We held our 41st UBC Physics Olympics on Saturday, March 9, 2019.
This is a unique collaboration that makes a big contribution to science teaching in BC. We had 72 teams from all over BC with 734 students participating. We had schools from the interior of BC (Kelowna, Nelson, Invermere, etc.) as well as from Vancouver Island (Nanaimo, Victoria, Campbell River). We also had a professional development event for physics teachers attended by 33 teachers during the day. More than 70 volunteers supported the event. The scoring of the activities was led by Prof. Tom Mattison. Professors Mike Hasinoff, Aaron Boley, Jeorg Roettler, Valery Milner, Andrzej Kotlicki were instrumental in organizing and leading six different events (most of them hands-on) that the students were engaged in. Many other faculty members and graduate students supported the design of the events as well.
The overall winner was Semiahmoo Secondary School, but many teams from all over BC got medals and were very happy about the event. I think we all were winners in this event. The organization of the event has a significant impact on BC physics teaching community and many of our own former teacher candidates are now bringing their teams to UBC.
Photo credit: Theresa Liao
Photo credit: Theresa Liao
Photo credit: Ali Afsah
Photo credit: Ali Afsah
Here are some media reports about the UBC Physics Olympics:
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1632132
Submitted by
Dr. Marina Milner-Bolotin
EDCP Representative on the 41st UBC Physics Olympics Organizing Committee