Friday, March 28

• 5:45 p.m. No-host dinner, Rooster's, 253 25th Street. Advance registration required.
• 7:00 p.m. Registration, Lind Lecture Hall (LL)
• 7:30 p.m. Invited talk: "The Search for Earth -- The New Science of Astrobiology." John Armstrong, University of Washington and Weber State University. LL 121. Public invited.
• 8:15 p.m. Daring Physics Demonstrations, LL 121. Public invited. Demonstrations will include (not necessarily in this order):
  • How far away is the moon? Laura Cotts, SUU
  • Creating an Aurora Borealis in the Classroom. John Sohl, WSU
  • Safety seat or launching pad? Dick Reimann, Boise State
  • Turning off precession. Robert Beck Clark, BYU
  • The latest litter of Galli Cats and other demonstrations. Ron Galli, WSU
  • A very simple, high-amplitude, cheap wave demonstrator. Duane Merrell, Emery High School
  • Velocity amplifier. Harold Stokes, BYU
  • A variation of the magnet in a tube. Zig Peacock, University of Utah
  • Levitating soap and glowing vegetables. Adam Johnston, WSU
  • Flaming jar gas contraction demo. Wayne Peterson, BYU
• 9:15 p.m. Star party, weather permitting, at the WSU observatory, across the street to the north of the Lind Lecture Hall. Public invited. Be sure to wear warm clothing! (If the sky is cloudy, we will instead present a 35-minute indoor planetarium show on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, at the Ott Planetarium, upstairs in the Lind Lecture Hall.)

• 8:00 a.m. Registration, Lind Lecture Hall (LL)
• 8:30 a.m. Contributed Session 1: Tools for teaching advanced and introductory physics. LL 121.
  • Laboratory exercises for an undergraduate course in solid-state physics. Colin Inglefield, WSU
  • Computer interfacing in the advanced electronics course. John Sohl, WSU
  • On the use of original sources in physics courses. Jean-Francois Van Huele, BYU
  • Molecular dynamics for teaching, learning, and playing. Dan Schroeder, WSU
  • Solving the Sun: A student-directed activity for calc-based physics. Stacy Palen, WSU
  • NASA mission databases and E/PO resources -- Tools for classroom activities and student research. John Armstrong, WSU
• 10:00 a.m. Coffee break, near LL 121.
• 10:15 a.m. Contributed Session 2: Methods of teaching and learning. LL 121. (Separate SPS session in a nearby room.)
  • PER (physics education research): A brief history and notable results. Brian Pyper, USU
  • Conceptual physics in a problem-solving physics course. Adam Johnston, WSU
  • Teaching conceptual physics online. Farhang Amiri, WSU
  • Building bridges: physics and the arts. Brad Carroll, WSU
  • Classroom communications systems at BYU. Harold Stokes, BYU
  • Promoting student learning using a classroom communications. David Allred, BYU
  • Creating a cooperative learning environment. Stephen Turcotte, BYU-ID
• 12:00 noon. Lunch, Science Lab building, second floor. Advance registration required.
• 12:45 p.m. Book and product raffle. Science lab, second floor hallway.
• 1:00 p.m. Lab tours, Science lab building (meet in second floor hallway).
• 1:30 p.m. Contributed session 3: Topics in physics--mostly mechanics. LL 121.
  • Verifying the orbital elements of the earth from the weather report. Phil Matheson, UVSC
  • The law student's paradox. Robert Beck Clark, BYU
  • Cornering dynamics of SUV's. Des Penny, SUU
  • Impact of an unrestrained child in a braking automobile. Dick Reimann, Boise State
  • Physics in model rocketry. Aaron Webber, SUU
  • How does the cat really do it? Ron Galli, WSU
  • Traveling sinusiodal waves and work energy. Jake Zierow, SUU
  • Measuring electrostatic and magnetic forces with a digital scale. Richard Hills, WSU
• 3:30 p.m. Business meeting, LL 121.