset with base. In pairs add a drop or two of indicator toan acid and a base, and note the colours. They shoulddraw a table with the name of the indicator and theircolours in acid and base. Now ask the question: Whathappens to the colour if I add a base to an acid? Theyshould be able to guess that the colour will change? Whydoes it change and at what point will it change? Geteach pair of students to measure 20 drops of acid using adisposable plastic dropper into a small beaker or test-tube, add a drop of indicator and note the colour. Theyshould then add the base drop by drop into the acid,

shaking between drops, until the indicator just changescolour. After recording the number of drops they shouldrepeat the experiment to check if it takes the samenumber of drops each time. Does the indicator usedmake a difference? Get them them to do it again with adifferent indicator and if the indicators have beenchosen properly, the two answers should be almost thesame (within experimental error, i.e. within 1 or 2 drops).What is going on? Clearly from the colour change thebase is destroying the acid and at some point all the acidhas gone and there in an excess of base. What they havediscovered is an end-point and they have done atitration, and they have also found that bases destroy orneutralise acids. What is formed? They can do the sameexperiment without an indicator to the same end-pointand then boil the solution to dryness to find that a whitesolid (a salt) has been produced, which when redissolvedin water is neither acidic or basic. One can then move onto write a simple equation for what has happened andlater to do titrations with a burette and pipette. But theidea of a titration and the role of an indicator shouldhave been firmly established in the pupils’ minds. Theapparatus is simple and cheap, only small amount ofchemicals are needed and a lot of work can be done in ashort time. The method can be used to compare theconcentrations of different brands of vinegar etc.

ConclusionI hope I havegiven you aflavour of whatteaching scienceexperimentallymight look like.It may take moretime thancopying out thefinal answers butI think there willmoreunderstanding and less regurgitation. After exposure tothis approach the pupils will understand what science isabout and how scientists go about investigating theworld and how they find out the things written in theirtextbooks. They have been exposed not only tomanipulative skills (pouring and filtering) but also tothinking skills (how? why? what if?), which are theessence of real science. You never know they might enjoyscience more, they might understand it better and theymight want to go on and study science further so theycan ask more questions and find out the answers forthemselves. These ideas are not new or original – theyhave been around since the late 19th. century and werethen known as the heuristic method and later on asdiscovery learning, and influenced many of the sciencecurriculum projects of the 1960s and 70s. In the 21st.century it’s surely time to put the experiment back intoscience.


The selection of the Irish EUSO team began in November 2006.Over 250 of the high achievers in Science and Maths in the JuniorCertificate Examinations 2005 and 2006 were invited to DCU onSaturday 3rd February 2007 to take part in a test to select the sixstudents (two teams of three). Students sitting the LeavingCertificate Examination in 2007 were ineligible to participate.Because each team needed a member with an expertise in each ofthe sciences the students were asked to select their best sciencesubject. All three tests in biology, chemistry and physics began at12.00 noon, ran simultaneously and ended at 3.00 p.m.

Dr. Odilla Finlayson (Chairperson), Dr. Christine Loscher & JenniferDowling (Biology), Dr. Paraic James (Chemistry) and Dr. Paul vanKampen & Dr Eilish McLoughlin (Physics) were each responsible forone section of the Olympiad. Teams of DCU staff and postgraduatestudents were ready to administer, supervise and correct the tests.

At 4.00 p.m. the students, many accompanied by their parents andteachers crowded into a packed Larkin Theatre for the closingceremony. Michael A. Cotter (EUSO President) opened theproceedings by welcoming Minister Seán Haughey TD, Minister forstate in the Department of Education & Science and ProfessorMartin Henry, DCU Vice President. He thanked the parents andteachers for their support and encouragement of these talentedyoung Irish scientists. He was particularly appreciative of thetremendous effort put in by the DCU staff and postgraduatestudents in bringing the 2006 Irish EU Science Olympiad (IrEUSO) toa successful conclusion.

Minister Seán Haughey & Professor Martin Henry thanked everyoneinvolved and highlighted science as a career. They also thanked theDCU staff and postgraduate students involved.

All participants received a Certificate. The top student in eachsubject received a gold medal, the next silver and the next bronze.The three gold and three silver medal winners were invited torepresent Ireland at EUSO 2007. The three bronze medal winnerswere on the reserve list.

The teams carried out assignments on the DCU online "Moodle"system. They also took part in intensive residential trainingprogrammes in DCU during the mid-term break in February, againin March and on the days prior to the EUSO.

Irish EUSO Team LeadersDr. Odilla Finlayson (Chemistry)Dr. Paul van Kampen (Physics)Dr. Christine Loscher (Biology)

EU Silver Science SuccessIrish science students won silver medals at the 5th European

Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) held in Potsdam, Germany

on the 25th March to 1st April 2007. The EUSO is a team

competition for EU second level school science students who are 16 years of age or

younger. The first EUSO was held in DCU in 2003 with seven EU countries taking part.

Groningen University hosted EUSO 2004, NUIG & GMIT in 2005 and last year VUB &

ULB Brussels. The 6th EUSO will be held in Nicosia, Cyprus on the 11th to 17th May

2008. Spain will host EUSO 2009 and Sweden in 2010.

Medal Winners The gold and silver medal winners formed the Irish EUSO2007 teams

Subject Student name School/College

BiologyGold Karen McCarthy Beara Community School,

Castletownbere, Co CorkSilver Patrick Kerr Our Lady’s Sec School,

Castleblaney, Co. MonaghanBronze Aoife Convery Loreto College, Swords, Co. DublinBronze Padraig Sheehan Avondale Community College,

Rathdrum, Co Wicklow

ChemistryGold Robert Varley The Institute of Education,

Lesson St, Dublin 2Silver Tim Cronin CBC, Sidney Hill, Wellington Road, CorkBronze David McHugh St Finian’s College,

Mullingar, Co WestmeeathBronze Clare Quigley Castletroy Community College,

Castletroy, Co Limerick

PhysicsGold Nick Byrne Coláiste Raithin, Bray, Co. WicklowSilver Galin Ganchev Castletroy Community School,

Castletroy, Co. LimerickBronze Caitriona Kelly Drogheda Grammar School,

Mornington Rd., Co. LouthBronze Colman Humphrey St. Andrew’s College,

Booterstown Ave., Blackrock, Co. Dublin

EUSO 2007The university campus in Golm-Potsdam in the former EastGermany played host to EUSO 2007. The science faculty staffdesigned the two four-hour tasks that involved the science of thehumble potato.

Sixteen EU countries were represented by a total of 29 teams (87Students). Delegations included one or two teams of three studentsand a mentor for each discipline, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.One mentor was the Country Coordinator and Head of theDelegation. Austria and Bulgaria sent Observers. Internationalguests from Indonesia and Taiwan represented the IJSO.

Teams: Belgium (2 teams), Cyprus (2 teams), Czech Republic (2teams), Estonia (2 teams), Germany (2 teams), Greece (2 teams),Ireland (2 teams), Latvia (1 team), Lithuania (1 team), Luxembourg(2 teams), Netherlands (2 teams), Slovakia (2 teams), Slovenia (1team), Spain (2 teams), Sweden (2 teams) and the United Kingdom(2 teams).

Denmark, Finland, Italy, Malta and Portugal have applied to takepart in 2008. This will bring the number of countries taking part to23 out of a possible 27. France, Hungary, Poland and Romania mayyet join the EUSO in 2008.

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Selinger highlighted the use of wireless networks hasa seminal, game-changing technology for schools.“The use of wireless brings the computer lab to the

classroom rather than the class tothe lab. It will make a huge

difference in integratingtechnology into the classroom.

The computer lab is an Eighties concept that harksback to the day we didn’t have connectivity. Every

classroom should have computers.”

When it comes to investing in technology, particularly looking atthe Irish Government’s investment in broadband and computersfor schools, Selinger said a top-down investment on its ownwouldn’t be enough. She said the Government should beprepared to reinvest continually in upskilling teachers andproviding equipment and connectivity.“If a Government was investing in technology for schools todayI would urge them to be investing in 2010 technology, nottechnology that suits 2007. They should always be lookingahead.”

She also recommends educators talk to the students themselvesto see what technologies they think would matter in schools.“Children should be consulted on how that money is beingspent. One idea would be to set up a Bebo-like community pagewhere they can throw up ideas. Really, educators should begetting the vested interests to contribute too,” she suggested.

While debates rage about ethics on social network pages andhow use of SMS could be interfering with the use of properEnglish, Selinger believes people are missing the most importantpoint. “Never has there been a time when teenagers have beenwriting so much. In the past you couldn’t get a teenager to writesomething down on paper, now they’re happily writing blogs.Kids who actually write stuff online actually do worry aboutquality and conveying their meaning. As well as that, if they’renot comfortable writing, why can’t they create a video ormultimedia presentation to convey their meaning? They’ll needsuch skills in the workforce.

We need to return to such a time as when creativity andcuriosity were valued,” Selinger said.

John Kennedy, http://www.siliconrepublic.com/

1 Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. It was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Today it has more than 47,000 employees worldwide.

2 SiliconRepublic is Ireland's leading technology news service providing Irish technology breaking news and analysis online, in print and through content syndication

3 Dr Michelle Selinger has been a classroom teacher, a teacher educator and then the director of a research centre for new technology in education at the University of Warwick, UK. She has recently been appointed to the Advisory Group of the European Commission's e-Europe 2005 Action Plan.

There is a threat of a growing digital divide betweenteachers and their increasingly tech-savvy students thatmust be bridged as soon as possible, a leading Cisco1

education expert told siliconrepublic.com2.

Dr Michelle Selinger3 is networking giant Cisco’sexecutive adviser on education for Europe andher work involves research anddissemination of effective solutions for e-learning in all aspects of education andtraining.

Selinger has a strong teaching background, working in the past asa secondary school maths and economics teacher as well as withthe Open University and latterly the University of Warwick whereshe was the director of the centre for New Technologies Researchin Education.

Speaking with siliconrepublic.com Selinger said: “We believeconnectivity is important in the context of education because itcan raise the quality of education as well as improving children’scontribution and making them feel involved.”

Selinger warned that the gulf between teachers not trained innew technology and their students who are au fait with textmessaging, instant messaging and Bebo is becoming increasinglyobvious.

“Teachers and schools are not aware of the tools the kids use –ranging from Bebo to Second Life, Wikis and blogs – and viewthem as distractions rather than enablers. Their attitude is toleave them outside the school gates. Because they don’t use thetechnology themselves they are not confident about technology.”

Selinger said it was necessary to bring about a sea change ineducators’ attitudes to using technology. “It should really beabout how we can bring 21st-century skills to the kids. They willleave school, go into higher education and largely through theirown initiative they will have the skills they will need for theknowledge economy.”

She said funding teachers to start using technology as part oftheir professional development was crucial. “If you teach theteachers how to use technology they will see how productive itcan be and they can harness that for use in a learningenvironment. “This in turn will improve the way children learnand can work collaboratively in the way of the 21st-centuryworkplace.”

Selinger said teachers can find usingtechnology will help them to be moreproductive and organised. “Part of theproblem is teachers see themselves asexperts in education, not technology.There may be great teachers but may notbe into using technology.

“The challenge every country intent on getting technology intoschools faces is getting more teachers and principals to bite thebullet and use computers and the internet.”

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Digital divide between teachers and students


Mnemonics for Leaving Cert. PhysicsWe can all probably name the planets of our Solar System or the colours of the rainbow. Why?Because we have a good method to do so. We use the sentences “Men Very Early MadeJourneys Seeking Unknown New Planets” or “My Very Excited Mother Just Showed Us NinePlanets” for remembering the planets and “Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain” or “Ring OutYour Great Bells In Victory” for the colours of the rainbow, to help us. So why not apply thismethod to other items that students need to recollect for the Leaving Certificate PhysicsExam? Indeed, the method could be especially useful for students taking the Higher Levelpaper where the formulae are not supplied to them.

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I used to think that this method was “childish” until Iwatched programmes on “The Human Mind” that werepresented by Prof. Robert Winston. He introduced us tothe World Memory Champion of 2002 who proceeded tosift through 10 decks of cards in 20 minutes and wasthen able to recall the exact position of each card ineach deck there after. Amazing? Yes. But he had amethod. He associated every card with a place along awell known walk that he knew. It seems that themethod works because we actually create connectionsbetween our brain cells to allow us to remember things.

I initially decided to test this method out with a weakstream 2nd year Science class and discovered that themethod worked extremely well with them. Of arandom list of 30 words that they were asked to recallusing this method, most of them could remembernearly all of the words and even a few got the entirethirty words correct in the right order.

We then started to apply the method to Biology study: “Larry’s Lungs Take In Big Breaths, AlwaysDownwards” helped us to recall Larnyx, Lungs,Trachea, Intercostal muscles, Bronchus, Bronchioles,Alveoli and Diaphragm.etc.

It also became obvious that if the teacher could get oneof the pupils to make up the sentence for themselvesthat the pupil took possession of that particularsentence and remembered its connotations much betteras a result.

Intrigued by the results, I then progressed to conductsome similar research with my Leaving CertificatePhysics class. We first employed some traditionalreliable mnemonics such as “ Remember Your GoodClothes Before Mass (market, if it suits) Weekly”which gave us the clues to “Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan,Blue, Magenta and White which fit nicely into the 3overlapping circles for light.

“Resisting E-coli Requires Lots Of Antibiotics”was given to me by a nephew of Dan O’Regan to recallthat Resistance equals Resistivity by Length overArea or R = pL/A

“Uncle Dan Says Coffee Beats Tea” becomes Up,Down, Strange, Charm, Bottom and Top i.e. the 6quarks.

“Leopards Had Messy Barbeques” becomesLeptons, Hadrons, Mesons and Baryons

“MELT” becomes Muons, Electrons, Leptons andTuons while “KMP” becomes Kaon, Meson and Pion.“Always Protect New Elbows” becomes Atom, Proton, Neutron and Electron

“Prof. Rutherford Never Changes ElectronTheory” helps us with Proton, Rutherford, Neutron,Chadwick, Electron and Thompson.

“Paul Newman poses and gives quite directanswers to enquiries” reverts toPauli, Neutrino, Positron, Anderson, Gell-Mann,Quark, Dirac, Antimatter, Thompson and Electron.

Electrical formulae can be a bother and so thefollowing evolved one day in class.

Pylon Inspecting Vans P=IV

Went Very Quickly W=VQ

Vrooming Round Ireland V=RI

Quickly taking Inspections Q/t =I

Quickly Crashing Vans Q=CV

Oh! And if anyone can come up with a nice one forW=1/2 CV2, then I would greatly like to hear it.

The class discovered that these ‘sentences’ helpedthem enormously and the fun of remembering some ofthese ‘silly’ sentences often helps to lighten up aclass. Some even admitted that they hadn’t paid toomuch attention to them until they found themselvesusing incorrect formulae in the pre exam but sincethen they seem to be converted.

I am sure that there are many more mnemonics likethese out there and hope that they might be gatheredfor future use. I am also quite sure that some of thereaders of this article are beginning to question mysanity by this stage but until formulae are supplied forthe Higher Paper, then the saga continues. In themeanwhile, anything that helps our students to recallthese facts has to be helpful.

David O Keeffe, Midleton CBS, Midleton, Co Cork

What are Flash Animations (SWF files)?SWF stands for Small Web Format and Shockwave Flash. SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivityand function. The Flash files, which usually have an SWF file extension, may appear in a web page for viewing in a web browser, orstandalone Flash players may "play" them.

How do I save Flash (SWF files)?Internet Explorer doesn't allow you to save Flash animation to your hard disk directly. But it does save it in its cache every time youview a Flash movie on a web page. Flash Saving Plugin will solve this problem for you!

How do I play SWF files (which SWF player to use)?You can play SWF files with Internet Explorer, but if you don't want to bother yourself with "file association configuration" use SWFOpener - swf files player! SWF Opener lets you control playback, set scale modes, change background color and go fullscreen.


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Teachers of Physics Annual ConferenceOrganised by The Institute of Physics in Ireland Education Group and Cork Institute of Technology

A day of lectures, demonstrations, and workshops for Post-Primary teachers of physics

Saturday, 29th September 2007

Dept of Applied Physics and Instrumentation CIT, Cork&

FRONTIERS OF PHYSICS 06 OBJECTIVES

• To inform teachers of the exciting and innovative work at the frontiers of Physics that is being carried out in Ireland

• To provide teachers with examples of simple and inexpensive physics demonstrations

• To inform teachers of the latest developments and resources availablein physics teaching.

The assistance of the Second Level Support Service (SLSS)with this conference is greatly appreciated

Details will be sent to all Post-Primary schools in advance of the conference.Or contact IoP Network Coordinator:

Paul Nugent [email protected]

www.physics.cit.ie/frontiers2007

Frontiers of Physics ‘07


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A group of 13 transition year students from 4schools (Loreto Abbey Dalkey, TallaghtCommunity School, St. Michael’s Rathminesand De La Salle Churchtown) spent a busy weekin the UCD School of Physics in December 2006.

The aim of the programme is to give TY students achance to find out about physics and astrophysics, dosome practical work in the laboratory and learn aboutthe career options open to physicists, as well asexperiencing some of the extracurricular activitiesavailable at UCD.

The wall-climb and trampolining were very popularlunchtime activities. The students also had a blastpreparing and launching their team rockets, managing tomake measurements of the rockets’ altitude and rangeunder difficult weather conditions. They chilled out with‘high-Tc’ superconductors, observing the effect ofmagnetic levitation (and spilling lots of liquid nitrogen inthe process). The staff at the cyclotron facility in theBlackrock Clinic very kindly gave the students theopportunity to see how esoteric physics, involving anti-matter, lies at the heart of diagnostic PET scanners.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the week asuccess –especially Lorraine Hanlon and Padraic Dunneand of course the students.

Anne Tuffy, Guidance Counsellor, Loreto Abbey, Dalkey, Co. Dublin

The next programme will run in the week of December3rd, 2007. If you are interested in finding out moreabout the UCD Physics TY programme, please contactLorraine Hanlon ([email protected]) or Padraig Dunne ([email protected]).

Three magnets floating on a superconductor, cooled in liquidnitrogen, illustrating the ‘Meissner’ or ‘magnetic levitation’ effect

Beating the machine: Students have a go at measuring the speed oftheir kicks using a Doppler radar system

Transition Year Extracurricular Activities

TY Science CourseSLSS Science plans to organise a TY Modular Science course in Spring 2008. If you would likeparticular topics covered or if you would like to share your views please visit the SLSS websitewww.slss.ie and leave a comment on the Physics or Chemistry Forum.

Staff, demonstrators and TY students at the rocket launch site inBelfield


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Integrating Appropriate ICT Resources intoDifferentiated Physics Teaching

Tony O’Rourke, Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon, Co Longford

Physics has always been perceived as adifficult subject, one in which obtaininghigh grades in the Leaving certificate,seemed to be above the reach of theordinary student. To this end I have been trying to develop teachingmethods, which would help to stimulate a greaterinterest and understanding of Physics. In the next fewparagraphs I would like to discuss some of thesemethods.

At an early stage in my Physics teaching career Irecognised that some students had difficulty invisualising physical processes that were either verydifficult to create in the laboratory, or when modelswere built, the models operated too quickly and thestudents were not able to visualise the process as aseries of steps. The students thus had a problemtransferring theory to practice. Over the past few yearsI have created several websites to try to overcomethese problems. These sites were submitted toteachnet.ie. Teachnet is an excellent resource forteachers, compiled by teachers.

Last December one of the sites entitled “animatedoptics” won the Oracle ICT Science award in theEuropean ICT elearning awards. An animated web sitetries to overcome the learning obstacles mentionedabove, in that it allows the students to workindependently at their own pace, and allows studentsto view various processes as a series of steps. The siteswere created with Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver.I feel that using multimedia sites in teaching will neverreplace chalk and talk, but should be integrated intoclasses as a teaching aid. I find that it is necessary totry to integrate as many teaching approaches into aclassroom as possible. It depends primarily on thecontent being taught.

It has been my experience that if students canunderstand the theories being discussed in class, thatthey find learning the concept for the exam mucheasier. Physics is a subject in which a good worker willdo very well, however understanding does play a keyrole for the attainment of a high grade. The challengein teaching is thus investigating and selectingappropriate pedagogical approaches to help a studentunderstand some difficult concepts.

I have found some titles created by classroom videoexcellent at generating interest and understanding insome of the more difficult topics. However, theattention span of a student dwindles very quickly afterabout 10 minutes, the lesson taught in the video needsto be very focussed, to the point, and above allinteresting.

Recently, I was present during a demonstration of thenew electronic whiteboards. I found the demonstrationto be very interesting. The new whiteboards are veryversatile and dynamic, and certainly seem to be thedirection in which teaching and technology will progresstogether. I would feel however, that this idea is still inits infancy, and I do look forward to its development. AsI sat during the demonstration I realised that the use ofthese boards would require a lot of preparation inadvance by a teacher, for use in a lesson. Increasinglythese days a teacher’s time is under greater demand,thus making it more difficult to integrate such methodsinto teaching preparations. In addition there seemed tobe a lack of flow between applications requiring ateacher to be very comfortable with the use of ICT. Theelectronic whiteboards should I believe, be able tofunction independently of a computer and projector-they should be a self contained unit, with its ownintegrated processor and projection system similar toan lcd television. I feel that the future of this type oftechnology will be in the form of a smart board allowinga teacher to use the board as normal with theintegrated computer automatically making transitionsbetween pictures /text and equations.

To conclude, the use of technology in education isconstantly evolving, its effective use in educationrequires proper planning. The initial wow factor of thebells and whistles of ICT has now worn off, it used to beenough to keep student’ attention during a difficultlesson. The time has come for careful selection ofappropriate resources to meet specific needs inclassrooms.


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I mí na Bealtaine 2006 tugadh cuireadhdom páirt a ghlacadh i dtionscadalpíolótach a bhain le logáil sonraí sanEolaíocht an Teastais Shóisearaigh. Ós rudé gur bhain mé úsáid cheana as anteicneolaíocht sa tsraith shinsearach, bhímé ag tnúth le breis eolais a fháil maidirleis gcaoi a bhféadfaí úsáid a bhaint as anteicneolaíocht i mionscrúduitheeolaíochta le daltaí an TeastaisShóisearaigh. Ba dheis iontach é an tionscnamh‘Discover Sensors’ nuashonrú a dhéanamh ar scileannaagus modhanna teagaisc a roinnt maidir le hiniúchadha stiúradh ag baint leasa as logáil sonraí.

Tugadh cuireadh do roinnt scoileanna píolótachafreastal ar chúrsa aon lá amháin in Ionad TacaíochtaOideachais Chorcaí i mí Mheán an Fhómhair 2006. Baí Seirbhís Tacaíochta an Teastais Shóisearaigh asholáthraigh an oiliúint. Ní raibh an oiliúint acuireadh orainn dírithe ar aon chóras amháin logáilsonraí. Bhí ionadaithe ó na soláthraithe éagsúla arthrealamh um logáil sonraí i láthair ar an lá freisin,agus thug na soláthraithe seo tacaíocht teicniúilchomh maith le huasghrádú bogearraí do namúinteoirí.

Tugadh cuntas Moodle do gach múinteoir, rud a lig dona rannpháirtithe eolas ar líne a roinnt, comhaid achur ar fáil, ceisteanna a chur agus breathnúchán ar antionscnamh a phlé. Fuarthas freagraí ar cheisteanna óchomhghleacaithe agus ón tacaíocht teicniúil. Tugadhroinnt tascanna do na rannpháirtithe le comhlíonadhthar thréimhse cúpla mí ag tosú le buntasc agus ansintascanna sa bhreis air sin a spreag níos mócruthaíochta. Tionóladh an seisiún deireanach inarscaipeadh eolas i mí Feabhra agus tugadh spreagadh dodhaoine ansin chun eolas a roinnt agus aon fhadhb abhí ag eascar as cúrsaí a phlé. Thug sé seo deismeasúnú a dhéanamh ar an tionscnamh agus ar angcaoi sin feabhas a chur air don chéad chéim eile.

Tá beartaithe ag ‘Discover Science and Engineering’ antionscnamh a leathnú amach agus táthar i mbunearcaíochta anois do chéim eile oiliúna. Ní gá gombeadh aon taithí ar logáil sonraí ag iarrthóirí.Mholfainn go hard do chomhghleacaithe páirt aghlacadh sa tionscnamh mar go dtugann sé deis domhúinteoirí úsáid a bhaint as logáil sonraí ina gcuidteagaisc agus spreagann sé múinteoirí chun triail abhaint as turgnaimh nárbh fhéidir triail a bhaint asturoimhe seo. Tá aischothú ó na daltaí féin an-dearfachagus bogtar an bhéim ó bhailiú sonraí go hanailíssonraí.

Agus lá gnóthach go leor ag an múinteoir eolaíochtacheana féin, tá sé éasca gan bacadh le húsáid a bhaintas logáil sonraí sa ghnáthmhúinteoireacht laethúil.Ach mar sin féin, tabharfaidh an tionscnamh seo anspreagadh cuí. Osclaítear réimse leathanféidearthachtaí ina dhiaidh sin féin!

In May 2006 I received an invitation toparticipate in a pilot project in the use of datalogging in Junior Certificate Science. Havingused `sensor technology in senior cycle, I waskeen to find out more on how the technologycould be used in scientific investigations forJunior Science students. The Discover Sensorsproject provided an ideal opportunity to updateskills and to share teaching ideas aboutconducting investigations using datalogging.

A number of pilot schools in the region were invited to attend aone-day training course in the Cork Education Support Centre inSeptember 2006. Training was provided by the Junior CertificateSupport Service. The training provided was not specific to onedatalogging system. Also present on the day were representativesof the various suppliers of datalogging equipment and thesesuppliers provided technical support and software upgrades to theteachers.

Each teacher was provided with a Moodle account which allowedparticipants to share online information, make files available andpost questions and observations on the project. Any questionsasked attracted replies from colleagues as well as from technicalsupport. Participants were given a few tasks to complete over afew months starting with a basic task and later tasks encouragingmore creativity. A final dissemination session took place inFeburary where we were encouraged to share information anddiscuss any problems arising. This provided an opportunity for theproject to be evaluated and so to be improved for the next phase.

Discover Science and Engineering has decided to expand theproject and is now recruiting for another phase of training. Noprevious datalogging experience is required. I would highlyrecommend colleagues to participate in the project as it providesteachers with the opportunity to use datalogging in their teachingand gives teachers an incentive to try out experiments previouslynot possible. Student reaction is very positive and emphasis isshifted from data gathering to data analysis

In the busy schedule of the science teacher, one can easily excludethe use of datalogging in ones everyday teaching. However theproject will give impetus to begin. Once started a whole new vistaof possibilities opens up!

Seán Finn, Coláiste Dhaibhéid, An t-Ardan Theas, Corcaigh

On looking out the window


In March I was in Cork for the annual conference of theISTA and stayed in the Rochestown Park Hotel. The room Iwas in faced approximately East and overlooked the N25and the flyover (F) for Rinnaskiddy. With the help ofGoogle Earth the distance is found to be 350 metres (Fig. 1).

There were net curtains on the windows (as well as heavyones). The daytime view form the window is shown in Fig.2. The flyover is on the extreme right; the bridge in themiddle corresponds with B in Fig. 1.

At night the view of the flyoverwas different (Fig. 3).

by Rory [email protected]

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 1

The fixed light above the flyover showed a singlediffraction pattern with little obvious dispersion (Fig. 3, 4).The paired lights of the approaching cars showedoverlapping patterns and obvious dispersion (Fig. 5). Onthe left the red tail-lights of a car show no dispersion.

Between the car headlights the overlapping first orderspectra produce a ‘white double patch’ because the twospectra are in opposite directions. In the overlappingspectra immediately above this centre patch the ‘greens’from each side seem to coincide. Let us assume that thewavelength ( ) of ‘green’ is 530 nm.

What was the spacing in the curtain mesh (d)?In order to use the usual diffraction relationship (n = dsin0) we need to identify the variables. Because weare dealing just with the first order spectrum n = 1. The

sine of the angle (which for small angles is almost thesame as the tangent of the angle) is the ratio of twodistances: 1. the apparent distance from the light source tothe green part of the first order spectrum, which turns outto be half the distance between the headlights on the car,and 2. the distance from the car to the curtain (350 m).I have checked the distance between the headlights on afew cars and they ranged from 1.0 m to 1.25 m; 1.10 mwould seem to be a typical distance. Half this distance is0.55 m.

Since n = dsin0d = n /sin0

= 1. (530 x 10-9)(350)/(0.55)= 3.4 x 10-4 mor 0.34 mm

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Discovery of MauveDuring the Easter break in 1856, WilliamHenry Perkin - an 18-year-old chemistrystudent in his second year at the RoyalCollege of Chemistry in London - wasdoing experiments at his family home inCable Street in Shadwell in the East Endof London. His professor was WilhelmHofmann, a German chemist who wasvery interested in the chemicals that

could be made from coal tar. Another Hofmann student, CharlesMansfield, had been working on the extraction of benzene fromcoal tar, but was horribly burnt when his still caught fire inFebruary 1855 and he died nine days later.

Early the following year Perkin wasattempting to synthesize the antimalarialdrug quinine in the hope of saving Britishtroops suffering from malaria in India.. Hebegan by taking one new product of coal-tarchemistry - a compound called allyltoluidine - and converting it into quinine byadding two oxygen atoms. Inste ad hediscovered mauve, the first synthetic dye. The total structureof quinine was unknown at the time. The teen-aged Perkin wasmaking a calculated “shot in the dark” approach to preparingthe drug by oxidizing a mixture of compounds, which resulted— not surprisingly — in a thick black sludge.

But Perkin’s curious nature helped to turn a failed synthesis intoa discovery with very far-reaching implications. He noted a hintof purple color in the sludge, and after adding ethanol to themixture and filtering, the black goop was left behind and afantastic purple color came through. Perkin had managed toextract a lovely purple colour from the mess. He had made thefirst synthetic dye to be commercially successful, which hecalled Tyrian purple after the famous colour of the Ancients.

With his father and his elder brother,Perkin set up a factory in GreenfordGreen, west London, to make Tyrianpurple, which was renamed mauve in1859. Not long afterward Perkinproduced a green and a violet, andsoon the canal outside his factorywas turning a different color everyweek. Queen Victoria and EmpressEugenie loved these new vibrantdyes and were happy to displaythemselves in brightly colouredgowns, adding to their popularity.

This discovery unfortunately led to the collapse of the Indiandye trade where many of the naturally occurring dyes werefound but it meant prosperity for England. Mauve had a muchwider impact as well. By finding a commercial use for hisdiscovery--much to the dismay of his teacher, the greatWillhelm August Hofmann, who believed there needed to be aseparation between "pure" and "applied" science--Perkininspired others to follow in his footsteps: "Ten years after

Perkin's discovery of mauve, organic chemistry was perceived asbeing exciting, profitable, and of great practical use." Theinflux of bright young men all hoping to earn their fortunesthrough industrial applications of chemistry later broughtsignificant advances in the fields of medicine, perfume,photography, and even explosives. For the first time, peoplerealized that the study of chemistry could make them rich.

Perkin himself twisted themolecule to produce aperfume known ascoumarin, which smelledlike fresh-mown hay andwas one of the carcinogenicchemicals previously usedin cigarettes. There wereexplosives too; mauve wasa highly unstable molecule,and Perkin’s colleaguesoften wondered how heavoided blowing himself topieces. Perkin went on to achieve fame and fortune andreceived a knighthood.He died in 1907 of pneumonia andappendicitis.

The legacy of PerkinThe use of dyes in modern medicine would have greatly pleasedPerkin as it was in trying to synthesise quinine the drug used inmalaria that his own life took a dramatic turn. Most important,perhaps, were the scientific and medicinal uses of artificialdyes. Histologists started using the dyes to stain samples withina decade of Perkin’s discovery In 1882, well into Perkin’sretirement, the German biologist Walther Flemming used themto study cells under a microscope. The staining process gavehim the first clear picture of the nucleus, a mass of proteinsthat Flemming initially called chromatin, from the Greek wordfor color. On closer inspection, and with further dyeing, heobserved cells in the process of division and named thethreadlike bundles chromosomes.

Robert Koch, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology ormedicine in 1905, used the dye methylene blue to discover thetuberculosis bacillus.

Dyes also played an important role in the human genomeproject. It would have been impossible to complete themapping of the human genome without the use of artificialdyes. Dyes are used in the treatment of cancer where tumorsare stained before being blasted with a high-precision laser.This treatment is called photodynamic therapy and was pilotedby researchers at Imperial College in London.

The new Wembley Stadium contains the Corinthian Restaurant,a luxury dining facility. A canal can be seen from this restaurantand it is this same canal that changed colours so many yearsago. It has been decided to use mauve as its colour scheme inhonour of William Perkin who lived nearby.

Courtesy of ChemMatters magazine; Fall2006, Vol. 24, No. 3 Chemical HeritageFoundation; and Teachers resource CD

Silk dress with original dye

Mauveine A


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Science teaching in schools {A report on the future of science and mathematics in schools in England.}

Lord Broers summarises his findings

Effective science teaching in schools isessential, both for ensuring a satisfactorydegree of scientific literacy in society atlarge, and for equipping the nextgeneration of scientists and engineers toprogress into higher education and beyond.

However, there is no consensus on what effectivescience teaching looks like, nor on how it can best beachieved — as illustrated by the recent impassioneddebate over the new GCSE science syllabus.Nonetheless, the consequences of inaction could bedire. As the new SCORE science partnership warned,‘the next generation of scientists could be lost ifurgent, concerted action is not taken’(1).

The House of Lords Select Committee therefore agreedthat this would be an appropriate time to conduct afollow-up inquiry to our earlier report, Science inSchools. In particular, we were keen to show how theexamination system could be improved and how scienceteaching could be enhanced and enriched, thusencouraging more students to opt for the sciences andmathematics. We also wanted to consider therecruitment and retention of teachers.

Syllabus and careersIn the course of our inquiry, we found good evidencethat students were opting for ‘easier’ A-levels over thesciences and mathematics. This problem wascompounded by the fact that students were being

forced to study an excessively narrow range of subjectsat too early an age. We concluded that a broader-basedsyllabus for post-16 students would result in studentsreceiving a more rounded education, ensuring that theywould not be forced to over-specialise before seeing themerits of pursuing science and mathematics beyondGCSE. Accordingly, we called on the government both torevisit Sir Mike Tomlinson’s proposals for a broadersystem of diplomas and also to consider the increasinglypopular International Baccalaureate.

We were also deeply concerned about the poor qualityof careers advice being offered to students, which washaving an adverse impact on the numbers opting forscience and mathematics A-levels. The ConnexionsService had proved incapable of fulfilling the needs ofhigh achievers and careers advisers overwhelmingly hadhumanities backgrounds which often made them ill-suited to advise on STEM careers. We urged thegovernment to take decisive action in this area, at thevery least by honouring their pledge of support to theproposed ‘Careers from Science’ website.

Teaching methodsTurning to the way in which science and mathematicsare taught, we were concerned about the increasedincidence of ‘teaching to the test’, whereby the natureof the national curriculum tests and the pressure forstudents to score well were pushing teachers intonarrow and uninspiring teaching methods. We thereforecalled on the government to alter the current testingregime so that the tests assessed a much broader rangeof skills, thus allowing teachers greater flexibility toinspire students in the classroom.

We also urged the government to take prompt action tosecure the future of practical science in schools. Inparticular, we favoured a central website on practicalscience to help address health and safety fears. We alsorecommended the introduction of a proper careerstructure and improved pay for school sciencetechnicians, who continue to be undervalued in spite ofthe crucial role they play.

Recruiting more teachersEffective science and mathematics teaching isimpossible without suitably qualified and inspiringteachers. Unfortunately, there is a serious shortage ofspecialist physics and chemistry teachers. We concludedthat this issue could only be tackled effectively if


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compulsory for teachers to undergo a certain amount ofsubject-specific CPD each year. We also called foradditional ring-fenced money to be allocated to schoolsin order to cover the cost of supply teachers standing infor staff on external CPD courses.

Constructive blueprintUltimately, we felt that the government wereapproaching the problems facing science andmathematics teaching with admirable determination.However, there remain many challenges and our reportprovides the government with a constructive blueprintfor the future of science and mathematics in schoolsover the coming years.

Professor the Lord Broers is Chairman of the House ofLords Select Committee on Science and Technology

schools were given more freedom to offer significantlyhigher salaries to candidates with specialistqualifications in these subjects: market forces cannotbe ignored.

We also called for the government to offer longer-termincentives to science and mathematics teachers, byreducing the size of the golden hellos and offering towrite off student debts in return for four or five years’service. Finally, we called for a better-paid and fasterroute for those people with substantial expertise ofscience or mathematics in industry to gain qualifiedteacher status.

Subject-specific continuing professional development(CPD) is essential for science teachers in particular,because the subject is constantly evolving. Wetherefore recommended that the government make it

The Teaching CouncilMarch 28, 2007 marked the first anniversary of theTeaching Council's establishment on a statutory basis andsaw the launch of a range of publications. Among thesewere the Codes of Professional Conduct for Teachers and the Council’s DVD, “Croi naMúinteoireachta”, which promotes and celebrates teaching as a profession and also outlinesthe functions of the Council.

The first Teaching Council conference will take place on October 18 and 19 in Galway underthe banner “Teaching in a Changing Society – Embracing the Challenge”. A number of placeshave been reserved for teachers and the conference fee will be waived for those teachers.The Department of Education and Science has agreed to cover the cost of substitution forteachers taking up such places. The programme and booking forms for this conference areavailable for download

Teaching is regarded as a highly respected profession?Yes 51.62%No 48.38%

For more information visit http://www.teachingcouncil.ie

LED lighting is a key element of Cadillac CTS sedan'sappearance and character, say its designersCadillac focused on new lighting systems to make the 2008 CTS sportsedan as recognizable at night as its new styling does in the light of day,according to an article in the Detroit Free Press. A total of 127 LEDs illuminate the CTS's interior and exterior, creating aunique look that builds on the brand's heritage of innovative lighting

and design, according to Cadillac product director John Howell. LED light pipes -- clear tubes that direct light -- for the CTS's brake, turn, backup and running lightsare the latest example of the vertical tail lamps that have distinguished Cadillacs since 1948.


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Physics Support Autumn 2007

Network MeetingsA series of local evening network meetings will take place inAutumn 2007. These will support local identified needs and beorganised in partnership with Education Centres (EC) and incollaboration with the Irish Science Teachers’ Association, theJunior Science Support Service and the Institute of Physics. Furtherdetails will be provided locally.

Website

http://physics.slss.ie Here you will find details of all upcoming support events. Thewebsite also contains new downloadable teaching resources, whichwill be continually updated. Upon logging on please register andgive an email address if you wish to be informed electronically ofupcoming support events. Please leave a comment on thediscussion forum where experiences, queries and resources can beshared.

Magazine

Two issues of the Physical Sciences magazine will be produced thisyear. One will be forwarded to schools in September 2007 and theother in January 2008.

If you have tried different teaching techniques or come acrossuseful classroom resources you are invited to contribute to thenext issue of the magazine, please forward your article [email protected] .

Physics Support for Senior Cycle • Modular Courses

- Induction Course for Physics Teachers- Using ICT to enhance the Teaching and Learning of Physics- Múinteoirí fisice atá ag múineadh trí mhéan na Gaeilge- Flash Animations in Classroom Physics

• Physics Datalogging Induction Courses• Leaving Certificate Physics Experiments Workshop• Physics Networks

Leaving Certificate PhysicsPhysics support will focus on providing courses and resources to enhance the classroom learning and teaching of physics at senior cycle. This will include Modular Courses, Induction Courses, a limited number of school visits undertaken on request as well as regional support meetings.

A consultation service by fax, phone or email will be available. Further support will be offered through the magazine“Physical Sciences” and the website http://physics.slss.ie

Course SL0723 Induction Course for Physics Teachers

Target Group: Physics teachers new to the profession and teachersof physics new to the revised Leaving Certificate syllabus

Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this course,participants should be able to:• Apply the structure and content of the physics syllabus, the

teacher guidelines and the support starter pack• Identify and investigate best practice in laboratory management• Choose effective teaching methods, such as Assessment for

Learning, for communicating physics• Demonstrate practical hands-on experience with all the

experiments listed in the syllabus• Discuss and reflect on their own teaching and share experiences

and useful resources with colleagues• Undertake some action research in teachers' own work situations,

reflect on practice and document the outcomes.

Venue Dates Closing date

Dublin West 28-09-07 and 12-11-07 14-09-07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Cork Education 5-10-07 and 19-11-07 21-09-07Support Centre Further day in 2008

Galway Education 12-10-07 and 05-12-07 28-09-07Centre Further day in 2008

Course SL0724 Using ICT to enhance the Teaching and Learning of Physics

Target Group: Teachers of Physics at second level

Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this course,participants should be able to:• Choose learning strategies with ICT tools such as PowerPoint, CD-

ROMs, Internet Applets and Datalogging to engage the learner• Construct practical ideas and strategies for communicating physics• Develop experiential teaching skills to enhance teaching and

learning in a differentiated classroom• Evaluate how ICT could support Assessment for Learning strategies• Identify and share experiences of best practice with the group• Support networking between teachers of physics• Undertake some action research in teachers’ own work situations,



Drumcondra 19-10-07 and 13-12-07 05-10-07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Kilkenny Education 15-11-07 and 22-01-08 26-10-07Centre Further day in 2008

Cork Education 08-11-07 and 25-01-08 19-10-07Support Centre Further day in 2008

One day Workshops

Physics Datalogging Induction


Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this course,participants should be able to:• Identify experiments suitable for datalogging methodology• Perform experiments using their own datalogging equipment• Recognise the common mistakes• Analyse the data recorded in an experiment• Appreciate the added value of using datalogging.


Athlone Education Centre 16-11-07 26-10-07

Blackrock Education Centre 14-12-07 30-11-07

The Blackrock course will cover different datalogging operatingsystems.

Leaving Certificate Physics Experiments


Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this course,participants should be able to:• Perform listed experiments using their own equipment• Recognise the common mistakes • Discuss the results obtained in an experiment• Appreciate the benefits of a hands-on experience• Analyse the data recorded in an experiment


DCU 26-11-07 09-10-07


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Cúrsa SL0725 Teicneolaíocht an Eolais a úsáid chun chur le múineadh agus foghlaim na fisice

Spriocghrúpa: Múinteoirí Fisice atá ag múineadh trí mhéan naGaeilge.

Aidhm Cúrsa: Taréis dóibh an cúrsa seo a chríochniú beidh narannpháirtithe in ann:• Straitéis foghlama a roghniú ag úsáid uirlisí ICT cosúil le

Powerpoint, CD-ROManna, ‘Applets’ Idirlín agus Taifeadadh Sonraí chun aire an dalta a tharraingt.

• Modhanna praiticiúla agus straitéis a chumadh chun na fisice a chur in iúl.

• Scileanna teagaisc eispéireasach a fhorbairt chun chur leis an múineadh agus foghlaim sa rangsheomra dhifrithe.

• Conas is féidir Teicneolaíocht an Eolais a úsáid chun chur le straitéise Meastóireachta na Foghlaime a mheas.

• Taithí ar sárchleachtais a aithint agus a riaradh i measc an ghrúpa• Gréasánú a thacú idir mhúinteoirí atá ag múineadh fisice trí

mhéan na Gaeilge.• Taighde gníomhaíochta a dhéanamh i rith obair laethiúil

múinteoirí, machnamh a dhéanamh ar chleachtais agus na torthaí a thaifeadadh.

Ionad Dataí Iarrataisí roimh

Ionad Oideacheas 25-10-07 agus 26/10/07 11-10-07na Ghaillimhe

Course SL0726 Flash Animations in Classroom Physics

Target Group: Teachers of Physics at second level who havecompleted a physics ICT course and who are interested in exploringthe added value of using flash in the classroom.

Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this course,participants should be able to:• Apply learning strategies with Flash Animations to engage the

learner• Construct practical ideas and strategies for communicating physics• Develop experiential teaching skills to enhance teaching and

learning in a differentiated classroom• Evaluate how ICT could support Assessment for Learning strategies• Support networking between teachers of physics• Undertake some action research in teachers’ own work situations,



Limerick 20-11-07 and 07-02-08 06-11-07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Dublin West 06-12-07 and 20-02-08 22-11-07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Physics Support Autumn 2007

Physics teachers at Datalogging Induction Course


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Thirteen facts associated with early scienceeducation in our schools. For instance did you knowthat:1. Prior to the Intermediate Education (Ireland) Act of 1878, there

was very little, if any, science teaching in the Irish Intermediateschools. In the majority of the 55 Christian schools in existencemost were being run by the Christian Brothers. They were leadingthe way in a practical type of education aimed mainly at theprimary level.

2. Brother James Dominic Burke (a Christian Brother teaching scienceat the North Monastery School in Cork City in the mid 1800s), wasdoing amazing practical demonstrations with his classes, includinghis own working model of a Cartesian diver. One of his pupils

John Holland went onto to invent the submarine.

3. In 1879 one quarter of the total monies distributed by the South Kensington Department went to 251 schools in Ireland in the formof science grants.

4. St. Kieran’s College in Kilkenny had the distinction of being the first Irish school to associate itself with the Department of Scienceand Art based in London.

5. One of the external examiners who marked the boys of St. Kieran’s College was Professor John Tyndall.

6. Between 1880 and 1888 the uptake by pupils of science subjects was so strong that some of the Intermediate Board members appeared to have perceived science as a real threat to the more classical subjects.

7. The annual budget of the Intermediate Board was practically tripled in 1890 when the Local Taxation, Customs and Excise Act was enacted. Under this act, monies accrued from taxes on beer and spirits became available to the Intermediate Board. This money hence became known as ‘whiskey money’.

8. Under new rules imposed by the Board the numbers taking science from 1892 to 1898 fell from 2288 to 705.

9. By 1900 there were only six Intermediate schools in the entire country that were equipped with laboratories.

10. By 1902 under the newly formed Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction that number had risen to 150.

11. The new system of practical science introduced into the Irish schools post 1900 came with a price attached. In October 1906 theIrish School Monthly reported of the death of a school-girl who had‘…inadvertently swallowed (by pipetting) a small quantity of caustic potash solution during the course of a practical lesson in chemistry’.

12. The use of phosphorus during practical work also provided some interesting stories such as this one: In one such case the teacher had served out to each pupil the prescribed modicum of phosphorus, using all precautions. Two days later, the Principal noticed, on a casual visit, that the smell of phosphorus was still very pronounced in the laboratory, and returned at night to search in the dark. There, as he expected, was the greenish white glow of phosphorus on the floor, but in as many as six different places. The element being waxy was well trodden out on the wood. Possibly one pupil alone had been the cause of the danger, and had disregarded the smaller chips in the dish, and dropped them on the floor with the last few drops of water. The pieces had been then carried throughout the room by the feet.

13. But as our grandparents were taught: ‘In the laboratory the numerous slight accidents that occur in manipulation of apparatusare full of instruction; they teach the young student to make his way safely, just as the falls and bumps received by the baby teach him to walk warily. In practical life the practical student will be found to be intelligent, dexterous, and resourceful in an emergency. The ignorance, thoughtlessness, and carelessness, which are the causes of accidents in life, are the very defects of character which the practical science courses are designed to remove…’.

Early Science education in IrelandCourtesy of Michael Quane, Clongowes Wood, Naas


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Chemistry Support Service Autumn 2007

The following will take place in the upcoming terms• Modular courses:

- Induction - ICT for beginners - ICT advanced• Resource Day.• Datalogging• Laboratory management.• Network meetingsA consultation service is available at all times by fax, telephone oremail and messages may be posted on the forum on the website. Alimited number of school visits may be arranged on request. Phone 087 6375863. Fax 045 442521

Modular Courses

Course SL0720 Induction Course for Teachers of Chemistry

Target Group• Teachers of Chemistry new to the profession.• Teachers of Chemistry new to the revised

Leaving Certificate syllabus.• Teachers of Chemistry who feel they need

practical hands-on experience of the Mandatory Experiments.

On successful completion of this modular course teachers shouldbe able to:-• Understand the structure and content of the new chemistry

syllabus and the teacher guidelines. • Identify best practice in laboratory safety and management• Recognise and employ effective teaching methods for

communicating chemistry• Master the skills required to carry out a large range of

experiments listed in the syllabus• Participate successfully in a forum for teachers to reflect on

their own teaching and share experiences and useful resources• Prepare a case study on part of your teaching practice and

record your findings

This is a three day modular course and is available nationally atthe following venues:


NUI Maynooth 12th Oct 2007 and 13th Dec 07 5th Oct 07Further day in 2008

University 27th Sept 2007 and 6th Dec 07 20th Sept 07of Limerick Further day in 2008

Athlone I.T. 18th Sept 07 and 11th Dec 07 11th Sept 07Further day in 2008

Dear colleagues,The aim of the support service is to provide teachers with continuous professional development. Thecourses on offer this year reflect the demand we receive from you the practicing teacher. However if youbelieve there is a need for support in a particular area please contact me or place a notice on the “forum”on our website http://chemistry.slss.ie This year it is hoped to organise small local ‘clusters’ of teacherswhich can attend Network Meetings in their nearest Education Centre. We will be on hand to listen to yourideas and needs and respond accordingly. If you do not personally receive information regarding courses andupcoming Network Meetings then send me your details by email to [email protected] and I will placeyou on our database. There is much to gain by attending inservice courses especially as they are subjectspecific so please do try to attend a course in your local area.

Brendan Duane, National Coordinator

Course SL0721 Using IT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners)

Target Group• Chemistry Teachers at Senior Cycle.• Chemistry Teachers wishing to learn how to

develop PowerPoint presentations with little orno previous experience in same.

On successful completion of this modular course teachers shouldbe able to:-• Recognise and employ learning strategies with ICT tools such as

ChemSketch, PowerPoint, CD-ROMs, and Internet Applets whichwill engage the learner

• Explore practical ideas and strategies for communicating chemistry

• Master experiential teaching skills to enhance the teaching andlearning in chemistry classrooms

• Explore and share experiences of best practice with the group• Support networking between chemistry teachers• Prepare PowerPoint presentations for each section of the

syllabus and to share this resource with the participants.• Prepare a case study on part of your teaching practice and

record your findings.



Sligo Education 20th Sept 07 and 22nd Jan 2008 13th Sept 07Centre Further day in 2008

Tralee Education 25th Sept 07 and 24th Jan 2008 18th Sept 07Centre Further day in 2008

Waterford 2nd Oct 07 and 29th Jan 2008 25th Sept 07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Blackrock 16th Oct 07 and 7th Feb 2008 9th Oct 07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Laois Education 23rd Oct 07 and 17th Jan 2008 16th Oct 07Centre Further day in 2008

Carrick-on-Shannon 6th Nov 07 and 5th Feb 2008 26th Oct 07Education Centre Further day in 2008


Chemistry Support Service Autumn 2007

Course SL0722 Using IT in Chemistry Teaching.(Advanced)

Target Group• Chemistry teachers who have a working

knowledge of computers.• Chemistry teachers who have already

completed a beginners course in ICT.

On successful completion of this modular course teachers shouldbe able to:-• Master the skills needed to employ video, animations and

digital media in PowerPoint presentations.• Prepare ICT resources for uploading to a website.• Propose approaches that could be made to the development of

ICT in classroom activities.



Limerick 4th Oct 07 and 19th Feb 2008 15th Sept 07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Donegal Education 9th Oct 07 and 6th Mar 2008 21st Sept 07Centre Further day in 2008

County Wexford 18th Oct 07 and 11th Mar 2008 28th Sept 07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Athlone 8th Nov 07 and 21st Feb 2008 5th Oct 07Education Centre Further day in 2008

Kildare Education 13th Nov 07 and 4th Mar 2008 12th Oct 07Centre Further day in 2008

Navan Education 15th Nov 07 and 26th Feb 2008 18th Oct 07Centre Further day in 2008

4. Chemistry Resource DayAthlone Education Centre Nov. 22nd 2007This day will provide teachers with an opportunityto see how various resources may be used in orderto enhance the teaching of chemistry. Manyresources will be demonstrated on the day. Thesewill include Software Applications, Animations,Books, Resource Packs, Videos, PowerPoints,

Electronic Worksheets and many others. Participants will be invitedto bring along any resource they themselves use in class and topresent a five minute overview of their product. If the demand ishigh for this course it may be possible to organise an extra date.Please apply early as places are limited to size of IT room.

5.Datalogging Induction in ChemistryDominican College Newbridge Dec. 4th 2007 A series of one day hands-on workshops on howdatalogging can enhance practical work inchemistry have been organised. You will be takenstep by step through the experiments and shownhow to transfer data to your computer for

manipulation and print outs. Each experiment needs a minimumof preparation and can be easily completed inside a forty minuteperiod. News of new products available and the new version ofLogger Pro will be demonstrated. Ten experiments suitable forLeaving Certificate Chemistry can be sampled. In all threedatalogging workshops will take place in the coming year.

6.Laboratory management for Chemistry Teachers

Athlone Education Centre Nov. 20th 2007This one day course has been organised to meetthe many requests from teachers for advice onbest practice in laboratory management. Topicsincluded are Chemical Stock Control, ChemicalStorage, Safety in the Laboratory and

Experimental procedures and preparations. Advice will also be givenon carrying out the Mandatory Experiments, and waste disposal.Please apply early as places are limited.

Network Evening MeetingsFollowing on from the success of these eveningcourses last year it is hoped to continue with themand to form small cluster groups of teachers whowill use the meetings as an opportunity to shareideas, develop resources and identify areas ofsupport needed. These workshops are organised inpartnership with the Education Centres and with

the local branches of the ISTA. Notification of the dates of theseinitial meetings in your area will be sent to you at your school. Ifyou are not receiving personal notification of courses then drop mean email with your details and I will add your name to ourdatabase. [email protected]

Website The updated website may be found at www.slss.ie . Log on tothe Chemistry homepage. Here you will find details of all upcomingsupport events. You will also find a wealth of downloadableresources which will be continually updated. Upon logging on wewould appreciate if you could register with us and provide us withan email address. It is hoped in the near future to allow queries tobe posted on the Forum which we can follow up for you.

If you have any useful resources in electronic form that you wishyour fellow teachers to share send them to me [email protected] and I will have them uploaded onto thewebsite.

Magazine

The Physical Sciences magazine will be published and available inschools in September 2007. If you would like to contribute anarticle for inclusion in the magazine please send it to me [email protected] . If you have come across useful resourceson the internet please share them with us.

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Physics Support Co-ordinatorTim Regan

[email protected]: 087 231 4090

Fax: 064 71999

Chemistry SupportCo-ordinator

Brendan [email protected] : 087 6375863

Fax: 045 442521

SLSS Science Postal AddressLimerick Education Centre

Parkway Shopping Centre Complex Parkway Roundabout

Limerick CityTel. 061 437999

September 18, 2007Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 1Venue: Athlone I.T.

September 20, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Sligo Education Centre.

September 25, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Tralee Education Centre

September 27, 2007 Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 1Venue; University of Limerick

September 28, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 1Venue: Dublin West Education Centre

September 29, 2007Course: Frontiers of Physics ConferenceVenue: Cork Institute of Technology

October 2, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Waterford Education Centre

October 4, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: Limerick Education Centre

October 5, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 1Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

October 9, 007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: Donegal Education Centre

October 12, 2007 Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 1Venue: NUI Maynooth

October 12, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 1Venue: Galway Education Centre

October 16, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Blackrock Education Centre

October 18, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: County Wexford Education Centre

October 19, 2007Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and

Learning of Physics Day 1Venue: Drumcondra Education Centre

October 20, 2007ChemEd-Ireland Conference.

Venue: University College Cork.

October 23, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Laois Education Centre

October 25 & 26, 2007Teideal Cúrsa: Teicneolaíocht an Eolais a úsáid chun chur le

múineadh agus foghlaim na fisiceIonad: Ionad Oideacheas na Ghaillimhe

Mid-term Break October 29 – November 2

November 6, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 1Venue: Carrick-on-Shannon Education Centre

November 8, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: Athlone Education Centre

November 8, 2007Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and

Learning of Physics Day 1Venue: Cork Education Support Centre


Calendar of Events 2007

January 8 – 12, 2008BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

Venue: R.D.S. Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

January 17, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Laois Education Centre

Further day in 2008

January 22, 2008Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and Learning

of Physics Day 2Venue: Kilkenny Education Centre

Further day in 2008

January 22, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Sligo Education Centre

Further day in 2008

January 24, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Tralee Education Centre

Further day in 2008

January 25, 2008Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and Learning

of Physics Day 2Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

Further day in 2008

January 29, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Waterford Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 5, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Carrick-on-Shannon Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 7, 2008Course: ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Beginners) Day 2Venue: Blackrock Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 7, 2008Course: Flash Animations in the Physics Classroom Day 2Venue: Limerick Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 19, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: Limerick Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 20, 2008Course: Flash Animations in the Physics Classroom Day 2Venue: Dublin West Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 21, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: Athlone Education Centre

Further day in 2008

February 26, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: Navan Education Centre

Further day in 2008

March 4, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: Kildare Education Centre

Further day in 2008

March 6, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: Donegal Education Centre

Further day in 2008

March 11, 2008Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 2Venue: County Wexford Education Centre

Further day in 2008

November 12, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 2Venue: Dublin West Education Centre

Further day in 2008

November 13, 2007Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: Kildare Education Centre

November 15, 2007 Course: Using ICT in Chemistry Teaching. (Advanced) Day 1Venue: Navan Education Centre

November 15, 2007Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and

Learning of Physics Day 1Venue: Kilkenny Education Centre

November 16, 2007Course: Physics Datalogging Induction CourseVenue: Athlone Education Centre

November 19, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 2Venue: Cork Education Support Centre

Further day in 2008

November 20, 2007Course: Flash Animations in the Physics Classroom Day 1Venue: Limerick Education Centre

November 20, 2007Course: Laboratory management for Chemistry TeachersVenue: Athlone Education Centre

November 22, 2007Course: Chemistry Resource Day. Venue: Athlone Education Centre

November 26, 2007Course: Leaving Certificate Physics ExperimentsVenue: Dublin City University

December 4, 2007Course: Datalogging Induction in ChemistryVenue; Dominican College Newbridge

December 5, 2007Course: Induction Course for Physics Teachers Day 2Venue: Galway Education Centre

Further day in 2008

December 6, 2007Course: Flash Animations in the Physics Classroom Day 1Venue: Dublin West Education Centre

December 6, 2007Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 2Venue; University of Limerick

Further day in 2008

December 11, 2007Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 2Venue: Athlone I.T

Further day in 2008

December 13, 2007 Course: Induction Course for Chemistry Teachers Day 2Venue: NUI Maynooth

Further day in 2008

December 13, 2007Course: Using ICT to Enhance the Teaching and Learning

of Physics Day 2Venue: Drumcondra Education Centre

Further day in 2008December 14, 2007Course: Physics Datalogging Induction CourseVenue: Blackrock Education Centre

Christmas Holidays December 24 – January 7

January 3 – 5, 2008ASE Conference

Venue: University of Liverpool

Contact Information

Documents

A MAGAZINE FOR SECOND LEVEL TEACHERS OF … Sciences No 8.pdf · A MAGAZINE FOR SECOND LEVEL TEACHERS OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY September 2007 Issue 8 ... slides and too much text