Conveners
Afternoon Session 1B
- Kent Yagi (University of Virginia)
- Dedra Demaree (Blue Ridge School)
The schlieren and shadowgraph techniques allow one to observe otherwise invisible phenomena in transparent gas, liquid or solid materials. These optical methods are very sensitive to changes in the refractive index of the media under observation. For example, the variations in air density in the convection plume of a candle's flame results in an impressive display of laminar and turbulent...
It’s commonly received wisdom in physics teaching that practical demonstrations make a lecture course more exciting for the students. But how do we present demonstrations in a way that encourages students’ active engagement with the topic? How do we move from merely showing a demonstration, to getting students to ask questions and make predictions? How do we choose demonstrations that will...
I will discuss our experimentation with two smart telescopes which have recently become commercially available. These instruments, the eVscope and the Stellina, are controlled using cellphone apps. Setup time is remarkably short and the imaging capabilities of these instruments are very impressive. I will discuss our testing of these instruments in an undergraduate research project and in our...
