2009 Annual Report - Perimeter Institute

“This is my second year at
EinsteinPlus—I couldn’t
get enough! When I came,
I had no idea about the
cutting edge of physics.
This program bridges the
gap between the classical
physics that’s in most of our
curriculums with the cutting
edge of physics. I was part
of a peer network afterwards
and did two workshops last
February... Being able to
share that knowledge with
other teachers is great.”
— EinsteinPlus teacher Karen
Kennedy-Allin, Weyburn Comprehensive
School, Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Teachers at EinsteinPlus learning how to construct a scientific model.
and “The Challenge of Quantum Reality” (now in production), are
on track to reach over 100,000 students annually—impact that will
continue year over year as each module is re-used.
The Institute also provides face-to-face instruction for educators
through on-location workshops at teacher conferences across Canada
each year. In addition, every summer PI hosts the “EinsteinPlus Teacher
Workshop,” teaching highly motivated educators how to effectively convey
key concepts in modern physics. The growing “PI Teacher Network”
is made up of EinsteinPlus alumni who return home to conduct remote
workshops for fellow educators. This successful “training the trainer”
approach is scaling up the impact of EinsteinPlus to hundreds of teachers
annually. In this past year, PI Outreach staff and PI Teacher Network
members reached educators in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg,
Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Waterloo Region, Montreal, and Halifax. The
presentations not only inspired and equipped larger numbers of high
school science teachers with PI tools and techniques, they also served
as a feedback loop for new resources in development.
David Fish, high school teacher and EinsteinPlus presenter.
24 perimeterinstitute.ca I 519-569-7600