TRUMP resources

Abstract

Support for astronomy in A-level physicsHelp is at hand for teachers and students choosing astronomy as part of A-level physics. The Teaching Resources Unit for Modern Physics (TRUMP) has produced a resource package covering all the astronomical options in the Edexcel, OCR and AQA (NEAB) syllabuses. The forerunner to TRUMP was the project that produced the highly successful Particle Physics Pack, sponsored by the Institute of Physics, which was instrumental in introducing particle physics into A-level syllabuses. The TRUMP Astrophysics Resource Package fills a gap between the colourful stimulus of popular materials on theone hand, and professional texts on the other. But this is not just another A-level textbook; the six-part resource pack has a similar structure and purpose to the Particle Physics Pack. It provides over 400 pages of comprehensive information for teachers, building on their existing subject knowledge and bringing them up to date as well as giving suggestions for teaching and notes on syllabus coverage. The package includes nearly 40 photocopiable sheets for students. The emphasis is on the physics that underpins the astronomy. There are details of student activities requiring no specialist equipment beyond that normally found in A-level labs, exercises using authentic data, and plenty of questions (all with worked solutions). The development of the TRUMP Astrophysics Package was funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the Institute of Physics and York University. The package is available by mail order, price £48 (inc. UK p&p) from the TRUMP Project, Science Education Group, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD. Some parts may be purchased separately; for details contact the project's director, Elizabeth Swinbank (tel: 01904 434537, fax:01904 434078, e-mail: es14@york.ac.uk) or consult the web page www.york.ac.uk/org/seg/trump. The BaBar experiment In the spring of 1999, scientists began to collect data from the BaBar experiment - an international collaboration involving the UK, several other European countries and the USA. The experiment is designed to throw light on the puzzling question of why there is so little antimatter in the universe and so much matter. The TRUMP BaBar resource package brings the mystery of antimatter into schools. There are notes and colourful posters on the physics of BaBar, and photocopiable sheets supporting student activities. These include explorations of symmetry, templates for making a scale model of the BaBar detector, and a web-based research project. The pack is designed mainly for A-level physics (particularly those courses that include some particle physics) but parts also relate to GCSE science, Scottish Higher physicsand Standard physics. The BaBar resource package is available free from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, which fully funded its development and production. Contact the Publicity Team, PPARC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1SZ (tel: 01973 442123,e-mail: pr_pus@pparc.ac.uk).