A look back at some of the hits of Physics and Astronomy Outreach; notable firsts, continuing favorites, and building blocks of what is yet to come. Dr. David Sederberg, Outreach Coordinator for the Department reflects, “like every year in the past, we did a number of things we never did before with success – big things like AstroCamp and Quantum Open House. And the things we did do before, we did better.” What follows may begin to tell our story.
AstroCamp 2023
AstroCamp 2023 marked a milestone for Physics and Astronomy K-12 Outreach. Outreach Coordinator Sederberg’s team of service learning students from Purdue's Saturday Morning Astrophysics program engaged 35 middle and high school students from three schools in Medellín, Colombia, in both learning science and practicing their English. Purdue students Alan Wright, Mariana Aguilar, and Danielle Dickinson, meticulously designed lessons and hands-on experiments in their individual areas of expertise. This inaugural service learning experience in Medellín set the stage for future collaborations between Colombia and Purdue in physics and astronomy education and outreach. Outreach was invited by San José de Las Vegas to teach their students. Out of gratitude, the school provided housing, meals and transportation.
Check out what students had to say:
“I had the wonderful opportunity of knowing more people and more about the beautiful things that we can find in the space.”
“The opportunity to interact with real experts from Purdue and practice my English.”
“You are the best ones, thanks for being with us. I hope we can have another activity together again. Now you are in my heart!”
San José de Las Vegas recorded highlights of the week, saluting the hard work, preparation and dedication of our Purdue study abroad students. Check it out!
Saturday Morning Astrophysics at Purdue
Saturday Morning Astrophysics at Purdue (SMAP) is one of the longest running and most successful programs in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, second only to our ever popular Physics on the Road. In addition to hosting grade 8-12 students the third Saturdays of the month, SMAP also shares lessons and instructional materials to teachers, both virtually and in their own classrooms throughout the year. Presented monthly on Zoom, SMAP engages both students and teachers from around the globe, and boasts it’s own YouTube channel.
SMAP also partnered with Slooh and their remote telescopes to provide students access to remotely operated telescopes for collecting their own images. We even provided students with posters using their individually created images!
"Thank you so much for the incredible posters from our time using Slooh. They look great and I cannot wait to hang them in my room. We also want to thank you for the awesome Purdue shirts. We have enjoyed learning many new things because of SMAP." - SMAP Student
Our SMAP students were enthralled with our own time domain astrophysicist Professor Danny Milisavljevic's portrayal of Johannes Kepler and learning the Laws from the old man himself.
Physics on the Road
2023 saw the return of our long-standing Physics on the Road performances after the pandemic hiatus. And what a time we had, getting students down on the floor to “feel the force” in our Force and Energy Show, and coercing teachers into laying on the dreaded Bed of Nails. Big crowds, big fun, big laughs, and learning about basic principles of physics to boot. The Ping Pong Ball Canon is the real deal show stopper!
Community Engagement
Physics and Astronomy Outreach supports the Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute summer program with lessons from Saturday Morning Astrophysics, here calculating the circumference of the Earth.
Outreach coordinator Sederberg conducted two sessions for the summer program, teaching "Measure the Earth" and "Searching for Exoplanets" lessons for two middle school level classes. Outreach offers faculty opportunities as well for broader impact. For example, Professor Laimei Nie contributed as well, conducting her own lesson on quantum materials.
Capitalizing on the 2024 Great American Eclipse, Outreach spearheaded efforts to educate the community on learning about and safe viewing of solar eclipses.
Contributed photos by Jonathan Sullivan-Wood.
We hosted a Scouting group for "Scaling A Solar Eclipse" in which students modeled the Earth with their eyeball, the Moon with a pearl-head pin and a giant balloon for the Sun as seen above.
We also traveled to Delphi, IN to engage a community youth group in creating devices to project an image of the Sun and solar eclipse. We provided materials at the Delphi Public Library and gave lessons as seen below.
Video by Jonathan Sullivan-Wood.
With the 2024 Great American Eclipse behind us and prospects of future eclipses elsewhere, Physics and Astronomy Outreach spearheaded an effort to collect and reuse eclipse glasses. In partnership with the Lafayette Community YWCA, Sederberg personally packed and shipped over 2,000 pairs of glasses destined for Colombia.
Don't miss this video eclipse lesson featuring current Physics and Astronomy undergraduate students. This video is recorded and produced by current graduate student Jonathan Sullivan-Wood.
High School Teacher and Student Engagement
Steve Bode’s Physics class from New Castle High School (seen behind this text) spent the morning learning about and making electric motors, enjoyed fine dining at Ford Dining Court, and then toured a research lab tour with Professor Niranjan Shivaram.
In addition, Purdue Polytechnic High School Coach Drew Goodin’s class enjoyed and lab tour of Gabor Csathy’s research lab and learned about options for a career in the breaches of Physics and Astronomy.
After completing the lab tour, students commented:
"This was an amazing experience. Thank you so much for letting us explore the learning and career opportunities in the field of physics." -Isak
"Thanks for organizing this trip for us. I had a lot of fun learning about the physics experience at Purdue, and hearing from the students. Visiting the physics building reignited my interest in a physics major." -Connor
"Thank you very much, the lab was awesome sauce. The food was as good as Purdue food gets. The experiment that we did we super fun and really helped us apply and explore." -Ryan
"Thanks for letting my class go to your campus and learn. It definitely opened up a new potential pathway after I graduate high school." - Carter
"Helium can't freeze!" - Numerous students 🤣
Partnering again with Purdue Polytechnic High School, Physics and Astronomy Outreach hosted students at Purdue's Envision Center. Prof. Danny Milisavljevic works with the center to create augmented reality so that students can feel like they standing in the remnants of Cassiopeia A.
Middle School Science Teacher Summer Workshops
Physics and Astronomy Outreach contributed to the Purdue College of Science Middle School Summer Teacher Workshop. With our eye on the 2024 eclipse in North America, participants enjoyed several lessons from PhysAstro Outreach, among them, Pinhole Sun viewers, Searching for Exoplanets, and Scaling a Solar Eclipse.
In a separate workshop, middle school teachers learned the ins and outs of teaching about electrical circuits. Outreach provided all the materials for teachers to take home for use in their own classrooms.
Quantum Open House
Outreach kicked off the 2023 academic year with our second annual Quantum Open House, topping last year’s attendance with over 120 community members, teachers, and Purdue community attending.
Contributed photos by Jonathan Sullivan-Wood and Alin Mesaros.
Boiler Gold Rush
Outreach can also occur closer to home, in particular on the Purdue campus. Another first for Physics and Astronomy Outreach, we coordinated an unforgettable event for the fall 2023 incoming freshman class. Purdue Astronomy Club, and student volunteers provided telescopes and explanations for roughly a thousand students in their first week at Purdue. Our goal is to get every Boilermaker to gaze at the universe from the lens of a telescope.
Scholarship
Sederberg represented Physics and Astronomy Outreach with his presentation, 3D Printed Interferometers at the National conference AAPT. With additional funding provided by Professor Chen-Lung Hung, we provided all participants their own interferometer to take home.
Finally, thank you to our friends, alumni, co-contributors and volunteers for making this a year for the books.