Concepts addressed in the Summer Physical Science Institutes for Missouri Middle School Teachers (5-9)

Summer Physics / Physical Science Institutes for Middle Level Teachers have been offered in the Physics Department since 1993.  Since 2003 we have expanded our offerings to include physics and chemistry.  Institutes are offered in a three-year cycle.  Each institute last three weeks.  Institutes are funded by the Missouri Department of Higher Education through the Improving Teacher Quality grants (formerly Eisenhower Professional Development program).  Please contact Meera Chandrasekhar or Sarah Hill (573-884-1270) for updated information. 

Electricity, Magnetism, Atoms and Molecules (2004):

• Static electricity and the structure of atoms: positive and negative charge, atoms, electroscope, grounding, van de Graff generator.
• Batteries, Bulbs and Switches: Contact points, completed circuits, short circuits, direction of flow of current.
• Simple Circuits: series and parallel circuits, circuit diagrams, current, voltage and resistance.  Using a digital multimeter.
• Understanding Batteries:  vegetable, rechargeable, liquid, and standard batteries; batteries in series and parallel.  The chemistry of batteries, and measuring the atomic weight of metals
• Resistors and Capacitors: resistance, storage of charge, time constants in RC circuits.
• Magnets and Magnetism: permanent magnets, attraction and repulsion, earth's magnetism, solenoids.
• Properties of Matter:   compounds elements and chemical reactions: electrochemistry, stoichiometry, constant composition, multiple proportions, gas laws, magnetic materials, periodicity of elements.

Optics and Sound (last offered in 2002):

• Optics:  The reflection of light, multiple reflections, the law of reflection, curved mirrors, reflection toys; the refraction of light, refractive index, the law of refraction, internal reflection, lenses; prisms, addition and subtraction of the colors of light, building a  spectrograph, hologram toys;  the polarization of light, polarization puzzles and pictures, rotating the polarization of light, polarization pictures.
• Sound:  Producing vibrations, making a sound detector, how sound travels, understanding volume, what controls pitch in strings and pipes, the Doppler effect, how sound travels, resonance and interference.

Matter, Mechanics and Energy (last offered in 2003):

• Motion: one and two-dimensional motion, concepts of speed, velocity, acceleration, and trajectories;
• Forces in nature, primarily mechanical forces and simple machines, gears, levers, pulleys; mechanical advantage;
• Work and Energy: potential, kinetic, elastic, and conversion of one form of energy to another.
• Properties of Matter: Air and Liquids: concepts of pressure, vacuum,neumatic systems, density, Archimedes' principle, floating and sinking.
• Properties of Matter: Chemical Properties: intrinsic vs. extrinsic properties, the ways properties may change, and the properties of pure substances, mixtures and solutions.

Program developers (past and current):

• Meera Chandrsekhar, Professor of Physics, University of Missouri
• Bruce A. McClure Associate Professor of Biochemistry, University of Missouri
• Steven W. Keller, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Missouri
• Mark J. Volkmann, Associate Professor of Science Education, University of Missouri
• Rebecca Litherland, Science Coordinator, Columbia Public Schools
• Kathy Phillips, former Program Coordinator
• Jennifer Geib, former Program Coordinator
• Gordon Prince and Michael Wallace, Teaching Assistants
• Cerry Klein, Prof. of Industrial Engineering, Evaluator
• Martha A. Henry, M.A. Henry Consulting, Program Evaluator
• Sandra Abell and College of Education Evaluation Team
   

Updated November 1, 2005