For the fifth year in a row, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Riverside is hosting the Summer Physics Academy – a weeklong workshop (8 a.m. to about 3 p.m., June 25-29) that trains and equips local high school physics teachers with practical and conceptual physics lessons, hands-on activities, curriculum and technology to use in their own classrooms.

The workshop will take place in Room 3041 (Reading Room) in the Physics Building on campus.  It aims to reach out to local high school students, through their teachers, in an effort to encourage them to learn physics, build and maintain interest in attending college and majoring in physics, and prepare them for rigorous physics courses at the college level.

A total of 21 physics teachers from high schools in Southern California will participate this year.  They will work closely with about 14 faculty members in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

“We had 61 applicants from all over Southern California,” said Leonid Pryadko, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, and the primary organizer of the academy. “All of the teachers selected to participate this year are new to the academy.”

Through lectures and demos, the teachers will learn the latest in a variety of research topics conducted by UCR physicists such as classical mechanics, astrophysics, condensed matter, thermal physics, high energy physics, oscillations and waves, electricity and magnetism, nanoelectronics, biophysics, and optics.

The teachers also will get to work in a lab on alternating current circuits and learn about both physics education and physics careers.

Each participating teacher will receive a stipend of $600 for the duration of the workshop.  The registration fee to attend the workshop is $100.

The Summer Physics Academy is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is providing secretarial and educational support staff.

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