The days are getting longer, and the monster Christmas term is behind us. Thomas and Robin refuse to let January blues dull the joy of physics teaching as they kick 2019 off with a cracker (pun intended). Two kinematic experiments are the focus, one using a pop-up toy and one that needs fire and blades.

Thomas and Robin also mourn those long-forgotten pieces of equipment buried in obscurity at the back of the cupboard. Please don’t leave them there to fester. If you have a piece of equipment you are unsure about, why not send us a photo by email or post about it in the forum, and do head that way if you want to talk about the episode, or anything else in Physics Teaching. 

Robin started the new year with a series of panic attacks after hearing about practicals that are both fun and difficult. The anxiety was only compounded by assertion that practicals can be graded, and don’t always evidence progress! He is currently recovering with the help of a Valium prescription and a copy of OFSTED’s annual report.

How great was it to hear from New Hampshire this week? Thanks so much to Patrick Kaplo from Windham High School for telling us about physic teaching in New England and giving us a practical in memoriam. Patrick joins our growing list of podcast heroes, not least because of this quote from the New Hampshire State Education Dept: ” Mr. Kaplo drives engagement in his classes by asking his students to build six foot tall trebuchets, ride CO2[sic]-powered fire extinguisher rocket carts… fire vacuum-powered ping-pong balls over 400 MPH, and visualize wave phenomena in an 8-foot long fire tube…”. As they might say in the States, we are totally getting him back again!

Robin has been trying to avoid cultural references that befuddle Thomas, but when he exclaimed “Jurassic Park!” he probably confused everyone. Anyway, this youtube video might help. For the record, Robin is much more like Alan Partridge than Thomas… in fact he’s more like Alan Partridge than Alan Partridge.

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Music

• Season 5: Crescents by Ketsa.
• Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
• Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
• Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.

The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License