Posted: 1/16/07
Physics students learn while they teach
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Every year about this time, students turn into teachers in Cheryl Utechtís senior physics class at Caledonia High School.
It fits with Utechtís teaching philosophy, and the students seem to like it too.
Students pick a subject on modern physics, research it ñ mostly on their own time ñ then present it to the class.
The approach is a way to cover more material, Utecht said. "Thereís so much in modern physics," she said.
The goal is to have students see that the only way to learn is to teach yourself, Utecht said. "The idea is that they become the experts."
She sees herself as a college preparatory teacher. "College is an exercise in teaching yourself," she explained.
Karleigh Petersen and Brooke Christian agreed with that. They presented "Carl Sagan, Super-Astronomer" on January 11.
The projects show what youíre able to learn and teach, Petersen said during a break in the 90 minute class.
Itís a life lesson, Christian added. She explained that it takes more responsibility to teach yourself and to convey it to others. "And in a way they can understand and be interested," she said.
And how do you know when that happens? By the classís reaction, Petersen said.
Humor helps too, she added. "[You] Donít want to be bored for an hour and a half," she said.
Their presentation had humor. They showed a video in which Christian donned an outfit and played the role of a ditsy talk show host. She interviewed Carl Sagan, who was played by Jordan OíHeron. Petersen did the filming. Christian said she might minor in theater, and that came through in the video ñ she was funny.
But the presentation had much more than humor. It covered many of the famous astronomerís achievements. His contributions to science were enormous.
Utecht asked several questions during the presentation, then students did the same when it was over.
"Whatís your project on?" Brandon Vick asked. That joke drew laughter, something that the class was not short on. Vick also thought Saganís description of a nuclear winter was cool.
Michael Wagner liked Saganís idea to use sunlight to power a solar sail. The solar sail idea got a lot of questions during the presentation.
Katie Wiste remarked on how astronomer Percival Lowell was so paranoid about the canals on Mars. Lowell thought they were made by Martians.
Ellen Klug liked Saganís philosophy about Mars ñ he basically wanted to leave it alone and not exploit it.
Kate Sullivan liked how Sagan was involved in tons of things. "He didnít pick one subject," she said.
Jake Hanson said he was interested to know that Bill Nye the Science Guy was a member of the Planetary Society, a group that Sagan promoted.
There were lots more questions and comments, all the way to the end of the class, all triggered by the presentation.
Utecht asked Petersen and Christian what was the coolest thing that they had learned.
Petersen said it was learning that Sagan had experimented with marijuana as a way of enhancing his experiences to make his mind larger and more accepting.
Christian liked that Sagan did so much. "Heís involved with everything," she said. "He was an awesome guy, plain and simple."
Utecht said she was glad the girls had included Saganís views on God and science. They had even included her favorite quote: "My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence is provided by such a God. We would be unappreciative of that gift . . . if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves."
Here are the other projects that students presented:
ï History and Future of Cryogenics and Cryonics
ï String Theory: Can it be Proven?
ï The Role of Dark Matter in Universal Expansion
ï Bose-Einstein Condensates: The Fifth State of Matter
ï The Physics of Science Fiction
ï Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Fusion: Power of the Future
ï Albert Einstein and the Revolution of Special Relativity
ï Nanotechnology
ï Blackhole Thermodynamics in the Eyes of Stephen Hawking
ï The Flow of Time
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