Melissa Cano, 2023 AAPT Teacher Professional Development Intern

Biography

SPS Chapter: University of Texas-El Paso

Hello! My name is Melissa Cano and I am the AAPT intern for this summer! I am currently a senior at The University of Texas at El Paso where I am a Physics major, minoring in Secondary Education. I am currently employed as an Undergraduate Physics research assistant in the (NICE^2) laboratory; Nano particles in materials, Interfaces and Confinement for Energy and the Environment. I study the structure of materials such as ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents using SAXS and WAXS scattering techniques with my mentor Dr. Banuelos. I have also had the opportunity to work as a Physics lab teaching assistant, where I teach the mechanics physics lab to one-hundred undergraduate students each semester.

I have been involved in SPS for three years, including holding a Secretary and Vice President officer position. I am a member of the FEMaS (Future Educator of Math and Science) organization that hosts weekly meetings that provide resources to aid future careers as math and science teachers, with guest speakers.

I am an ADP MaST Academy scholar, (Math and Science Teachers Academy) where I have done over one-hundred-sixty hours of field hour observations in high school physics and math classrooms. I have attended monthly workshops for lesson plan designs, classroom management, technology in the classroom, accommodations, at-risk students, among others.

I enjoy attending physics conferences as well as hanging in the SPS room to chat, play table tennis, or work on homework with friends. I am proficiently fluent in Spanish, and I also play the violin. Over the years studying physics, I have learned that I want to be as inspiring as I am passionate. I want my classroom to be full of interactive lessons and learning opportunities. I want to build confidence in my students and utilize their strengths so they can pursue their own dreams, just like I have with mine.

I am so excited and honored to be working with the SPS National as the AAPT Intern, I cannot wait to see what the summer brings!

Internship

Host: American Association of Physics Teachers

Project

Abstract

Physics Education Research (PER) is a scientific discipline aimed at understanding how students learn physics and how teachers can effectively teach physics concepts. This research focuses on the best strategies to help students grasp challenging physics topics, thereby enhancing their overall learning experience. By identifying misconceptions and supporting evidence-based teaching, PER plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between research and practice in physics education. PER uncovers novel insights into how students comprehend fundamental concepts, having the potential to challenge traditional paradigms in physics education. One of the key aspects of PER’s significance lies in its contributions to the advancement of physics. Embracing evidence-based solutions, PER addresses the challenges encountered in physics education, fostering continuous growth and improvement in the field. Undergraduate physics education can benefit from research into different pedagogical techniques. PER helps evaluate the effectiveness of various teaching methods, allowing instructors to make evidence-based decisions in their instructional practices. By integrating physics education research into undergraduate schools, institutions can create a more supportive and effective learning environment, resulting in better-prepared physics graduates and potentially inspiring more students to pursue careers in physics and related fields.

Final Presentation

Internship Blog

Week 1 : New Job, New Places & New Faces

This week was move-in week along with orientation! Its my first time living in dorms along with a roomate. I flew from Texas early sunday morning and I got to D.C. in the afternoon. Coincedentally, I actually bumped into another intern on that flight. The very Next Day it was Labor day so I had a day to rest and prepare for orientation the next day. On orientation day all of the inters rode the metro together to get to ACP or how I preffer to call it, “Physics Headquarters”. We had breakfast, our pictures taken and we all learned about each other and what it is expected from us as Interns. I got a tour from Jack, and saw some really neat decoration features the ACP building holds inside. The next day I got coffee with Mark and my mentor Justine, I got to know them more and learned about all of the opportunities I will be exposed to over the summer. This week I had the opportunity to overlook the sunsets at the National Mall, eat chick-fil-a in a bench outisde The Whhite House, and read at the Albert Einsten memorial. It was a really thrilling eventfull week! Stay tuned for week Two!

Week 2: Slowly becoming a D.C. local

This week was eventful; on Monday I went to the ACP building and worked on some tasks that were given to me, that aftyernoon I played frisbee at the National mall with my fellow interns. On Tuesday I attended a play with Jack and my roomate Emily. We went to the Arena Stage and watched the play, “Exclusion”. It was a very entertaining play full of satire as well as real life situations that depict the art of Hollywood, and staying true to the story rather than to what sells, the play is based off, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Wednesday, I had the opportunity to visit the high school where Mark teaches, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Fairfax Virginia. Mark gave me a tour of the school and I was amazed at the resources and quality education a high school can offer when the resources are unlimited. This high school is incredibly special and incredibly privaliged all the teachers here have a Ph.D in their field of content, to be admitted to this school thee is an admission exam. Once there I saw extensive workshops and research laboratories such as a bio-tech lab, Quantum/Optics lab, a green house, a carpentry workshop, a Planetarium, world language courses, super computers to help aid the computer science lab, an oceanography lab etc. That day there was a symposium where 9th graders presented their posters of the research they were working on all school year. I believe every high school in the nation should be funded and supported with unlimited resources so that both teachers and students can reach their full potential academically, just imagine how much further you could achieve and dream!

Thursday I went to the ACP building to attend the Wikipedia-edit-a-thon where all the interns edited Wikipedia pages about current and former Physicists. We also got a tour of the Niels Bohn library.

My birthday was this past Saturday, I did a variety of activities to celebrate. First, I visited the Zoo where my favorite exihibit was the Elephant trails. Afterwards I attended Artechouse where its a visual, interactive, submerging experience combining science, art and technology. This season’s theme was butterflies, it was lovely. After that I had dinner at the Cheesecake factory, it was my first time there, for dessert I had an Oreo cheesecake that came with confetti sprinkles and a candle since it was my birthday. I closed my eyes, made a wish and blew out the candle. The night ended in D.C.'s Dupont circle, in a club full of music, lights, and everyone around me singing my favorite songs. It was an amazing Birthday! Cheers!

Week 4: Time Flies

Time really flies by in this beautiful city, yet the monuments still do not cease to amaze me, no matter how many times I’ve seen them by now. This week was really rainy and cloudy, something I dont usually encounter in the middle of June in El Paso, Texas. On Monday we had an Italian Physics Podluck night, where each intern brought a cooked meal to share. It was really nice coming together and sharing an evening with one-another. Tuesday I went exploring in georgetown, found many unique sights and I enjoyed a chai-tea by the waterfront. Wednesdy I had a meeting with my mentor Justine where we caught up on tasks I have assigned for example, I am currently working on peer editing a Physics teacher article for the “Physics Today” magazine. I am also currently working on designing a poster and a presentation for the upcoming AAPT Conference meeting in Sacramento, California that takes place later this summer in July. That day I also got the opportunity to attend the, “Black Space Week” event where The White House was commemorating influential figures from our time with their ground breaking achievements, Dr. Mae Jemison and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield were interviewed first. They both disscussed their heritage, their life journey, what inspires them and how they have opened doors for future generations to follow. It was really nice to be able to meet the first African American woman that went to space, and it was heart warming to see all of the inspiration and passion both of these powerful women represent. On Thursday and Friday I worked on my current tasks and projects that I have assigned to me as an Intern, I went to a nearby coffee shop to have a different work setting. Saturday was really eventful, it was Astronomy at the Mall Night, where SPS would have three tables at the event showcasing different Physics phenomena demonstrations. As soon as the event began, I got in line for the Celestron CGX-L 1400 EdgeHD to admire the Sun. It was the first time I saw the sun in great detail, I could even see the Sun’s sun spots as well as the solar flares and plasma, it was amazing! I spent most of the time there assigned at the fabric of space demo as well as the waves and light diffraction physics demos. I had never seen the National Mall that packed and encounter that many people interested and be amazed by Astronomy and Physics. Towards the end, I visited other tables and had a lot of fun disscusing astronomy with fellow astronomers, physicists, engineers and the general public. I even got to meet Sir Isaac Newton and we discussed his most favorite invention the reflecting telescope as well as how Copernicus had suggested the Sun being in the center of Solar system first, and not Galileo. Once the event was done telescopes were now pointing at the moon, I got in line again and admired the moon and its craters in detail, in case you’re wondering the moon was a Waning Crescent that night. Sunday I attended Brunch, I went to Pisco & Nazca a peruvian restaurant. It was delicious! P.S. I love D.C.

Week 5: Capitol Hill Tour !

Hi!

It has been increasingly becoming alot more humid than I anticipated, I guess thats the price you pay for the dense, rich greenery trees and flowers around D.C. This week a fellow intern hosted a tour at the Capitol Hill. I have visited every monument by now, except for the Capitol. Upon arrival the architecture of the building really captured my attention, as I walked to meet my fellow interns I couldn’t help but stare in “awe” and focus on the details this beautiful building contains. Inside we visited the meeting chambers and got inside scoop on what happens behind the scenes in the meeting chambers and how the capitol was burned by the british in 1814. I especially appreciated the art that the capitol has inside it, it has angels at the very top, as a catholic I love to see this depicted in government buildings, as well as the fifty statues spread accross the capitol representing fifty states with its most notable people from that state that greatly helped influence the America we live in now. Later in the week I got to visit Gravelly Point in Virginia, its a park next to the airport and you can appreciate the airplanes land, since you are right underneath them. After leaving the capitol I saw a protest right outside the Supreme Court, it was the first time I saw it in real life, usually I only get to see it in the news...it felt quite surreal like most things in D.C. Every ten to fifteen minutes a plane lands, and no matter how many times you see it, its so astonishing, or perhaps thats just my love for aircrafts. I stayed until night time, and you can see the washington monument from there, it was a great day indeed. Have I mentioned how lucky I am?!

Week 6: July Summer Fun!

This week was so much fun! I went hiking to the trails of West Virginia, Scotts Run, it was so beautiful. I got a BLT Bagel for breakfast and headed to the trail. I saw so many different species of fungi, insects and trees. At the end of the trail there was a beautiful waterfall where locals go to cool off. People were in the water, having lunch and lisening to music, there was latin music playing which I really appreciated it made me feel right at home. The next day it was our SPS Baseball game, I hadnt been to a professional baseball game since when I was eight. I had some loaded tator tots and enjoyed some drinks with the company of my fellow inters, I also got to fangirl with Brynn and Brad’s wife about taylor swift since Brynn had seen Taylor Swift the weekedn prior to the game. Shortly before the game ended we all left to the otherside of the stadium in order to catch the fireworks, they were amazing and we all took the metro home that night. The next day it was the 4th of July, I went to the parade and caught it right on time! I had a confetti cupcake made by Isabella as well as a lime popsicle from “El paletero”, I watched the fireworks that night from the national mall and it was the best show I had ever seen! Towards the end of the week I went to the AMC theater in Georgetown to watch a thriller movie; “The Conjuring”. Once that was over I took a stroll by the waterfront since I had not seen its magnificent splender at night. The very next day I attended an Art exihibit hosted by multiple countries portraying interns art work that they had worked on for the summer. I got to visit the Embassy of Peru as well as the embassy of United Arab Emirates where I learned all about perfumes, while in georgetown I visited a sushi place called Bluefin Sushi where there was such a beautiful bridge with a waterfall underneath it. On Saturday I attended a rave with all of the electronic Indie classics like MGMT, Empire of the Sun among others, it was space themed, I had the time of my life! D.C is truly an amazing place, there is always something to do and something new to learn, I hope I can call this place my home one day !

Week 7: Library of Congress, the Wharf & Ice-cream

Hello!

This week I got to visit the very iconic, Library of Congress. Inside it exists the Thomas Jeffersons Library, a wide personal collection of books ranging from topics such as art, medicine, physics, astronomy, philosophy etc. The library is filled with quotes and mosaic art portraying all of the knowledge known to human kind. My favorite quote among the library was one that read, " Give instruction unto those who cannot procure it for themselves” - Confucius. I really like it because I believe it depicts exactly what being a teacher intails, selfless act of educating everyone, especially the less fortunate. After the library I took a stroll towards the Capitol and I noticed the Supreme Court was not barricated since there were no protesters this time, and I took a closer look at the doors. The doors are huge with broze detail art on them was really neat and unique. That night I went to georgetown and enyoed a blackberry ice-cream since it was hot and the day called for something refreshing with good company. Later that week I visisted an event that occurs weekly called, “Rock the Dock”. Its a raggae band by the Wharf where they perfom song covers, nnext to the dock, I went with Janessa, Julia and Eva. We enjoyed some spiked lemonades as we saw the sun set with good music, beautiful sights and good vibes. I have been preparing for my AAPT meeting in Sacramento, California where I will host a one-hour long workshop with teachers from all over the nation. I am both nervous and excited, usually when I go to conferences I present research, so this is something new but I welcome all of the new experiences life has to offer. As the weeks go by I still haven’t found where the time goes. I have a theory days in D.C. go by too fast, literally at the blink of an eye. See you next week!

Week 8: AAPT Conference !

Hi!

This week is the biggest week for my internship as I got the opportunity to visit the National American Association of Physics Teachers in Sacramento, California. I have been to many conferences in the past where I present my research on ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents using x-ray scattering, but this is the first time I get to do something related to Physics education. I got the opportunity to host a one hour workshop where I interacted with teachers about our teaching philosophy, exchanged physics teaching strategies and tools, as well as discussing the current challenges Physics all over the nation face today. I got to meet my mentor for the first time since she is mentoring remotely and I got to attend some AAPT board meetings. In the conference I was able to gave through some sun telescopes as well as attend booths for networking opportunities. I went to the thor labs table and answered some trivia questions about optics and won a shirt merch from their company. After the internship I went to find some dinner, to my surprise, most restaurants closed at nine pm, so I had to walk a few blocks away from the hotel to find a frestaurant opened where I enjoyed some tacos. On my way back to the hotel I took another route since I saw a plaza, and there I saw it was a plaza conmemorating Cesar Chavez, an influential chicano movement leader. I had a great time in sacramento, can’t wait to go back to D.C. !