1. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee VICTORIANYOUNGPHYSICISTS’TOURNAMENT An initiative of the Australian Institute of Physics (Victorian Branch) Education Committee

2. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Victorian Young Physicists’ Tournament An event for Year 11 Physics and Year 10 Science students Structure of the session  Students – Tasks and BenefitsRussell Downie  Organisation – Dan O’Keeffe  Classroom experiences – Julie Kennedy, Russell Downie

3. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Victorian Young Physicists’ Tournament  What do the students do?  How do the students benefit?  What is the teachers’ role?  How does the teacher benefit?  How much class time and out of class time is needed?  How is the competition organised?  Prizes  Further opportunities  Experiences so far.

4. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Australian Young Physicists’ Tournament (held in Brisbane, in March each year.) Teams of three have to get their heads around 5 of 7 problems that are issued in late July. These problems are tackled experimentally in the months that follow. The teams must be able to report their findings at a weekend early in March in Brisbane. (In 2010, 5 th and 6 th March.)

5. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee IYPT The tournament is based around a “Physics fight”. Depending on the draw, teams are challenged to report on a problem and their report is critiqued by the Opponent team.

6. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee IYPT There are several rounds and all teams get to be Reporters and Opponents. Opponents challenge the validity of the method and conclusions if they can. Reporters get to justify and rebut the challenge.

7. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee IYPT A panel of Jurors give scores out of 10 to both Reporters and Opponents. The Jurors use a set of criteria that is known by the teams. At the end of the day the three winning teams are announced.

8. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee IYPT The following day the three teams play off. There is a role for the third team as Reviewer. Reviewers have to give a balanced account of each fight.

9. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How do the students benefit? They develop: – –Experimental research skills, – –Presentation skills, – –Communication skills, and – –Social skills from working in a group. If keen, they can continue on to participate in the national competition.

10. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How does the Victorian Event differ from the National event? It:   Runs during the calendar year from Feb to Nov,   First three problems are released in February,   Remaining four problems are released in mid August,

11. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How does the Victorian Event differ from the National event?   Competition held on the first weekend in December,   Some of the problems released in August will be taken from the National list,   So interested students can continue on and compete in Brisbane in 2011.

12. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament What is the teachers’ role? 1. 1.Encourage student participation, 2. 2.Monitor progress, 3. 3.Supervise, when necessary, out of class experimental activities 4. 4.Attend competition (First weekend in December) 5. 5.Assist in judging

13. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How does the teacher benefit? 1. 1.Student motivation, 2. 2.Increased prestige for teacher, subject and school.

14. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How much class time and out of class time is needed?   Most investigations can be started as part of the normal teaching program,   Topics can be selected that minimise the need for out of class supervision,   Monitoring of progress may require about an hour or two per topic for five topics over the year.

15. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How is the competition organised?   Release of topics   Information session   Registration   Competition weekend

16. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Release of topics The seven problems will be released in two stages, of which the team should cover at least five between the three members. Stage 1: Three problems will be released at the beginning of the school year, and Stage 2: the final four in mid August.

17. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Stage 1 Problems 1. 1.Conductivity of pencil lines: The lines, drawn by so-called ‘lead’ pencils, conduct electricity. Investigate the factors that determine the resistance of the line.

18. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Stage 1 Problems 2. 2.Ice: A wire with weights attached to each end is placed across a block of ice. The wire may pass through the ice without cutting it. Investigate the phenomenon.

19. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Stage 1 Problems 3. 3.Sand: Dry sand is rather ‘soft’ to walk on when compared to damp sand. However, sand containing a significant amount of water becomes soft again. Investigate the parameters that affect the softness of sand.

20. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Typical Stage 2 Problems   Steel balls Colliding: Two large steel balls with a thin sheet of material (e.g. paper) in between may “burn” a hole in the sheet. Investigate this effect for various materials.   Liquid light guide: A transparent vessel is filled with a liquid (e.g. water). A jet flows out of the vessel. A light source is placed so that a horizontal beam enters the liquid jet. Under what conditions does the jet operate like a light guide?

21. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Typical Stage 2 Problems   Magnetic spring Two magnets are arranged on top of each other such that one of them is fixed and the other one can move vertically. Investigate oscillations of the magnet.

22. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How is the competition organised? Information session Time: Saturday morning, 9:30am – 12:30pm 20 th March Place:PLC, Burwood Audience: Teachers and students Purpose: To demonstrate the problems, to suggest methods and to brainstorm explanations.

23. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How is the competition organised? Registration Schools will need to register the details of each their teams by the end of term 3. There will be a small registration fee for each team.

24. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament How is the competition organised? Competition weekend   The competition consists of a series of ‘Physics Phytes’   Two teams participate in a ‘Physics Phyte’.   A ‘Physics Phyte’ is carried out in two Stages.

25. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Competition weekend In each Stage, a team plays one of the two roles: ReporterReporter OpponentOpponent Reviewer (only in the final)

26. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Competition weekend Role of Reporter The Reporter presents the essence of the solution to the problem, attracting the attention of the audience to the main physical ideas and conclusions.

27. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Competition weekend The Role of the Opponent The Opponent puts questions to the Reporter and criticises the report, pointing to possible inaccuracy and errors in the understanding of the problem and in the solution. The Opponent analyses the advantages and drawbacks of both the solution and the presentation of the Reporter.

28. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Competition weekend The Role of the Reviewer (Only in the final) The Reviewer presents a short estimation of the presentations of Reporter and Opponent.

29. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Competition weekend   Each role has a fixed time for its task and one stage should be completed within 45 minutes.   Each role is scored in each stage.   After a series of ‘Physics Phytes’ during the Saturday, the three best teams compete in a ‘Final Physics Phyte’ to held on the Sunday.

30. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Prizes Some alternatives:   A medal   A Physics toy e.g. Newton’s Cradle   A book voucher   Money

31. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Further opportunities Australian Young Physicists’ Tournament Interested teams can compete in the national event in Brisbane on a weekend in early March 2011. Teams will need to research some additional topics. An Australian team is selected to compete at the International Young Physicists’ Tournament in July.

32. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Experiences so far.   Box Hill High School with Year 10’s   PLC with Year 11’s

33. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee Young Physicists’ Tournament Websites www.vicphysics.org/vypt.html http://www.iyptaustralia.org/

34. Australian Institute of Physics (Vic Branch) Education Committee