Discuss!

The Institute of Physics in Ireland is preparing an "Initial Response" to the State Examination Commission.
A full report will be sent to the SEC after the Marking Schemes have been published and the meetings in Blackrock Education Centre and at Frontiers of Physics in September. If you have any comments on these papers please send them to paul.nugent@gmail.com

A group will meet to discuss the Physics Exam papers on Tues 21st June starting at 7pm in Buswells Hotel, 23 Molesworth St. Dublin 2 (Opposite Dáil Eireann). Please let David Keenahan know if you can come along (dkeenahan@gmail.com). 

Other dates for your diary:

1.   Robert Boyle Summer School Programme June 23^rd – 26^th 2016 
      (More info at: http://www.robertboyle.ie )

 2.  Frontiers of Physics 2016  takes place Sat  24th Sept 2016, in  DIT, Grangegorman Campus, Dublin. (Prof. Mike Cruise is the keynote speaker. He was the lead investigator on LIGO Gravitational Wave detector. There will be lots of workshops and free resources).

On-line Booking for the Spring Workshops in Physics provided by the PDST is now open. FREE USB key with resources for all participants. 

Cosán is the Draft National Framework for Teachers’ Learning.

Thousands of students all over the world are expected to take part in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2015 global experiment. This year the theme is “Water: a global experiment with hydrogels.”

Students taking part are invited to explore the effects that hydrogels (a man-made product) have on the water cycle before sharing their results with other classes across the globe. Not only are all the activities engaging, they also support learning and curriculum. So why not get involved?

There are three distinct experiments, all of which have been designed so they can be carried out without specialist equipment and on a small budget:

• Experiment 1: How much water can a hydrogel hold?

• Experiment 2: How quickly can hydrogels absorb water? Does this ever change?

• Experiment 3: An open investigation into how water can be retrieved from a hydrogel

These experiments support students in exploring the question: are we wasting water by using hydrogels?

All the data collected from the above experiments should be uploaded onto the global experiment website. Once uploaded, all the collated data will be examined and analysed. This creates an opportunity to discuss the importance of repeating experiments. Students can also receive a certificate of achievement for taking part.

Be part of something huge: check out their website for full details on how to join this global experiment.

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology that exploits the peculiar properties of matter at the nanoscale. Some applications are around us already; some more will become available in the future.