Retirement and another website

Dear Readers

I have recently retired from the service of the Free State Department of Education. It was a pleasure to maintain this website for you for the past 17 years. 

I started this website in 2006 (in those days on another platform) to create an e-platform with the primary goal to support the physical science teachers, and later the technical science teachers, of the Free State. We did not have an official e-platform for that purpose in those days, and I decided to do my own thing. From April 2014, I used Google services to continue the original website, and it eventually grew to a platform with quite an audience, including international visitors. See the picture at the bottom of this post.

To all of you, I want to extend my gratitude for visiting my website, and for the numerous messages of appreciation that I received from so many of you. At the time of posting this message, the website was visited 871 158 times. Rest assured that it was a pleasure to put each post on the website.

To continue serving you, I started to put plans in action in August of 2022 for the continuation of this service. I asked one of the subject advisers in my team, Mr Nkosi Nambane, to create a platform for that purpose. Official documents from the National and Free State Departments of Basic Education are now available on Mr Nambane's website, plus other material that you normally find helpful. 

The address of Mr Nambane's website is https://www.nambaneacademy.com. Put in an effort to become familiar with the new layout, and also follow his YouTube channel with online lessons.

"hwscience" will not stop, but in time I will probably change the focus a bit. Hence, I will still post general and other useful information. Therefore, I invite you to click on https://hwscience.blogspot.com from time to time to look in what is available.

I will leave space for comments for a while. In case you have specific requests, you are welcome to post them so that I can forward them to Mr Nambane.

My best wishes to all of you and success with your work.

Henry Welman

Congratulations Grade 12 results - 2022

Congratulations to all our teachers and learners with their good grade 12 results of 2022. Free State achieved the best overall results in the country with a pass percentage of 88,5%.

The pass percentages for our subjects were:

• Physical sciences: 80,6% for second place in South Africa.
• Technical sciences: 97,0% for first place in South Africa.

Teachers and learners, thank you for your hard work. Well done!

New Year 2023

I wish each reader a prosperous new year, full of blessings, prosperity, and success!

Enjoy 2023!

Image by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay

Merry Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas to all the readers and followers of this website. May your day, 25th December 2022, be filled with things that are meaningful to you and your family. All my best wishes. Henry Welman

Holiday wishes for the school holiday

My best wishes to all the readers of this website, but especially to the teachers and learners, for the school holidays. Teachers, thank you for all the "extra miles" you have walked in the interest of our learners. Enjoy the holidays and rest creatively to build up your resources for 2023.

©Image from  https://pixabay.com

Surprises in life!

Surprises in life mean a lot! 

I was so surprised to discover a comment on this website made by an ex-learner quite some time ago. For some or other reason I did not see it until today. 

To this ex-learner of mine, whoever you are, Isa bin Marius, thank you so much! I am nearing the end of my career and such things really mean a lot. To read the comment, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the post. I also enjoyed reading his blog post, which I take the liberty of publishing here. It has appeared in https://contemplationsofarevert.blogspot.com.

Physics - The Roots

Science is a mind-bogglingly wide field of knowledge and research. These people called scientists have measured some wholly inconceivable things, and our present technology is all built on it. But, where did it start? How did we get from "googoo gaga" to knowing the temperature at the core of the Sun?

Well... let's retrace these steps, shall we? What did we know when we knew practically nothing?

Distance is the primary and most obvious thing to measure. Mathematics was basically built on that. One distance being added to another gave us addition. Adding equal distances repeatedly gave us multiplication. Deducting one distance fron another gave us subtraction, and dividing a distance into equal sub-units gave us division. So don't tell me primitive civilisations didn't do math...

Physical science is basically applied mathematics at this point. Also surface area and volume was well understood, since for instance a smaller container obviously contains less water or anything else than a larger one.

Directly related to volume is mass. This is so basic that explaining it would be an outright insult.

The next step is measuring the other constant, obvious factor of life: time. Days, seasons, seasonal cycles. These were then refined into time units more applicable to tasks. An hour as defined today did not exist until very recently, but they did develop a standard unit and sub-units over the course of time.

Next up, "fast" and "slow" was defined by relating the above two measurements. Speed is at times the difference between life and death. Thus, a faster hunter would be superior in gathering food, or escaping from a dangerous animal. The formula was not conceived, but the concept had been born. This also gave rise to the concept of acceleration.

While the formulae were defined later, space, time and mass was well understood on a practical use level. And every kinematic formula can be expressed in terms of only these factors. Take out one, and you're for the most part stuck without an answer.

In conclusion, I'd like to say we are most certainly no better informed than "cavemen" in terms of what we are working with. Our only advantage has ever been that each generation has left applications of this knowledge for the next generation to take for granted and build upon.

So, next time you see your science exam paper, or class test, be assured that your physics are all as simple as space, time and mass.

** A special thanks to Mr Henry Welman who had fed the love of physics in me between the age of 12 and 15.

Sasol's 6th Annual Technical Teacher's Conference

The 6th Annual Technical Teacher's Conference, taking place on 14 and 15 September 2022, will start in a few hours.

For those of you who have not yet registered, click here for the link to register. 

Click here for the programme.

Tips and Tricks for Examination Success

It is almost time for the September (and November) examinations for our grade 12 learners. Here are four booklets with tips and tricks to get the most out of your performance. Grade 10 and 11 learners will also benefit by reading the general issues.

Use the links below the picture to download your own copy of this.

Tips & Tricks for Physical Science in Afrikaans
Tips & Tricks for Physical Science in English

Tips & Tricks for Technical Science in Afrikaans
Tips & Tricks for Technical Science in English

Quantitative Error Analyses: 2022 June Examination Grade 12

 The quantitative error analyses for the grade 12 June examination are available. You will find it under "Pages" and then go to "Error analysis (Quantitative)" or click here. Follow the further links.

Teachers can use this data to identify areas to focus on for the final preparations for these learners.

Teacher Development Classes for Teachers by SAIP & CUT

This programme was cancelled for 2023 due to poor attendance by teachers. More news will follow about future plans.

The South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), in collaboration with the Central University of Technology (CUT), are doing virtual teacher development classes for our teachers on various topics. Although it is a project initiated as support to Free State teachers, other colleagues are welcome to join.

Click here for the full programme. The Zoom link is also embedded in the programme.

Are you ready for the Siyavula challenge?

Are you ready for the Siyavula Challenge?

Click here and click here for full details!

Enjoy!!

Correction of Printing Error

On page 62 of the Terms & Definitions for grade 12 (P2) was a typing error. Learners should correct the typing error in their books. The e-version on this website is correct. It is available here. Follow links from there to the sub-folder "Terms & Definitions". Refer to the pictures below for more detail.

  

How to use Siyavula

The staff at Siyavula has prepared posters to make it easy for teachers how to use the Siyavula resources. The first three posters look like this and below the pictures are links that you can use to download A4 size posters for youself.

Poster 1

Poster 2

Poster 3

Revision Material for Grade 12 Learners

22 final examination papers from DBE and IEB, with worked-out memoranda, explanations and an index to quickly find what you want to revise, are now available to grade 12 learners.

Contact Mrs Engela Steynberg at engelasteynberg@gmail.com

for more information.

Enjoy your exam preparation!

Online Teaching and Resources

The universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch offer online support material and other services to high school learners and teachers. Click the links below to go to the two websites for more information.

https://www.uctonlinehighschool.com/

https://www.suadvantage.co.za/

Easter 2022

©Image by Gerd Altmann
https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/

I wish all my readers a blessed Easter Weekend. Enjoy it with your families and make it meaningful. May everything that begins on this day of renewal be a reason for great joy throughout the year.

Happy Easter!

Tchaikovsky's house destroyed by Russian army in Ukraine

This is not a music website but I have thought of making you aware of the tragic destruction of Tchaikovsky's house in north-east Ukraine.

According to an article on the Classic FM website, the house was recently destroyed by the Russian army. 

What a sensible loss due to the greed, power, and immeasurable lack of sophistication by some politicians. What you destroy can never be replaced; maybe repaired. Think of what was done during the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, and there are many other examples of how human beings destroy history, culture, and much more. This treasure in Ukraine has now become the prey of such senseless actions as well. What is the message for us in our country?

Click here to read the original article. It contains valuable further links, inter alia a link to a recording of Tchaikovsky's voice. You can also click here for a pdf copy of the Classic FM article.

November 2021 NSC Exam's Marking Guidelines

DBE has recently published the marking guidelines of the above-mentioned examination papers. Hence, it is also available on this website, or on the DBE website where other subjects are also available.

How Much Pi Do You Really Need? from Prof Rhett Allain

© https://www.freepik.com

Prof Rhett Allain from the Southeastern Louisiana University has written a wonderful article about "pi" with very interesting applications for physical science teachers. Click here for a pdf copy of the article, or click here for the original article in which further interesting links are found.

Drawing diagrams, circuit diagrams and chemical apparatus

I have updated this article on 26 October 2020. Scroll down for new information about Circuit Diagram.

Setting professionally-looking question papers are very important. Apart from the content and related issues, a good layout and neat, informative diagrams are necessary to have a professionally looking question paper.

The drawing facilities of MS Word are quite amazing and can take you a long way. The more you practise and using your imagination, the better you get at drawing diagrams. The downside is that it is time-consuming and one cannot always address all situations satisfactory. This post deals with a few hints to draw diagrams in your question papers.

Shapes in MS Word
Die following diagram was done by using MS Word and it gives a good idea of what is possible.

The rocket on the left was drawn by using different kinds of shapes, adding shadows and putting them together. The top and bottom halves were separated for the rocket on the right-hand side. You can actually draw fantastic diagrams with MS Word's drawing facilities; just use your imagination and go for it!

Graphs in MS Excel
When it comes to graphs where accurate readings are important, you cannot get better than MS Excel or perhaps Google Sheets. For this, I prefer Excel. Compile the necessary values with an applicable formula and use the spreadsheet's ability to draw a graph. Copy and paste as a picture into your question paper. Here is an example of something I have done for the vertical motion of two balls.

Chemsketch
During a visit to the Maryland State Department of Education in the USA in 2005, I was introduced to Chemsketch. Since then I have introduced numerous people to this. What an amazing piece of software! It can draw the structural formulae for organic compounds and it can even give you the IUPAC name of a structure. For learners, this is very useful to practise and name their structures. Using Chemsketch to draw the following structural formula takes a fraction of the time compared to what it takes by using MS Word.

Chemsketch is available free of charge on the internet; currently from
https://www.acdlabs.com/resources/freeware/chemsketch. You can also search for Chemsketch, download, install and there you go. It is distributed by ACD Labs. Chemsketch can also be used to draw chemical apparatus, etc. It has amazing pictures of apparatus.

TinyCAD
For years, I was searching for something (free) to draw electric circuits with. I can do it with MS Word, but it is time-consuming. A few years ago I found TinyCAD at https://sourceforge.net/ and this helps me to rather quickly draw something like this.

 

If there is something I cannot do with TinyCAD, I add it by using MSWord after I have pasted the diagram as a picture into MSWord. TinyCAD is also available free of charge.

Chemix
From the above, I was basically covered with diagrams although I wanted to have something else to draw chemistry equipment with too. Then I discovered Chemix at https://chemix.org/. It is an online drawing app to draw test-tubes, flasks, etc. You can save your drawings online or just copy and paste a drawing to your question paper (I like to use the snipping tool of Windows). Here is something I have put together as an example.

 

I am missing something here and there, but the speed and easiness getting a diagram done is a huge bonus. Anything that I need extra is done by MS Word; don't forget about the apparatus in Chemsketch as well. All these facilities can complement one another when you use them together. 

Circuit Diagram
Since I wrote this article in December 2018, I found another online app to draw electric circuit diagrams. It is called Circuit Diagram and is available at https://www.circuit-diagram.org/editor/. It is also easy to use. You can create a profile, save your diagrams for future use, and you can download them your circuits as png or svg images. As with TinyCAD, I draw certain parts of the diagram with this app, but I prefer to draw things like voltmeters and ammeters with MS Word in order to use more descriptive labels when needed. Here is something I have done with Circuit Diagram.

I trust you find this helpful. If you know of useful software to help us in our work as physical and technical science teachers, let me know. Send an email; look at the top left of the home page for detail.