Spring Break
Physics Fair attracts students of all ages
Issue date: 4/30/09
While most people were outside celebrating Spring Fair last Saturday, the physics department was busy hosting the sixth annual Physics Fair. The fair is aimed at "K through grey," according to Pam Carmen, who runs the Physics Fair.
The fair included many give-aways and activities. Some activities were the Science and Physics Challenge - both of which were done through multiple choice tests - the Professor Extraordinaire Show and the Science and Physics Bowls - which are team competitions in the likes of "It's Academic."
A high school teacher originally thought of the idea for the event during a workshop with high school students, after they were asked what Hopkins can do to get science out into the community. Professor Bruce Barnett, who was in attendance at this meeting, took the idea to the board.
The main goal of the event is to try to attract students from elementary school to high school, especially those interested in physics.
"We can hopefully get the students more interested and more knowledgeable," Barnett said.
Most of the people who attended the fair were Baltimore-area students. Many schools send teams, but over the years, kids have started to form their own teams without help from their schools.
The largest attraction, according to Carmen, has always been the Professor Extraordinaire Show. Physics professor Peter Armitage has hosted the event for the last three years. The event lasts 45 minutes and is centered around a different theme each year.
The Professor Extraordinaire Show involved many exciting different demonstrations, and this year's theme was vacuums and pressure. Each demonstration was aimed at children, and as it progressed, the vacuums became more and more advanced. The show had already been put on once before this year.
One experiment showed how different gases have different properties and involved lighting balloons of these gasses on fire. Some balloons had much louder explosions than others. Other balloons filled with different gasses such as air, sulfur and helium were passed around the audience as well. Children were also able to go up onto the stage and be enclosed in a shrink-wrapped bag that air was vacuumed out of.
The fair included many give-aways and activities. Some activities were the Science and Physics Challenge - both of which were done through multiple choice tests - the Professor Extraordinaire Show and the Science and Physics Bowls - which are team competitions in the likes of "It's Academic."
A high school teacher originally thought of the idea for the event during a workshop with high school students, after they were asked what Hopkins can do to get science out into the community. Professor Bruce Barnett, who was in attendance at this meeting, took the idea to the board.
The main goal of the event is to try to attract students from elementary school to high school, especially those interested in physics.
"We can hopefully get the students more interested and more knowledgeable," Barnett said.
Most of the people who attended the fair were Baltimore-area students. Many schools send teams, but over the years, kids have started to form their own teams without help from their schools.
The largest attraction, according to Carmen, has always been the Professor Extraordinaire Show. Physics professor Peter Armitage has hosted the event for the last three years. The event lasts 45 minutes and is centered around a different theme each year.
The Professor Extraordinaire Show involved many exciting different demonstrations, and this year's theme was vacuums and pressure. Each demonstration was aimed at children, and as it progressed, the vacuums became more and more advanced. The show had already been put on once before this year.
One experiment showed how different gases have different properties and involved lighting balloons of these gasses on fire. Some balloons had much louder explosions than others. Other balloons filled with different gasses such as air, sulfur and helium were passed around the audience as well. Children were also able to go up onto the stage and be enclosed in a shrink-wrapped bag that air was vacuumed out of.
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