Khwarizmi Science Society (KSS) and Ali Institute of Education (AIE) have initiated a joint Teacher Training Program, فکر انگیز سائنسی تعلیم Thought-provoking Science Education. In the first phase of the program, we will focus on teaching of practical physics through thought-provoking, innovative and exciting physics experiments. The program comprises of three independent interactive workshops, the first of which will take place on 25th to 27th October, 2018 at the Ali Institute of Education, Ferozepur Road, Lahore.

The purpose of this workshop is to enable physics teachers to learn about the culture of modern physics experimentation preparing them to design and deliver modern, exciting and insightful physics experiments to their students. By the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to get exposure to

• building experimental hardware from low-cost items;

• use modern gadgets and techniques such as video tracking and physics using the smartphone;

• plotting and interpretation of data, and

• connecting the laboratory to the classroom.

The hand-picked experiments to be offered in this workshop are designed based on topics selected from the syllabi of Grades 9 to 12 (matric to intermediate) and O levels. These four-five experiments will not be a replica of experiments traditionally performed by students in our laboratories, rather they are thought-inspiring experiments designed to highlight how physics practicals, in our opinion, should be conducted in an enabling, skills-oriented and contemporary fashion. All experiments will be low-cost and will become fodder for ideas for teachers who could recreate their own experiments to amplify physics topics in their textbooks.

Coverage areas: The coverage of these experiments will be from mechanics, optics, heat, electromagnetism and waves.

Laboratory skills: measurement, uncertainties, graphing, data processing, using the camera and the smartphone for physics experiments, building hardware, connecting theory with experiment, interpreting experimental results.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the workshop. If you teach physics, especially practical physics, conduct laboratory training for your students, want to set up new labs, are motivated about physics education and would like to usher in radical reforms to how physics is taught in your school, or are a headmaster or headmistress and would like to nominate some talented individual from your school or college, please fill out the registration form.

Registration is required to participate in the workshop. Once the registration form is filled, the participants will be selected and shortlisted on basis of their willingness to learn, background and inclination towards practical aspects of teaching. Further details are provided below:

• Date: 25th - 27th October, 2018

• Venue: Ali Institute of Education, Ferozepur Road, Lahore

• Timings: 10:00 am - 04:00 pm

• Registration Deadline: 15th October, 2018

• Registration Fee: Rs. 1500 (to be paid by ATM transfer before 20 October; details will be sent by email)

• Accommodation provided: No

• Certificates provided at the end of the workshop: Yes

We look forward to your nominations or registrations.

For further queries:

Email: info@khwarizmi.org or charismawafi@gmail.com

Call: +923430421692

This science mela is part of Khwarizmi Science Society's National Science Movement 2016 and Beyond.

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) are attracting wide interest due to their unique physical properties and potential for application in nanodevices. NWs can be obtained by a number of growth methods, and their highly anisotropic growth originates by the presence of a metal particle, the catalyst, that determines the position and the diameter of the nanostructure. The most widely used catalyst is gold. The growth mechanism of catalyst assisted nanowires involves the incorporation of material both impinging on the catalyst particle and diffusing from the free substrate surface to the sidewalls of the wire. The interplay of these two phenomena is critical especially for the growth of alloy semiconductor compound NWs and one dimensional (1-D) heterostructure. Difference in the surface mobility between the constituents could give compositional inhomogeneities in alloy NWs and degradation of the interface sharpness in 1-D heterostructure. The systematic presence of a metal particle at the NWs tip could be exploited in single NW devices. Moreover, one of the most interesting characteristic of the III-V NWs grown by catalyst assisted self assembling is the peculiarity of having an hexagonal lattice structure (wurtzite), while their bulk and epitaxial parent materials have the cubic structure (zinc blend). In our laboratory we have synthesized GaAs NWs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) either using a thin gold, manganese, Ga layer as the growth catalyst or without any catalyst. In this talk some of the basics of NWs, their growth and potential applications will be covered.