Please click HERE for membership information.
We are holding our fall meeting in St. Pete at Eckerd College on September 19 (evening) and 20 (day). The meeting consists of papers presented by members on topics ranging from in-class experiments and pedagogy as well as workshops.
We encourage student participation in the form of presentations as well as attendance.
Friday evening meal and speaker (TBA).
Saturday morning we welcome talks on teaching physics generally of 10-15 minutes. Talks are an opportunity to share a favorite demo, lab activity you've done, a new way to teach a topic or other thoughts about teaching physics. We also welcome students who have done research to give talks as well.
If you are interested in giving a talk, please indicate your interest on the Registration form.
Schedule
Friday evening, September 19
6pm: Dinner at 6pm at Eckerd College upstairs MPC lobby (Catered by Mazaro's Italian Market).
7pm: Plenary talk in MPC 107 (Robert DeSerio, University of Florida, Optical Tweezers and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy in the Advanced Physics Laboratory, see Abstract below).
Saturday, September 20
9am-12:30 Contributed talks on teaching physics, MPC 107.
12:30-1:30 Lunch (Panera sandwiches) and FL AAPT business meeting.
1:30-3:30 Afternoon workshop (TBA).
Click HERE to register for the meeting.
- Both days [ $30 ] includes dinner, continental breakfast and lunch.
- Friday only [ $20 ] includes dinner. Dinner guests are also $20.
- Saturday only [ $15 ] includes continental breakfast and lunch.
Lodging recommendation:
Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove, 6800 Sunshine Skyway Lane, St Petersburg, FL 727-867-1151. http://www.marinacoveresort.com/
Call the hotel directly and ask for the Physics Teacher's conference at Eckerd College rate for Sept 19. $89/night plus tax (if your school is paying for your travel and you can bring a tax exempt form, they will honor it). If you want to stay over the 20th, you can get the same rate.
Friday evening speaker: Robert DeSerio, University of Florida
Optical Tweezers and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy in the Advanced Physics Laboratory
Abstract: I will report on the construction and progress made with two new biophysics experiments for the advanced lab: an optical tweezers and a molecular fluorescence correlation spectrometer. Optical tweezers trap micron-sized particles in suspension using a laser focused through a microscope objective. The scattered light is detected and used to encode the particle position as it is buffeted by Brownian forces. The position power spectrum is analyzed for the strength of the restoring force and for the viscous damping coefficient. In the molecular fluorescence apparatus, a laser is focused through a microscope objective to a submicron-sized spot inside a sample slide where fluorescing particles are suspended in water. The fluorescing volume is imaged at high magnification where a pinhole is positioned. Behind the pinhole, enhanced photon rates are observed when as few as one fluorescing molecule traverses the focal volume. The photon stream is analyzed for the focal geometry, the average number of molecules in the volume, and properties associated with diffusion and fluorescence. This work supported by NSF DUE award 1139906.
