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Regional School for Young Physicists

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1The School for Young Physicists project that our Young Minds section organizes not only held monthly sessions in the capital of our country this season, but also held regular sessions in other regions as well. Namely, this season we visited schools in Valmiera, Kuldīga and Ventspils.

Regional sessions take place two or three times a semester in each location. Students from surrounding schools are given the chance to attend a free lecture course – usually session topics that have already been tested in our main events are chosen, but sometimes they get a premier look at a new topic that has not yet been presented anywhere else.

Topics discussed this season in regional sessions include, but are not limited to, probability in physics, electronics and wave optics. Students had the opportunity to conduct experiments normally not done in schools – for example, they determined the distance between the pixels in their own smartphones, or calculated the value of pi by dropping buckwheat on a piece of paper.

These regional sessions are educating not only for the students attending – teachers also find inspiration in these non-standard topics and experiments, and materials for use in lessons are often left at schools that are visited for the teachers to use free of charge.

Our Young Minds section views these regional sessions as valuable opportunities for children that live far away from the capital to get a chance for extra curricular informal learning, so we will give our best efforts to expand in this direction next season.

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6th season of School for Young Physicists

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2Along with the school year, the School for Young Physicists has finished its season as well. Nine different, fun and educational sessions took place in the University of Latvia Faculty of Physics and Mathematics on the following topics:

-forensic physics
-energetics
-biological physics
-optics
-centripetal force
-electronics
-statistical physics
-liquid physics
-elementary particle physics

Each session was attended by an average of 150 students from different schools of Latvia who arrived to listen to popular science lectures from physics students, conduct some fun experiments and learn from the very best in lectures given by professors and specialists of the field.

A season-long competition was also held – the School Cup. To contend for it, students were tested on their knowledge after every session and also had to make videos of different topics as homework. Their work was graded after every session and a scoreboard was kept and regularly updated. The competition was tough but in the end the first place was awarded to the Riga State 1st Gymnasium team “Nucleus and Electrons”. The top teams and individual performers were awarded with gifts from our supporters.

The team of School for Young physicists also visited the best regional schools in Latvia for external sessions. We visited Valmiera State Gymnasium, Ventspils 1st State Gynmnasium and Kuldīga Gymnasium, thus offering the children to attend the sessions without having the need to travel the long distance to Riga. You can read more about it here.

All the materials and reviews can be found at www.jfs.lv

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The Power of Physics – Star Wars Edition

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img-20160513-wa0016We have taken advantage of the recent release of the new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy to make our previous show “Superpoderes… ¿o física?” more interactive and contemporary. This activity has been carried out -so far- at the Liceo Castilla Maristas on May 13th, 2016, where 350 students of E.S.O. and Bachillerato enjoyed it. It has had a very good feedback from both teachers and students. The length of the spectacle was one hour and a half. The experiments were divided into three different sections. All of them were introduced by different scenes, starring well-known Star Wars characters. A script for this play was created and elaborated.

The first part corresponds to the light (Jedi) side of the Force and the experiments were the following:

Vapor Display: In order to highlight the importance of the light-matter interaction, Leia uses a vapor screen to show the maps for the next mission, and she explains how it works.
Levitation: Rey travels back in time to be trained by Yoda, who is levitating using a well-known trick.
Lenz Tube: Yoda asks Rey to explain why two balls (non-magnetic and magnetic) fall with different accelerations.
Refractive index and invisibility: Yoda asks Rey to look for a ‘cristal’ for her lightsaber. Rey discovers a lot of them hidden in water where they cannot be seen, because these balls have the same refractive index as water.
As the last task of the training, Rey must walk over cristal carrying Yoda on her back, recreating somehow the 5th film scene with Luke and Yoda.

The second part is about the dark (Sith) side of the Force:
Vortex: Kylo asks Vader to train him and Vader challenges Kylo to extinguish three candles with the Force. Initially, it seems possible, but finally Vader finds a stormtrooper who is actually doing it with an air vortex and explains it.
Van der Graff: Although Kylo cannot pass the challenge, he finally persuades Vader to teach him. The first device he exhibits is a Van der Graff generator, with which they perform several experiments that insist on the idea of voltage.
Tesla coil: Vader shows Kylo another way to create a high voltage, not by accumulating charges but by electromagnetic induction.
Leidenfrost: Vader explains Kylo how he can burn his hands with no harm to avoid History to be repeated. Moreover, the audience can experience it.

In the last part of the show, the two sides of the Force face each other and the public takes part in the duel:
Luminiscence and fluorescent tubes: Rey and Kylo pretend a combat with two types of lightsaber: fluorescent tubes (blue and red), powered by hidden plasma balls, and two fluorescent-painted sticks. Both are explained by a stormtrooper in a soliloquy while Rey and Kylo pose with the fluorescent tubes on.
Mechanics games: They will insist on the concept of force and center of mass and the public is encouraged to participate.

The show finishes with a final speech against pseudoscience and supporting critical thinking.

Outreach toward secondary school

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Exif_JPEG_420The YM Section of University of Calabria has carried out in this semester an outreach activity toward secondary schools. The activity was divided into two parts:
1) Simple experiments carried out by members of the EPS-YM Section in secondary schools;
2) A guided visit of students of secondary schools in laboratories of the Department of Physics of University of Calabria.
The experiments in secondary schools had the aim to help the students to learn the concepts ruling light, electromagnetic fields and colours.
After the simple lessons, where we reminded physics behind light and colours, we organized some experiments by using a Wood’s lamp, which have been directly performed by students, with the supervision of the members of the EPS-YM Section and teachers. Students experienced how objects change their colours under the action of Wood’s lamp, or how bacteria that are invisible under visible light become noticeable under ultraviolet light. Another experiment with the Wood’s lamp had the objective to inspect paper currency and documents in order to put in evidence the existence of security strips or features, which are invisible to visible light.
We have also organized laboratory experiences related to magnetism. In particular, we observed what happens when a magnet went through a copper pipe or aluminium pipe. The students understood why magnet slows down. This phenomenon has been explained by the Faraday-Newman-Lenz’s law in a dedicated lesson.
The outreach activity was complemented with a visit of the students to the laboratories of Department of Physics of University of Calabria. In particular, the students observed the diffraction pattern obtained when low-energy electrons (~100 eV) are reflected by metallic single crystals. Moreover, they assisted to a vibrational experiment on graphene. Members of the 2D Materials of the Department of Physics group discussed with the students about the significance of nanotechnology and its potential impact on daily life. Moreover, the key concepts of two-dimensional materials have been introduced with simple terms to the students.
At the end of the visit to the University of Calabria, a snack and some beverages were offered to students and teachers.
We thank the support of local schools and teachers for their kind collaboration. We also thank the students for their enthusiastic attendance to this activity.

Public outreach – “Blue Night”

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Blaue_Nacht_20_The “Blaue Nacht” is a famous cultural event, during which representatives from science and art present their work to the broad public of the residents of Nuremberg. This year’s event motto being ” Truth”, our Young Mind section was asked to present experiments around optical illusions and related phenomena.
The Erlangen YM section together with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) set up a large number of experiments in the inner yard of the “Bildungszentrum” of the city of Nuremberg. Experiments covering topics such as refraction, total internal reflection, polarization effects and visual perception attracted a continious stream of interested visitors of all ages and educational levels over the whole night.
Our evening program was complemented by short presentations given by researchers of the MPL and members of our Young Minds section, which allowed the visitors to gain insights in ongoing research projects at the MPL and current hot-topics in modern optical science. The huge interest and over 800 visitors made this event a great sucess for us, making both fundamental optical phenomena and current research accessible to the broad public.

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Meet the Light

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Meet the Light is an activity where the main objective of different activities is to raise awareness of how light plays a central role in our lives, mainly among the general public. With these activities we want to present an accurate and engaging perspective on what light is really about and how it has influenced and improved our lives.

The Santiago de Compostela YM Section carried out the following activities within the frame of “Meet the Light” event:

  • Course “Introduction to photography” by Ángel Sánchez García. Place: Aula Magna Carlos Gómez Reino in the Faculty of Optics and Optometry, University of Santiago de Compsotela, Galicia, Spain.
    Date: 4/12/2014
  • Lecture by professor Salvador Bará Viñas “WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BUY SOME GOOD BINOCULARS AND TELESCOPE”.
    Place: Sala de Xuntas da Faculty de Física da USC, Santiago de Compostela.
    Date: 11/12/2014
  • Photography workshop, by Ángel Sánchez García. Place: Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
    Date: 8/05/2015
  • Workshop in astronomy, “A look into the sky”, by professor Salvador Bará Viñas.
    Place: Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. Date: 25/05/2015

 

A Pirates’ World (Un mundo de piratas)

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Valladolid_PiratasThe main aim of A pirates’ world was to show physics to kids in a way they can enjoy.

This activity has been carried out at five different schools in Valladolid city and its surroundings:
– CEIP Ana de Austria (Cigales, Valladolid) on January 26th, 2016
– Colegio La Milagrosa y Santa Florentina (Valladolid) on January 26th, 2016
– CEIP Francisco Pino (Valladolid) on February 12th, 2016
– Colegio La Inmaculada M.S.J.O (Valladolid) on February 19th, 2016
– Colegio Virgen Niña (Valladolid) on April 22nd, 2016

The activity consisted of two different workshops of around 25 minutes long, which are carried out at the same time, and both set in a pirate’s ambience. Every group of kids was in the activity for around 50 minutes. We received 6 different groups at each school. The total audience of this activity was around 750 kids in the mentioned five elementary schools. The total length of this activity is around 2 hours.

The following concepts were dealt:

  • Parabolic motion. With a homemade cannon that allows three possible initial angles, it was shown that the maximum horizontal distance is reached for an angle of 45º.
  • Compass. The concept of magnetic field was introduced in an easy way, and the interaction with magnets was shown.
  • Optics. A homemade telescope was explained to the kids.
  • Density. This concept was explained through two different experiments. A ‘liquid tower’ was built using liquids with different densities (and colors): soap, water, oil, and alcohol. This tower was given as a present for each class. In the second experiment, ships made of play-doh helped to explain how ships can float. A solid sphere and a boat- shaped object were compared, even including more weight in the second.
  • Luminescence. It was explained that some natural materials could absorb light of some ’colour’ and emit light of a different ‘colour’.
  • Introduction to electricity phenomena occurring in boats (e.g., St. Elmo’s Fire) using a Van der Graaf generator.
  • Other experiments carried out were: invisibility under water (refractive index), fire and Leidenfrost effect; air vortex; among others.

The feedback given by the students and teachers was really good and this activity will continue to be offered to schools in the region and hopefully will be done other times this year.

youtubeCheck this video activity on Youtube! FacebookMore photos on our Facebook album!

 

Drawing competition

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Drowing CompetitionWe have celebrated our first Drawing contest from February the 20th to June the 5th in which kids from 10 to 15 had the great opportunity to participate in a contest where they could win a tablet and also during the creation process they could learn about the importance of light and physics in everyday life
The way to judge the work was the following:
We have settled three criteria that the best work should full fill in scale of 20, being 0 the lowest grade and 20 the maximum.
The work with two works with the maximum amount of points have won the prize.
The three criteria are the following:

  • The relation of the art work to the thematic of the contest,
  • The quality of the composition.
  • The creativity and originality.

The jury have announced the names of the winners during the first day of June in the website of the Group of Optics Castellón.
When finally the names of the respective winners were announced we have scheduled a day with the respective schools of the winners, in order to have a ceremony. During the ceremony or award celebration, at the very beginning we have gave a talk focused on the international year of light focusing on the importance of light in the everyday life.
In general the response from the children was so good and gratifying, during the presentation they have found really interesting the possible applications of LEDs and LASERs. Thus, they have been asking so many questions about the machines that contain LEDs and LASERs. Moreover, the winners showed interest about physics topics.

Scientific Competitions

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DSC_0076KHET TOURNAMENT
20th of February the GOC YM Section celebrated a Khet tournament in “El Café dels Artistes”, a popular bar of Castellón.
Khet is a chess-like abstract strategy board game using lasers. Players get use to laser reflection and laser split in two beam by means of beam splitters.
During the afternoon, people had around 2 hours to practice and learn playing Khet. We explained them the rules and how the laser reflects to the mirrors. When they got used to the rules, the tournament of random pairs started. We had 5 Khet games, so we made several rounds and the tournaent lasted around three hours.
All participants started the night with the expectation of being able to take home the trophy, however, soon they began to break their hopes with the first defeats.
After three tough rounds, four players were beaten in the final rounds in order to stand as winner. At the end, the defensive style of Sergio, who had left all his opponents misplaced throughout the evening, succumbed to the relentless attack of Paco, who won the prize after a night of relentless duels. No doubt, the great physical and mental preparation paid off and Paco managed to win as champion.
But both deserved a price, so we gave two awards. A backpack with pen, pencil, Universitat Jaume I information, and a 4GB USB to the semifinalist and a Spanish ham for the winner.
The activity was a success and it helped to promote optics around young people. Using the game we had the opportunity to explain basic concepts about lasers and how the light travels. Moreover, since that they we stablished contact with some of the participants that are students of the University Jaume I and one of them became a new member of our section.

GOC QUIZ
26th of November we made a quiz competition in a famous bar of Castellón called “El café dels artistes” (“The artists coffee-bar”) with questions related with physics and optics, among many other issues. A set of funny and curious questions were prepared for this event. There were different types of queries, including musical questions about famous series or films, true or false, questions to join between multiple options and many more.
Most of the science activities are only focus to students or people normally involved in science. However, with this activity, we want to reach to all age ranges and social status. Moreover we explain the activities in science that occurs in the city and how can they be involved in these activities.

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
We organized a photography contest where the participants had to present a photography related to the optics field, with a brief explanation of the phenomenon that they had photographed. We did it via Instagram, with the hashtag #concursogoc and the deadline to present the pictures was 6 of January of 2016. 161 pictures were sent and the best combination of picture and explanation won a submergible camera. The best pictures with the explanation will be exposed at “The artist’s coffee-bar” where there are always art exhibitions and where we usually do the GOC QUIZ.

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IYL – Cross-Border Night Flea Market

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2015_Kons_IYL__09As a special event for the International Year of Light the Konstanz jDPG-YM Section organized an information booth on the yearly cross-border night flea market Konstanz/Kreuzlingen. The goal was to inform a broad public about the fundamental physics on which every day technology like LCD displays or fiber optical communication is based. To help the visitors understand these phenomena we build several hands- on experiments including a simple spectrometer, a RGB-LED color mixer, a water beam as light guide and an LCD-display partly without polarizer. Accompanying every experiment we also prepared an information sheet explaining it in a simple way. Beside these experiments we cooperated with the young chemists forum (JCF) Konstanz and the astronomical community at the University of Konstanz (AIGUK) who also prepared experiments to explain every day phenomena like chemo luminescence or the spectrum of the sun.

Especially at night we gained a large interest by an eye-catching illumination of the experiments itself and the booth. Since the booth was directly aside the main road but not on it, there was a steady flow of interested visitors but also the possibility to have detailed discussions with the guests. The busiest time turned out to be early Saturday evening between 9pm and 1am. Because of bad weather (thunderstorm) most flea market visitors left around 1am and we decided to close the booth for the night. On Sunday, the main attraction of our booth changed from the well illuminated experiments on LCD-displays and optical fibers to a telescope for sun observation from AIGUK. It was placed on the path in front of our booth and guided the visitors to the other experiments.

Overall we got a lot of positive feedback from the visitors, who often had never thought about the basic principles of the technology they use in everyday life before. The total number of visitors we had a conversation with and to whom we explained our experiments lies approximately between 200-300 people.

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