Outreach: All Sorts!
BWISER – a week-long camp for girls who’ve just completed 7th grade
Our summer research students present a two hour program on light and waves (mostly!) for the BWISER campers each summer! Demos include holography, total internal reflection, and the infamous glowing pickle!
BWISER Alumnae – a week-long camp for girls who wanted to come back after the first BWISER
I present two 90 minute workshops for the alumnae campers — one on light as a wave and one on light as a particle. We get to play with diffraction gratings, the giant kaleidoscope, UV-sensitive beads and pens, and sun-art paper.
Expanding Your Horizons
A one-day conference every April for girls in 5th and 6th grade. There are short math and science workshops all over campus, and the attending girls get to choose three to participate in. We run The Humpty-Dumpty Experiment. Can you save your egg from cracking during its perilous journey, with only a few popsicle sticks, a tiny piece of cardboard, six cotton balls, and a little string? I love the creativity we get in such a short time with this experiment!
We started dropping the eggs from higher floors of Taylor Hall to increase the danger and challenge! In 2016, we were surprised to have snow! Which made a great picture as the girls waited in suspense for me to drop their egg-protecting designs.
West Holmes Summer Science Session – a one day workshop sponsored by the AAUW of Holmes County
A two and half hour workshop designed for 4th to 8th graders, dealing with both light as a wave and light as a particle. We use much of the same equipment as for BWISER Alumnae: diffraction gratings, the giant kaleidoscope, UV-sensitive beads and pens, and sun-art paper. I also have built a camera obscura that can go over your head, and we play with lenses. Lenses seem simple, but I still think it’s practically magic the first time you hold a lens up with a piece of paper, and see that real image form on the paper.
