Mrs Physics was a name coined by her daughter for a website. Mrs Physics has taught Physics in Scotland for a very long time in two schools, firstly in Hawick High School and then in Lockerbie Academy. She wanted to start a website for many years as a deposit for her resources for Scottish school students studying Physics and a handy place to find useful things. Not being an organised person she feels that if they’re online even she might be able to locate things she needs. She has no background in computing, apart from during her sixth year at school when the wonderful BBC Micro arrived and she learned a bit of Basic.
Mrs Physics has had an exciting career, even if it isn’t considered successful. She has been privileged to be able to set SQA papers and questions and has marked for the SQA at two levels. She has confidence that the system is as robust as it can be, although not perfect.
During 2004 she spent seven weeks at Chapelcross, learning that there is life outside teaching.
Staff at the decommissioned nuclear plant were wonderful and she owes a great deal of gratitude to The Royal Society of Edinburgh for sponsoring this. Having attended the Scottish Space School at both Strathclyde and Houston, Texas, USA, she has a keen interest in Space and has started organising Regional trips to Space school in Houston, although the 2020 was cancelled due to covid 😭. She got involved in the Royal Society (the London one) through the Partnership Grants Scheme and worked with Police Scotland Road Policing Division to put together material for school physics. This has opened amazing doors for both Mrs Physics and her students. They exhibited at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition and at the D&G Science Festival. Students wrote up their work in the Young Scientist’s Journal and were awarded a prize and another trip to the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Renault supported her to attend Renault HQ and find out about car safety and Mr Physics got a trip to Belgium to pick up an EU prize for this work and also the wonderful EU Transport Commissioner Voileta Bluc visited the school (I’m still trying to find pictures as it was during the election so all had to be kept quiet). She loves Physics and wants people to realise not all Physics is hard. It encourages thinking and that must be a good thing. Mrs Physics has been down and seen the LHC @ CERN and the enormous CMOS collider. She’s also watched a film being made by ENERGY FORESIGHT, in London. If you have this DVD in school look in the credits. She was the one responsible for Orkney and Shetland appearing on the map! She also got to speak with the wonderful Gill Arbuthnott at several Edinburgh International Book Festivals, so has shared a yurt with lots of important authors, and she’s grateful to the Royal Society for arranging this.
In 2017 she attended Science on Stage 2017 at Debrecan Hungary, and started a new Partnership Grant involving hearing tests. Science on Stage 2017 was an amazing experience and Mrs Physics’ head is full of new ideas and contacts. She has hosted a Portuguese teacher who got involved with our Hear Today- Gone Tomorrow project and she spent a week in Portugal visiting our Portuguese teacher’s home and work spaces and taking Rosie with her. She even got to help teach in a Portuguese prison! She’s went back to Science on Stage at the end of 2019 in Cascais Portugal.
Currently she is doing a bit of extra as an IoP (Scotland) Physics Coach, which is great fun on line and has put me back in touch with some pals a long way North. I just wish I could be helpful to those in D&G!
Both Scottish Borders and D&G are a bit out on a limb, so Mrs Physics has tried to get things done in this Region so students aren’t too disadvantaged by living in a beautiful part of Scotland. She was once the D&G Curriculum Leader for Physics and arranged some weekends away in an Outward Bounds centre for teachers where they slept in bunk bed dormitories and burnt croissants in a microwave (completely unintentionally), and arranged for Dr Bunhead to run a Masterclass at Dumfries Academy, where the smoke alarms were activated and the whole school was evacuated. The students were quite surprised to see Dr Bunhead in the playground wearing his googles. In 2017 she finally persuaded the lovely Gail Miller to allow D&G to host a Girl’s into Physics day.
She thinks she has a sense of humour but her students don’t really agree, although they do agree that she is an old biddy. What ex-students generally remember about her is that she writes backwards and drinks weak decaf tea from a huge mug. There are worse things to be remembered for, but she wishes a few more students would remember some things about Physics.
She is just a tiny bit younger than the Lockerbie Ice rink and looks it too, although Mr Physics has said she has worn better- thanks!
Mrs Physics has a very patient OH who is able to cook, which is pretty important for the two children; who would have starved long ago if she were in charge of that side of things. Mr Physics was once an academic who worked in Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions. Fortunately he left to support his family especially Mrs Physics who needed more help than the children. He has now found a new role as the school science technician.
In any spare time she has she doesn’t clean the house as most sensible home owners do but she goes to church and tries to visit her 56 foot canal boat as much as possible. It took four years to finally agree on Mostly Harmless as a boat name which is a quote from “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”: compulsory reading for any sentient being. During lockdown Mr Physics introduced her to Ordnance Survey Benchmarking, which you can read about in the blog. I think he regretted doing that but it kept her under control during lockdown and she’s now got her best friend searching the country for more.
Hopefully everyone can find something interesting here, if not let me know and she’ll see what she can do.
People who have made a great impression on her and affected her Physics teaching include:
- Michael Birch: Physics Teacher, Chesterfield St. Helena School
- Des Malone: Deptford Green School
- Rob Gray: Hawick High School
- Kevin Bailey: Wallace Hall Academy
- Frank Callaghan: Annan Academy
- Tom Balanowski: Linlithgow Academy
- Dave Pound and Bob McEwen: Lockerbie Academy
Oh and she’s sorry, she’s just realised she forgot the most important person….. Mr/Dr Physics, the chef, household glue and the one who understands buoyancy!
Thanks to all of them!
Updated 01/01/21 (@ 00:10.
https://www.mrsphysics.co.uk/blog/iop-physics-teacher-award/
Hi,
I am currently a student at Perth College UHI conducting a study into pilot fatigue and was hoping to measure reaction time as a parameter within the study. I contacted FifeX after coming across their Road Safety Reaction Timer to which they responded that they are no longer produced, but recommended getting in touch with Mrs Physics at this website as you may have a few units. Would it be possible to acquire one of these units on a loan for the duration of the study from you?
It would be much appreciated if possible.
PS apologies for sending this request via the comments section, however I could not find an email address.
Kind Regards,
Andrew Jack
Perth College UHI
Hi Mr Jack I will reply by email.
Ssh,! I’m meant to be incognito!
Hi Andrew, Have you had any luck tracking down the reaction timers?
Best wishes with your project Andrew.
Thanks for sharing your great milestones in Physics teaching. I would like to communicate with you on your article for Science in School Issue 44 article on the investigation about a car crash please. Many thanks and keep up the good work.
Stephanie
Totally I’d love to share what we’ve done. You can email me at jhargrea641 “at” ea.dumgal.sch.uk obviously no spaces and the at is @.
This email is now defunct! Replace with gw08hargreavesjennie AT.glow.sch.uk
Using this website for a presentation bout climate change from Annan Academy!
(P.S: u taught me as a substitute)
I made this page just for you 😁
Hi Stephanie, I’m sorry I seem to have missed this one. I’ll log on and try to find your email address, and I’ll change the settings so I get notified. This week I did two sessions of the road safety with 13&14 year olds. The police came in and it was great.
Dear Mrs Physics
thanks for sharing all the really useful stuff. I will be using some of your Assignment guides this year.
And someone who all the standard grades ! what a star
I take it this is Jennie Hargreaves!
Much Appreciated
Shhhh! No one is meant to know! Thank J Boyle for all the SG Stuff. I’ve still to sort that, but he ho, you’ve only so much time in the day!
Hi mrs H, this is fluorine, I was just wondering what other Scottish scientists there are because I have found loads, but to far back to do the project on.
thanks,
flourine
Hi Fluorine, Thanks for the note. Finding someone to study is part of the research. I can help you a bit. What are you interested in?
Marine environment? medicine? agriculture? space? satellite technology? chemistry? oil? Something else? Let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.
Mrs Physics
Hello, form America!! I Have taken a class this semester on electricity and magnetism to scratch up on some of my physics for next year at uni. I was having an argument over the flow of current and weather it was +ve to -ve, and could have sworn that you said that for some reason it was back to front at home. Was wondering the reason for it,
Rowan Chisholm
Your ex and slightly scatterbrained student.
Delighted to hear from you Rowan and yes back home we do things properly, although it turns out it is more by accident than judgement. There’s a blog post from Stuart Farmer on here somewhere! You can blame the Americans and in particular their very non safety conscious ex president Benjamin Franklin who experimented with electricity in the eighteenth century by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. He correctly worked out that something moved in a wire. Scientists had already named these bits plus and minus but had to guess which was which. It was quite a while before the protons and electrons were identified. So on the high odds of 50:50 whether it was the positive or negative that was moving- he got it wrong.
Since then the habit of assuming it was the positive that flowed caught hold. Engineers designed their circuit symbols this way, but when it came down to it, electrons flow!
Hi,
Like the rest of the country we are scrambling to find good N5 revision resources. I have downloaded your amazing new LO booklet!! Such a great resource. When will the answers be complete? Can our team here at Wallace High School (Stirling) help you with this?
Thanks Mr Bryce, I will get on to it as soon as possible and I hope to make a similar one for the Higher. What would be great is if someone from Wallace High School can check my answers for errors. One of my students discovered a couple of mistakes. THanks. I hope all students can find something positive from this horrible situation.
As you put ‘I don’t expect one single person to be interested in my life since leaving SB’ I simply had to let you know I found it fascinating – and your website!
I am a ’90 graduate of SB, Animal Science, and love getting the Agrimag. Where people end up, the choices they make … fabulous.
A Yorkshire lass, I ended up marrying an Italian and living in Canada ….
Keep writing in – looking forward to your next installment!
Ang
Hi, my son failed his nat5 physics but wants to resit. He is leaving school and I wondered if you knew of any online Nat 5 courses he could enrol in
Thanks
Hi, Sorry to hear the news about your son and I don’t know if John Swinney’s announcement on Tuesday made a difference. There are no online courses that you can do as you need to be registered at an approved centre and complete tests, assignments etc. I have made as much of the information as possible to act as an online course and this is all available and free. Have you asked at your son’s school if they will allow him to register there and just go in to complete assignments and the final exam? I also have contacts if your son might want tutoring: however, he will still need to register at an improved centre.
Site is looking good Mrs P. I have sent an email via glow.
Hi there!
Really like your website and the resources on here. I am a new teacher and would like to know if it is OK to use some of your homework resources? They are really useful and ordered into specific topics.
I was also wondering if you have the answers anywhere on the site to check what I have given as my answers and to save a new teacher some time!
No problem if not – completely understand!
Mr Cotton, everything on here is free to use so no problem. All I ask is that you don’t pass it off as yours, although I think the homeworks were someone else’s. Please send an email through glow (Mrs Hargreaves in D&G) with which homeworks you mean and I think I might have the answers.
Hi – i hope you’re well.
I’m the producer at video production company, and we are currently producing some Higher Physics video content for BBC Scotland. We are covering 4 subjects that students typically find hard to grasp, and are looking for a knowledgable Physics consultant to come on board to fact check scripts and visuals etc.
I wondered if this may be something you were interested in? Please drop me an email if so!
Thanks you in advance.
Mrs Physics, I am in love! You are an amazing lady!
I discovered your page when helping my son find info to boost his physics revision.
Thank you – your site is fab, love the layout 😊
Thank you so much for getting in touch. It really makes the effort worth it. Just get in touch if you’ve a query. Happy New Year to you and your son
Hi Mrs Physics
I was looking over your section upon the Photoelectric Effect, and the information there is really helpful.
I noticed that the link to the Photoelectric Effect Knowledge Organiser is no longer working.
Could you please fix that if possible, would be good to be able to use that to help practice for the upcoming exam, as that is currently my biggest weakness.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for making this brilliant revision resource website.
Kind regards
Donald Kerner
Wait, never mind, must had just been an issue with my laptop, my apologies, didn’t mean to waste your time
No worries, I’ve just checked them out. Hope you enjoy them and I’ll thank RObert Stewart who started them off and did all the hard work! BTW, did you find the video on the photoelectric effect? I can get the link if you can’t find it. It is either in this section or the blog. I hope to have a good sort of Mrs Physics and get it tidied up, but my computer skills are limited.
Hello! Recently my Son asked me who was my favourite teacher was at school. I said my physics teacher at Hawick High School in the 90s. He asked me why…what a question?! Well because she was a strong role model. I had been ‘picked on’ by some boys in my class only girl and I was struggling to learn. I went into her class and she was excellent. Even at 16 I could see the effort she put into our lessons (those OHP) slides were unreal. No other teachers were so prepared. She cared it was clear. Physics didn’t come naturally to me, I was better at biology. I took it cause I wanted to be taught be her and I wanted to get into the RAF. What she won’t know is how I turned out!! I am now a LT COL in the NZ Army, Gender Advisor doing my bit for Women and Girls in conflict and Natural Disaster. Doing my bit for Women in the Military. Strong female role models are sooo important. What a fabulous site and role model Mrs Physics. Thank you!
Laura, you will always be fondly remembered and I was just talking about you the other day. You had to suffer me for 10 periods a week as I taught you Biology for a year too. Your email came just at the right time, and I’ll email you if that is OK. Thanks for getting in touch and I could tell it was you without seeing your name as I knew you’d be a great success.
Hello,
I work as a documentary researcher for a company called Blink Films based in London, UK. We are currently making a documentary on car and road safety and are trying to approach crash investigators.
The public engagement workshop you were involved in really resonated with the public safety message of the show, and we are hoping to try get in contact with the crash investigators involved. Namely Neil Hewitson and Campbell Moffat – would you be able to pass on their contact details so I can get in contact with them regarding this opportunity.
Hi, I’ve forwarded your email to the Roads policing Department. Neil and Campbell both retired very young after serving their 30 years! There is also another person I’ll try to contact for you.
Thanks for contacting me.
Are you aware of the ERSC?
Hello,
Thank you for getting back to me, would you be able to email directly? It would be great to chat to you quickly.
From “Anna”
“Anna” I would need to know more about you before i passed on my email address. Please pass on more details. They won’t be posted.
I’m having some troubles with my ADVANCED HIGHER PHYSICS
Please send more details of how I can help with the title JR. I will not publish your details.
Send me details and I’ll see what I can do. I won’t publish your comment.
The comments from the IP address at Jordonhill School are unnecessarily rude. I am just trying to provide information to help students and teachers. I hope you get on fine with your exams as you begin some serious revision. I will put it down to exam stress, go and have a biscuit.
I would like to say a massive thank you for all of the time effort and care you put into your amazing resources and then being so generous as to share them like this.
I am teaching AH for the first time and although I am nervous I have avoided having a complete meltdown many times already by finding exactly what I need here. If there is a link somewhere to buy you a coffee I would very much like to contribute!
thank you!
Thank you for your lovely comment Mrs Goddard. I’ll try to send a link through. Glow but my files are too big to upload.
I don’t have buy me a coffee but I do have some mrsphysics mugs and t shirts and climate change bags I’m selling. I’ll get a post on it in the hols.
Good morning Mrs Hargreaves,
I am a lecturer at UHI NWH in Stornoway, and I am covering N.5 Physics for a colleague.
Some of our students are using your excellent course materials (and they have certainly helped me get back up to speed) and have asked me to get in touch with you about the homework questions in the booklets.
Do you have answers avaliable that we could use to check the homework and example questions?
Thank you,
Alistair
Comment made during Chemistry Revision at Annan!
Delighted you looked at my site but I don’t think it ought to have been during your revision for your S3 Chemistry test with Ms Smith!
Hi Mrs P,
I did a quick search on your name and it led me to this blog. I found it fascinating. I was going to drop you an e-mail but I sometimes have a problem with Glow as it doesn’t like my e-mail address due to authentication problems it has with my provider, which I have been unable to get resolved.
You may recall my involvement with Lockerbie Academy about 15 years ago when I ran the Science Week grant system for the BA. We visited to watch you launch rockets into the building site for the new school.
We shall be in your area on Friday 15 December and would like to meet you again after school that day.
Kind regards,
Sandy
Thanks Sandy, those were great times weren’t they? Do you remember they dug up the playing field with less than a week to the rocket building. The builders were then great sports and joined in the rocket building. One of the students commented that if they didn’t win the competition they shouldn’t be building our school. The builders did wipe out the completion with their rocket. There is noone at Lockerbie Academy Science department that was there then and only a few in school who’ll remember the long lunchtimes firing the rockets.
I’ve sent you an email. I hope you get it. Best wishes Mrsphysics
Hello Mrs Physics
My name is XXXXX, sixth year student at XXXXX.
I was wondering if you could help me with project decisions? We have recently covered SHM, and I have found myself to be quite interested in it. I noticed on your website that you have SHM experiments from past pupils, and wondering if you have any information on them? I have some questions and would appreciate any help.
Thanks N, I did get your email and have replied. I recommend all students doing their projects start by checking out the following
https://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/AHCATPhysics.pdf
https://www.understandingstandards.org.uk/Subjects/Physics/Advanced/Project
https://www.understandingstandards.org.uk/AdvHigher_images/physics/PhysicsAdvHProject2019bCandidate6.pdf
https://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/AHPhysicsCourseSpec.pdf
Get a copy of the Marking instructions and print them out. Do an internet search for videos and information on possible practicals or experiments. Do check the sources are sensible. I wouldn’t trust someones summer school project. Look for University Labs etc.
Check your teacher has the kit or can borrow it from schools nearby.
Then look over the theory and try to unpick it. I don’t know of any good source that truly goes over the theory step by step so lots of work is required here. Then plan your first experiment. You’ll need to think of an aim and how you will test it. Remember everything that you measure will contain uncertainties and so will have to be accounted for. Record the scale reading uncertainty of everything you measure with and also check for calibration uncertainties. Do each of your measurements 6-12 times for the approx. random uncertainty to count. Keep checking in with your teacher and write all these conversations in your day book.
I wish you all the best as you develop some amazing scientific skills.
Mrs Physics
Hi Mrs Physics,
I’ve found your website really helpful, but wondered if you may offer online tutoring? My daughter has physics anxiety about upcoming N5 and could do with a confidence boost. As I didn’t do physics myself (but have learned a lot from your resources) I’d appreciate some help. If not could you point me in the direction of sourcing some tutoring help for her?
Hello and I wonder if you can help. My son’s tutor suggested that you may have some guidance on your website about his higher assignment on Snell’s Law. Is that correct or did we pick it up I Orr’s fly and it’s general guidance for the assignment that’s there? Thank you for the help and for the videos.
I can’t give any personal help on the Assignment as that is breaking the rules, but I’ve given as much guidance as I can in the Higher Assignment section.https://www.mrsphysics.co.uk/higher/category/assignment/ I also wrote something for the P&N paper in 2022 on that experiment, but that can only be purchased (I think) by schools. I don’t know if your school purchased that and can give your son the question to work through. I wish you all the best for your son’s assignment. Just carefully follow the marking instructions in the Course Assessment Task (CAT)
I hope you don’t mind me contacting you via your webpage, but it avoids the hassles of ebay; great resource by the way, my brother is a physics teacher/circus performer and once put Stephen Hawkings’ Brief History of Time on stage, including song and dance routines! Anyway you were interested in some fenders for your boat. Please contact me by email.
Oliver
Hi,
I don’t know why I got so excited to see this site.
My wee one just turned 10 and is fascinated by all things physics (and Henry VIII’s six wives) – we’ve taken a keen interest in your primary resources to help nurture her interest!
Is it worth her checking out some other resources before heading to the academy next year?
One of my biggest regrets is being an idiot throughout my schooling and not paying attention as much as I should have – working on that now!
I’m hoping my girl is the opposite of me (except in looks it seems) and can enjoy learning as much as she can.
P.S – kind of gutted you won’t be there to teach her, but this site will alleviate that for me!
Honor
You have given the best two gifts to your daughter, the gift of life and the gift of loving learning. If she has those two things she’ll do her personal best at school, whatever that it. Just share the joy of learning with her. I’m available on here whenever she has a question. You keep studying. Best wishes MrsPhysics