| AP Physics students qualify for preliminary exams (3/08) | | Print | |
| Written by Camille Smyth | |
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150 physics students across America are rejoicing at having passed a quarterfinal exam, which allows them to move on as semifinalists in a nation-wide competition to qualify for a national physics team, which will compete in the International Physics Olympiad.
Unfortunately none of these students are from Lowell, even though four of our students passed the preliminary exam: seniors Tony Dear, Jeffrey Zhang, Sean Luong and Tiffany Au. On Jan. 28, all students in physics teacher Richard Shapiro’s AP Physics C course took the exam. The multiple choice, 75-minute long exam, covering the basics of Newton’s Second Law of Motion, tested mechanics. Shapiro’s students took the test, administered by the National Physics Team Association, during their AP physics C class time. According to Dear, Shapiro encouraged all of his students to take it. “He even offered to pay the $7 entrance fee for us if money was a problem,” Dear said. Luong was startled when he found out he had passed the exam. “I didn't expect to move on to the next round because I figured that all the problems that I did correctly would be the ones that most people got too,” he said. According to Dear, “to qualify for the quarterfinal exam, students must be one of the top 400 in the country, and four of us made it here at Lowell.” Shapiro had all of his AP Physics C students take the test. “I wanted all of my students to have the opportunity to take a killer hard test without the stress of getting a good grade on it,” he said. According to Shapiro he gave his students review material prior to taking the exam, but what really prepared his students for the test was the material taught in class. “The first semester of physics was basically preparation because the test was pretty broad and it covered all of mechanics,” Luong said. This year, the National Physics Team Association administered three screening tests instead of two: preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal. Lowell’s four quarterfinalists took their next exam on March 4, at the same time as the other top 400 scorers from the preliminary exam. “The (quarterfinal) exam was one consisting of several Free Response Questions on both mechanics and electrostatics,” Dear said. “It is known to be notoriously hard,” he added. Taking this test is accessible to all AP Physics C students, AP Physics B students who demonstrate a strong understanding of the material and especially talented first-year physics students. Shapiro expressed pride in his students’ achievement although he was not completely surprised at the results. “I was ecstatic when I found out although I knew that all four of them had a pretty good chance,” Shapiro said. The upcoming semifinal exam will recognize the 24 finalists out of which five students will be selected to be a part of the 2008 US Physics Team. This team will compete at the International Physics Olympiad in Vietnam in the summer of 2008, sponsored by the Physics Olympiad Preparation Program. |
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