Spring Break
Physics Fair draws young visitors and participants
Issue date: 5/1/08
The fair included two separate challenges in physics and other sciences, with prizes awarded to the best performers in two different groups - middle school students and high school students.
"We deliberately have the event the same weekend of the Spring Fair to attract people visiting the campus," physics professor Morris Swartz said. The added influx of visitors was noticeable, and part of a well-received trend.
"Each year [the fair] has grown in scope and popularity. There are over 100 different demonstrations running, and we expect 500 to 1,000 people to come today," Swartz said.
Bloomberg's first-floor labs were filled with demonstrations of air pressure, electricity and optics. Enthusiastic graduate students entertained kids and adults with their projects. There was also a science-inspired scavenger hunt for the Fair's younger visitors as well as exhibits on aerodynamics and propulsion.
One of the more popular stations involved several graduate students making their own unique brand of ice cream which was made from liquid nitrogen and served to lines of hungry observers. It was this that drew freshman Alex Rozenshteyn back to the Fair a second time: "I wasn't going to pass up free ice cream!"
The centerpiece of the fair was the Professor Extraordinaire show, a 30-minute display of various scientific experiments performed in the Norman I. Schafler auditorium. Last year, thanks to the growing popularity of the Physics Fair, people were turned away from the Extraordinaire show. Fair organizers were open to the possibility of such a situation reoccurring this year.
"We always choose a theme for the show, and we pick a different one each year," said Dr. N. Peter Armitage, the professor giving this year's demonstration. The theme for this year's show was "From the Nano to the Micro before your eyes." He ended his demonstration by propelling himself across the auditorium with a fire extinguisher, a finale that was greeted with applause.
Edmund Liu, a member of the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center (CPIC), commented on his company's connection with the University and the primary purpose of the Fair:
"With fewer citizens in this country going into the sciences and the rocket and propulsion industry, we want to get the parents of this generation to encourage their kids to be interested in the sciences - this fair is a great way to do that."
"We deliberately have the event the same weekend of the Spring Fair to attract people visiting the campus," physics professor Morris Swartz said. The added influx of visitors was noticeable, and part of a well-received trend.
"Each year [the fair] has grown in scope and popularity. There are over 100 different demonstrations running, and we expect 500 to 1,000 people to come today," Swartz said.
Bloomberg's first-floor labs were filled with demonstrations of air pressure, electricity and optics. Enthusiastic graduate students entertained kids and adults with their projects. There was also a science-inspired scavenger hunt for the Fair's younger visitors as well as exhibits on aerodynamics and propulsion.
One of the more popular stations involved several graduate students making their own unique brand of ice cream which was made from liquid nitrogen and served to lines of hungry observers. It was this that drew freshman Alex Rozenshteyn back to the Fair a second time: "I wasn't going to pass up free ice cream!"
The centerpiece of the fair was the Professor Extraordinaire show, a 30-minute display of various scientific experiments performed in the Norman I. Schafler auditorium. Last year, thanks to the growing popularity of the Physics Fair, people were turned away from the Extraordinaire show. Fair organizers were open to the possibility of such a situation reoccurring this year.
"We always choose a theme for the show, and we pick a different one each year," said Dr. N. Peter Armitage, the professor giving this year's demonstration. The theme for this year's show was "From the Nano to the Micro before your eyes." He ended his demonstration by propelling himself across the auditorium with a fire extinguisher, a finale that was greeted with applause.
Edmund Liu, a member of the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center (CPIC), commented on his company's connection with the University and the primary purpose of the Fair:
"With fewer citizens in this country going into the sciences and the rocket and propulsion industry, we want to get the parents of this generation to encourage their kids to be interested in the sciences - this fair is a great way to do that."
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