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Pr o g r a m & H i st o r y

AAPT and the American Institute of Physics (AIP)sponsor a competition each year for high schoolstudents to represent the United States at theInternational Physics Olympiad Competition.

2009 U.S. Physics Team Website 2009 International Physics Competition Blog

You can help support the U.S. Physics Team by

donating.

Mission

The mission of the U.S. Physics Team Program is topromote and demonstrate academic excellence throughpreparation for and participation in the InternationalPhysics Olympiad.

The U.S. Physics Team will fulfill its mission by achieving the following goals:

encourage excellence in physics education and to reward outstanding physics students

people, learn in intellectual and experiential ways, and

win medals and compete successfully on an

e

advance to the

expand awareness of and participation in the program provide a meaningful scientific and cultural experience for team members, includingopportunities to network and meet newgain international exposure

international level

Physics Team Select ion

AAPT is responsible for recruiting, selecting andtraining teams each year to compete in theInternational Physics Olympiad Competition. Thisselection process begins in early Januarywhenhigh schools register their students to participat

in the F=ma exam. Each year approximately 400top scorers on this first testquarter-final round of competition.

A third test, student transcripts, and letters ofrecommendation are used as the basis forselection of the 24 members of the U.S. PhysicsTeam. These students, from schools all over theUnited States, travel to the University ofMaryland-College Park at the end of May for the
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annual U.S. Physics Team Training Camp. There they engage in nine days of intense studying, testingand problem solving.

At the end of that training camp, five students will be selected for the "Traveling Team." The Travelingof intense l

tede hope these certificates will beat school-wide award ceremonies.

tionIn 1986, under the direction of

y

brought home three bronze

p

es,

Team will return for three additional daysInternational Event.

aboratory work before they are ready for the

Recogn i t i on - Sem i & Qua r te r F ina l i s ts

Quarter finalist & Semi-finalists and will be givencertificates to recognize and celebrate theaccomplishments of these bright, highly motivastudents. Wdistributed

His to r y

The Olympiad is a nine-day internationalcompetition among pre-university students frommore than 60 nations. At the International Physics

Olympiad, the competitors are asked to solvechallenging theoretical and experimental physics problems.

Begun in 1967 among eastern European countries, the International Physics Olympiad Competigradually grew to include many western countries during the 1970s.the AAPT Executive Officer, Jack Wilson, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)organized the United States Physics Team for the first time.

The 1986 team was made up of 20 talented high school physics students who had been nominated btheir teachers. Following a rigorous program in the physics department of the University of Maryland,five students were selected to represent the U.S. in London. This teammedalsmore medals than any team had ever won in their first competition. Since that time, theUnited States has consistently ranked near the to

The International Physics Olympiad Competition no

ten of all nations.

w attracts teams from all over the globe.

In 2002, AAPT and eight other scientific societiincluding the Acoustical Society of America, theAmerican Astronomical Society, the AmericanInstitute of Biological Sciences, the AmericanInstitute of Physics, the American Physical Society,the Optical Society of America, the NationalAssociation of Geoscience Teachers, the NationalScience Teachers Association, and the TriangleCoalition, sent the following policy statement toCongress:

"We urge Congress to support K-12 science andmath education, particularly programs that enableprofessional development for teachers andpreparation of new teachers, by funding the Math

fun. Mr. Speaker,o join me in saluting these future leaders of our country." Again in 2005, Rep.tement in the Congressional Record, congratulating the team.

and Science Partnership programs at the levelscalled for in authorizing legislation."

Rep. Rush Holt (physicist and D-NJ) sent a letter "to congratulate and celebrate the achievements ofthe students of the United States Physics Team." Rep. Vern Ehlers (physicist and R-MI) introducedremarks into the Congressional Record on June 6 "to applaud the achievements of the members of the2002 United States Physics Olympiad TeamI personally want to thank all of the students who madean effort to become a part of this team for showing others that science is and can beI ask my colleagues tEhlers recorded a sta
http://asa.aip.org/http://www.aas.org/http://www.aibs.org/index.htmlhttp://www.aibs.org/index.htmlhttp://www.aip.org/http://www.aip.org/http://www.aps.org/http://www.aps.org/http://www.osa.org/http://www.nagt.org/http://www.nagt.org/http://www.osa.org/http://www.aps.org/http://www.aps.org/http://www.aip.org/http://www.aip.org/http://www.aibs.org/index.htmlhttp://www.aibs.org/index.htmlhttp://www.aas.org/http://asa.aip.org/


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Ach ievemen ts

There are many ways to measure success. One way is to look at the medals we won and how well ourms at the International Physics Olympiad. We have been consistently successful in

this goal.

United States Teams have brought home:

d:

rtunity to see into the heart of

cula in physics which in turn accelerates their studies during their remaining time

For additional information about the U.S. Physics Team, contact the AAPT Programs and Conferences3344 or email [email protected]

team perforachieving

Awards

From 1986 to 2008, the

36 Gold Medals 25 Silver Medals 27 Bronze Medals 11 Honorable Mentions

Educational & Intrinsic Values

Another way is to see what immediate impact theprogram has had on the lives that were touchedby it. In an anonymous survey answered by theteam after their summer camp, students state

"I enjoyed being with all these smartpeople who think the way I do."

"It was great solving interesting problemswith interesting people."

"I enjoyed meeting new people withsimilar interests and spending time with themplaying games and talking."

"During those days in Maryland, I was given a tremendous oppothe physics community. I listened to respected researchers discuss their work. More importantly,I felt myself reaching the limits of my abilities, of my intelligence."

The training camp experience is immensely valuable for the participants. The instruction provides anintroduction to university style teaching and equipment. Students become familiar with aspects of first

year university curriin high school

A d d it i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n

Department at (301) 209- .

m PagesPast Physics Tea

2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

2009 American Association of Physics Teachers :: One Physics Ellipse :: College Park, MD 20740-3845 ::
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