Fun With Physics
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Saturday, July 28, 2007
By Jesse Fruhwirth
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
Science program visits children at free-lunch parks
OGDEN -- Kids oohed, aahed and laughed out loud as their friends magnified their faces to an enormous size.
Others tooted away on trombones made from PVC pipe, while still others were amazed that they can communicate through string and plastic cups.
Inner-city students were getting a sampling of science with their lunch, thanks to an outreach program from the Ott Planetarium and several science departments at Weber State University. A group of WSU students, accompanied by physics associate professor Adam Johnstun, has visited parks that serve free lunch in the Ogden School District for the last two weeks to give youngsters hands-on experience with science.
"I was going to do a physics camp at WSU and then thought it would be a good idea to come to these parks where the students are having lunch," Johnstun said.
He conducted a successful physics open house at the university last fall, so he wanted to continue with that concept. People asked when he would do science camps this summer, and that got him thinking there would be a way to make it work.
Ott Planetarium director Stacy Palen had received grant money for outreach programs, so the two have been working together to bring the plan to fruition.
As kids thronged around the canopies at Liberty Park on 22nd Street, it was apparent the idea is working well.
"Man, your head is as big as the whole thing," 11-year-old Eduardo Ortiz shouted to his friend, Abel Luna, 16. "That is so funny," Ortiz said as he clapped his hands together.
The kids flocked around the magnifiers and then looked a little more closely at the other magnifying instruments spread around. Luna was especially impressed with the magnifiers that made a telescope when used together.
"These magnifying glasses are my favorite," he said as he picked them up off the table. He had mastered the concept of making them work
together. The Ogden High School student admitted the display had increased his interest in science.
For Johnstun, that is exactly the reaction he was seeking when he devised the project.
"We're hoping it will spark their curiosity," Johnstun said. He wanted to show the kids science in a nonintimidating way. "It can be interesting and fun, and we don't have to explain a lot. They can dink around and have fun."
The theme was a "see-it" day, and every other day of the week has a different theme, such as "feel it" or "hear it."
Applied physics major Paul Whitney was loving his experience working in the park.
"We can show kids how cool science really is," Whitney said. He's hoping they can pull more teens into science with the simple concept and get them asking questions.
Maria Mendoza-Flores was impressed with the project. Her son is a toddler and was intrigued with the concept of talking into a plastic cup and having the sound travel.
"My son is loving it, and he's not even in preschool," Mendoza-Flores said.
Starting Monday, the outreach program will be at the Marshall White Center Park area, 222 28th St., from 11:30a.m. to 1 p.m.
Johnstun plans to hold another physics open house in the spring. For more information on programs at Ott Planetarium, visit the Web site at www.weber.edu/planetarium.
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