Plasma Class Coming to Watchung Hills Regional

Plasma physics may hold keys to energy production, health and lighting, but it's not a commonly taught subject in high school.

Watchung Hills Regional Physics teacher Matthew Dellibovi is aiming to change that, after receiving a $2,000 grant from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory to create a lesson plan to teach plasma physics.

"My grant proposal was to develop an experiment in which students investigate the nature and structure of the plasma inside a fluorescent light bulb," Dellibovi said. "Students will use hand-held spectroscopes and a digital spectrometer to measure the characteristic wavelengths of light emitted from the coated and uncoated ends of the bulb."

He added the lessons will expand on students understanding of "the nature of light and atomic behavior, as part of an already-established unit on Atomic Physics."

The grant will cover the cost of obtaining the necessary equipment, which includes a special, half-coated flourescent light bulb and other equipment, as well as his time spent developing the associated lessons plans.

The project also includes a plan to share the curriculum with other teachers at WHRHS and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Dellibovi hit upon the idea for the lessons while attending a summer workshop at PPPL, called the Plasma Science and Fusion Energy Institute—or as participants know it, “Plasma Camp.” The camp is operated by PPPL's Science Education Department, and aimed at giving teachers the opportunity to study and plasma physics and fusion energy at the lab.

"Considering the state of the world’s energy crisis and the potential of fusion energy as part of the solution, it was apparent that I should try to incorporate some of these topics into the physics curriculum at Watchung Hills, so that our students would be better informed and capable of making educated decisions regarding energy policy," Dellibovi said. "The experiment and workshops associated with this grant proposal are one of the first steps in that process."

This article was edited to better reflect the curriculum under development is not for a new class, but to be included in existing physics classes.