[Catalist] Do any Year 12 Physics syllabuses include reference to Gravitational Waves?

[P. de Lacey]

Hi Mike and all Physics teachers,
I can't find any reference to gravitational waves in the syllabus 
either. However, whether or not it is in the syllabus, or examinable, I 
think physics teachers should jump at the opportunity to take advantage 
of the recent exciting news to discuss the discovery and its 
implications with students.
A good article discussing the discovery can be found at:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/feb/11/ligo-detects-first-ever-gravitational-waves-from-two-merging-black-holes
This article also includes two links to the original papers at
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22
(both of which are free to download).
Regards,
Peter de Lacey


On 12/02/16 07:44, Michael McGarry wrote:
> RE: Do any Year 12 Physics syllabuses include reference to Gravitational
> Waves?
>
> Greetings Science Colleagues,
>
> I can find no reference to Gravitational Waves in the WACE 2016 ATAR
> Physics Year 12 Syllabus.
>
> URL 1:
> http://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/physics
>
> Two relevant statements from the WACE 2016 ATAR Physics Year 12 Syllabus:
>
> “Students develop their understanding of field theories of gravity …”
> [Page 9]
>
> “Students understand how models and theories have developed over time …”
> [Page 9]
>
> In my interactive PDF AUS PS7 SU STRAND MODULE 2: “Gravity and
> Gravitation” I include this section: “From Newton’s Gravity (1687) to
> Einstein’s Gravity (1916) on Pages 4 - 5. This *Year 7* Physical
> Sciences Active Science curriculum module can be free downloaded from
> the online ASTA MOODLE URL: URL 2: http://moodle.asta.edu.au. Why Year
> 7? The seminal paper: ”How People Learn” URL 3:
> http://www.nap.edu/read/9853/chapter/7 suggests that we should not
> assume that younger students cannot understand abstract (science) concepts.
>
> I contend that we physics teachers could update “models and theories …”
> of gravity with a brief discussion of Einstein’s Gravity (1916). We then
> could briefly discuss new evidence from LIGO of their recent detection
> of Gravitational Waves.
>
> URL 4: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211
>
> URL 5:
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravitational-waves-discovered-from-colliding-black-holes1/
>
> URL 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave
>
> URL 7: http://gravitycentre.com.au
>
> WA physics teachers and students are most fortunate to have access to
> the excellent *Gravity Discovery Centre*.
>
> The search for Gravitational Waves by a collaboration of about 1000
> Physicists from around our Science world illustrates Science as a Human
> Endeavour, which was started by Albert Einstein 100 years ago in 1916.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Mike McGarry
>
>
>
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