I gave a talk today for a group of local home-school students and parents, on the essential elements of quantum physics. The idea was to give them a sense of what sets quantum mechanics apart from other theories of physics, and why it's a weird and wonderful thing.
The title is, of course, a reference to How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, and the second slide was an embedded version of the Chapter 3 reading. I set the talk up to build toward the double-slit experiment with electrons, using the video of the experiment made by Hitachi. Here's the talk on SlideShare:
It went really well, I think. There were thirty-ish students and parents there, and a number of the kids were really fired up about it. After the talk, I brought Emmy in to meet them, and then gave them a tour of a couple of labs and the college observatory, which was also a big hit. Several of them also brought books to be signed, and were really enthusiastic about the book, which is a kick.
I've exchanged some emails with a local high school teacher, and will probably try to set something similar up with them for later in the year. We'll see. For now, this was a lot of fun, and I hope it was helpful to the students and parents in attendance.
Update: A post at the Home Physics blog, with a couple of pictures showing the talk in progress, and part of the tour.
Physical Science
Education
Comments
Thank you for breaking this down so carefully!
Posted by: Abby | March 22, 2010 10:24 PM
Just because I know you like to keep track, back when I picked up a copy of your book, there were three on the shelf (two after I left obviously). That was the Barnes and Noble in Reston, VA.
Posted by: Jamie | March 24, 2010 8:21 AM