CMSO Outreach
Clint SprottRachael LancorDepartment of PhysicsUniversity of Wisconsin - Madison
presented to theCMSO Planning MeetinginMadison, Wisconsinon December 7, 2006
Objective
To generate interest in
physics and encourage
children to consider
careers in science.
Philosophy
Make entertaining
presentations to audiences
that would not normally be
motivated to attend a lecture
on physics.
Past Year’s Progress 6 major on-campus shows
Major show for 500 people and teacher workshop in Aveiro, Portugal
23 hours of video now on DVD and streamed on the Web
(http://sprott.info/wop.htm#videos)
Physics Demonstrations book published by UW Press (2006) –
Reviewed in October 2006 Physics Today
Consulting for Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
150 traveling shows
Grand Tour of all 72 Wisconsin counties completed
East Coast tour with presentations in PA, NJ, DE, VA, MD
Presentation at NSTA Conference in Anaheim, CA
Third annual Integration Bee
Plans underway for Teacher workshop
Assessment done (229 responses to survey)
Web Survey Questions What kind of presentation of The Wonders of Physics have you
seen? How many years ago did you first see The Wonders of
Physics? How many presentations of The Wonders of Physics have you
seen? Was the presentation clearly audible? Were the demonstrations clearly visible? How was the length of the presentation? How was the level of the explanations? Did you learn anything about physics from the presentation? Did you learn anything about plasmas from the presentation? Did the presentation encourage you to study more physics? How has The Wonders of Physics influenced you, and what
changes would make it more effective? With which of the following products and services were you
previously familiar? What is your gender? What is your age? What is your ethnicity? What is your ZIP code?
Web Survey Results
Recent and Scheduled ShowsSeptember 29: Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WIOctober 13: Edgewood Campus School, Madison, WIOctober 18: Wales Elementary, Kettle Moraine School District, Wales, WIOctober 19: Cottage Grove Elementary School, Cottage Grove, WIOctober 30: AMY @ James Martin School, Philadelphia, PANovember 1: W.B. Saul HS, Philadelphia, PANovember 2: J.R. Masterman School, Philadelphia, PANovember 3: Camden Academy Charter HS, Camden, NJNovember 4: Delmarva Christian HS, Georgetown, DENovember 6: Overbrook HS, Philadelphia, PANovember 7: Friends Meeting School, Ijamsville, MDNovember 8: Wayside ES, Potomac, MDNovember 9: Krieger-Schechter Day School, Baltimore, MDNovember 10: Smart's Mill MS, Leesburg, VANovember 11: Expanding Your Horizons (at UW)November 21: Falk Elementary, Madison, WIDecember 7: DeForest Middle School (at UW) December 14: Spring Green Elementary School, Spring Green, WI December 31: Space Place, Madison, WIJanuary 26: Baraboo Middle School Science Club, Baraboo, WIJanuary 29: Garland Elementary, Milwaukee, WIJanuary 31: Merrill High School, Merrill, WIFebruary 2: Waterloo Intermediate/Middle School, Waterloo, WIFebruary 12: St. Joan of Arc Parish School, Nashotah, WIFebruary 14: Cushing Elementary, Kettle Moraine School District, Delafield, WIMarch 8: Deerfield Elementary School, Deerfield, WIMarch 13: Kate Goodrich Elementary School, Merrill, WIMarch 24: Science Expeditions (at UW)March 26: Beaver Dam Middle School (at UW)April 5: Hartland North Elementary, Hartland, WIApril 19-21: Engineering Expo (at UW)April 25: Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Menomonee Falls, WI
Integration BeeStudents compete for prizes in live-action
calculus competition.
•Now in fourth year
•Encourage math skills necessary for science careers
(ie first-year calculus)
•75 students participated in 2006
Other CMSO OutreachTalks at physics departments that don’t feature plasmas
Self-Organization in Magnetized Plasmas, M. Brown American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics Distinguished Lecture Program
ColoradoSt. OlafsCollege of New JerseyTrinity CollegeIowa State UniversityWake Forest
11/9/0511/10/05
2/1/063/10/063/20/064/21/06
Vassar CollegeBucknell UniversityReed CollegeLawrence UniversityLoyola UniversityKansasOhio Northern
11/8/042/1/05
2/16/054/7/05
4/14/0510/17/0510/19/05
Other CMSO OutreachLectures to the Public
Self-Organization, C. SprottNorth Shore Library, Glendale, WIUW Founders’ Day, Atlanta, GA
3/064/06
Denison UniversityEdgewood College
4/053/06
Talks to specialists in other disciplinesFusion Research at UW-Madison, D. Den Hartog
Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering Department May 19, 2005
CMSO Overview and Activities, V. ParievLebedev Physical Institute, Puschino Radio Astronomy Observatory Fall 2005
Museum ExhibitUW Space Place (est. completion June 2007)
APS-DPP MeetingPhiladelphia, PA
October 30-November 3, 2006
• 4 school visits in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ
• 13 “big” shows (50-200 students)
• 10 additional classroom visits
• ~1,625 total students
• 1 day of outreach to plasma physicists
CMSO posters in Chamberlin Hall entrance
Workshops at Space Place
Teacher Workshops
Near Term Plans
Workshops at Space Place 1st Saturday of the Month
First one was last Saturday Part of a workshop series given by
Astronomy, Chemistry, and Biotechnology Topics include:
Physics of Roller Coasters Liquid Nitrogen Physics Electricity, Magnetism, & Plasmas Circuits Sound Light & Lasers
Teacher Workshops
Wonders of Physics Workshop Aimed at Elementary and Middle
School Teachers Summer 2007
Plasma Physics Workshop Aimed at High School Physics
Teachers Summer 2008
Collaborate with other PFCs to work with Exploratorium (San Francisco) on ~$1M program introducing “cutting edge” PFC science to the general public
Long Term Plans