The Physics club is an activity open for Years 9, 10 and 11 which is scheduled on every Monday in the mid-day break in one of the labs, actually in lab 345. With the help of the technician Mr. M Atanasio we have the club running with various stations involving physics experiments or games. Such activities range from simple games played on computer, using vernier and calipers for accurate dimensions to the nearest hundredth of a mm to finding the focal point of parabolic dish. The majority of the students do attend eagerly and regularly.
Figures 1,2 and 3 show the students during an activity to introduce buoyancy where students investigated the volume within the shape related to the mass of the material itself. Density was the main discussion by the students relating it to buoyancy. Figure 4 shows another activity showing projections of designs on transparencies onto the board by using simple ray box and a lens. The students discussed the properties of the image relating it to the answer why the lens was moved to and fro.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show students engaged with an activity showing Newton’s 3rd law of motion. It was Christmas time and they decorated the balloon with some features of a reindeer. The students discussed the action as the force of the inflated balloon on air while the reaction was the force of the air on the balloon pushing it forward. They also related the activity to one of the main attractions of the fireworks in a village feast when we used to see aeroplanes crossing a parish square being pushed by fireworks attached to them.
The students timed the crossing using stop watches while relating it to the amount of air inside the inflated balloon. They also discussed the conversion of energy from elastic potential energy to kinetic energy.
Ms. S Di Domenico
Physics Teacher