salaphysics (www.salaphysics.com) is a model of basic physics that attempts to correct errors in the way physics is taught in the school science curriculum.

Within salaphysics, core concepts are established and, as the salaphysics model builds out, those core concepts are never allowed to be violated.

The salaphysics model is based on observation and common sense, differentiating it from physics as taught in schools as a mostly mathematical modeling.

Because salaphysics corrects the problems within physics as taught, a fair amount of effort is spent identifying and analyzing those problems and errors. Having identified them, it is the task of salaphysics to re-state the physics actions in a correct way.

Much of the physics that's taught is really more akin to engineering. The emphasis there is on getting answers that can be used for designing practical devices and systems but, doesn't really address the core concepts of what is happening. Just as engineeering involves a lot of mathematical computation, physics as taught in school, also relies heavily on mathematically derived solutions. This can be clearly seen in the pride 'physics geniuses' have in being "mathematical physicists" and in the urging for people interested in science to be sure to get a good, comprehensive math education.

That's not to say that salaphysics doesn't use math. For designing those practical devices needed for performing experiments and measuring the results, the tried-and-true method of formulas, equations, graphs and data tables are often used. For quantifying observed and measured effects, math is also essential. But, salaphysics tries to avoid the use of math for developing physics concepts.

It should go without saying that the intern must have a passion for physics and a craving to get it right.

The intern must have good analytical skills and be able to recognize problems as they arise...even in the face of those who deny those problems. In other words, the intern must have the confidence to both analyze and adhere to the results of that analysis.

Just as with any physics, salaphysics is based heavily on observation and experiment. The intern must have good mechanical skills; for designing, constructing and executing practical experiments that will often be used to make those observations and measurements.

Much of physics is also electrical. Much of the detection of physical phenomena is done using electrical devices and the intern must be able to interface with the equipment and be able to interface the equipment to the project. The intern must have an interest in electricity, including core concepts of electrical theory and a desire to learn to design and build basic electrical and electronic circuits.

Since the projected delivery of the salaphysics curriculum is expected to be via a series of videos that will be available online, the intern must have good familiarity with the internet and the ability to do a variety of internet oriented tasks, including doing productive searches of physics topics, web authoring, doing domain updates and maintenance, etc.

The salaphysics project has (at least more or less) standardized on the Sony Vegas video editing software for video developmnet and production. Familiarity of that editing platform is not necessary as it will be learned (along with the 'look and feel' of the salaphsics video suite of lessons) as a normal result of usage.

The intern must have good communication skills as the salaphysics project is all about communicating science principles. The intern must be able to write well and will be expected to generate both narrative and textual content for the salaphysics videos.

The intern must be a 'self-starter'. It is expected that there will not be a lot of 'hand holding'. Tasks will be assigned and the intern will be fairly autonomous in completing each task. As projects progress, it will become apparent how much guidance will be given. It is expected that the intern will develop creative and novel approaches and methods for resolving assigned tasks.

It is expected that multiple people may work on a salaphysics project so, it's important that the intern(s) are able to combine their resources in a productive manner.

As a practical matter, the intern should have access to a car and be able to drive or at least have a way to reliably get around. This is important as I am not able to drive.

If the intern will receive school and community credits (if I recall correctly), perhaps it might be possible to make some use of the Madras High School and/or COCC facilities for some of the science projects and experiments.

It's probable that you were referred to this internship oppoortunity from an entity that performs this function. If you arrived here without such a referral, here's some contact information you can use:

Davida Plaisted, Internship Coordinator,Youth Career Connect. You can e-mail her at: Youthcareerconnect@509j.net

The intern program is set up to allow mostly students to get work experience by working as an intern for a company. For doing this work for a specified amount of time and in a satisfactory manner, the intern gets community credit. For some (perhaps most) positions, this is probably good enough. But, salaphysics is substantially more involved than being just a part time job to get credits. It's not productive for the intern to be thinking of a 60 hour commitment to the intership program. The intern must have a passion for physics and want to spend time mentally working through the salaphysics concepts. As noted below, I will be looking for someone who can and will carry salaphysics forward.

As stated, the salaphysics curriculum will be implemented by a series of video lessons and, at least initially, probably as part of a larger online school such as K12.com or connectionsacademy.com. This presents unique problems in itself.

I have mixed feelings and concerns about online schooling. As it relates to salaphysics, there is a need to stop abuse (or at least try to curtail it). Clever students haver always found tricks and cheats and shortcuts which allow them to 'get by'...not just in school but in work and often pretty much all aspects of their lives.

It's counterproductive to salaphysics if it is perceived as a course that's easy to cheat your way through. The intern must be ever mindful, when generating course-ware, to ensure that the student be requred to learn the material to be able to pass the course.

If you watch science programs on PBS and cable and satellite services, you can see that the productions are very slick. It takes time and money to generate such content and, in my opinion, that often detracts from the educational value of the videos. You also may notice that a lot more effort is often made to identify and describe the people associated with the science than the actual science itself. There seems to be a 'standard' crowd of 'talking heads' (that is, 'experts' that keep getting trotted out) who make fairly generalized comments about the topic

It is expected that salaphysics videos will be more like the science videos you'd expect to see on YouTube. In fact, much of the content of salaphysics videos will be from YouTube and other similar sources under the fair use guidelines.

I believe that salaphysics has the potential to make a lot of money. It would not be inappropriate for the intern to consider salaphysics not just as a way to earn school or community credits but, as a possible career move.

My personal interest in salaphysics is the science itself. I have little desire to try to exploit it as a business but, hope that others will.

Since a large portion of salaphysics is refuting the physics taught in school science, there will be a lot of use of other peoples' material.

In the 1970's copyright laws were relaxed to allow copyrighted material to be used much more freely making "fair use" of other peoples' material safer and easier.

Having a need to use some specific material in salaphysics course-ware, I had contacted the legal department of CalTech about use of one of their resources; the textbook, Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman. After e-mail exchanges, I generated a video for the issue and the school’s lawyer okay'ed my use of the Feynman material at the amount and type of use indicated in the video.

The video is presented both as an example of the way salaphysics would make use of other peoples' material but, also in a form similar to what I would anticipate salaphysics lessons to use. You can see that video at:

Caltech Copyright Permissions Video

While the video calls out some problems in a more or less general way, that's good enough since the purpose of the video was related to permissions for use. The actual salaphysics video lessons will often cite, copy, quote or otherwise use other peoples' material in a similar manner but, then be required to provide some real, definable, corrected answers.

It would be good for you to do some online research of fair use guidelines.

While all the experience is useful for practical electrical and mechanical purposes, none of it was a very good preparation for rethinking the concepts of physics and you'll also likely find salaphysics to be a novel way of thinking about science.

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