Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2010; Portland, Oregon
Session B3: How to Interest Middle School Children in Physical Science |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd FPS Chair: Lawrence Woolf, General Atomics Room: Oregon Ballroom 203 |
Monday, March 15, 2010 11:15AM - 11:51AM |
B3.00001: Nicholson Medal for Human Outreach Talk: Attracting girls to physics: the itinerant science project Invited Speaker: Women are underrepresented in physics in Brazil. The percentage of women taking undergraduate studies in physics is below $20\%$ much below medicine where women are now days the majority of the undergraduate students. In order to attract girls to physics the we developed a science truck that visits suburbs as well as the underdeveloped areas of the city. During this visits the kids are exposed to the applications of physics to the world and in particular to technology. They have the chance to manipulate experiments and to learn how they are related to real life technology. After playing with the experiments they answer a simple questionnaire designed to understand how their view about physics have changed due to this experience. We observed that the girls exhibit a less active behavior when given the chance make experiments becoming more active when stimulated. When questioned about the change in their perception regarding physics after being exposed to the experiments the girls show a more significant change in perception than the boys. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 11:51AM - 12:27PM |
B3.00002: Introducing Deep Underground Science to Middle Schoolers: Challenges and Rewards Invited Speaker: Work is in progress to define the mission, vision, scope and preliminary design of the Sanford Center for Science Education (SCSE), the education arm of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL), a proposed major research facility of the National Science Foundation. If final funding is approved, DUSEL will be built at the site of the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota beginning in 2012. The SCSE is envisioned to serve as a model for the integration of a science education center into the fabric of a new national laboratory. Its broad mission is to share the excitement and promise of deep underground science and engineering at Homestake with learners of all ages worldwide. The science to be pursued at DUSEL, whether in physics, astronomy, geomicrobiology, or geoscience, is transformational and sparks the imagination of learners of all ages. While the SCSE is under design, an early education program has been initiated that is designed to build capacity for the envisioned center, to prototype individual programs, and to build partnerships and community support. This talk will give an overview of the middle school portion of that program and its context within the overall content development plan of the SCSE. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 12:27PM - 1:03PM |
B3.00003: Creating Engaging Science Learning Experiences for Middle School Students Through Museum Exhibits Invited Speaker: The science education community recognizes that reaching middle school students is important because this age is often a turning point when students decide not to pursue further math and science education. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), together with experts in informal science education from the science museum community, has developed exhibits and supporting programming that promote positive attitudes toward math and science learning by providing engaging experiences in meaningful contexts in which students can develop science process skills and see the relevance of science to their daily lives. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 1:03PM - 1:39PM |
B3.00004: Immersing Southeastern Louisiana Middle School Students in Physics at the LIGO Livingston Science Education Center Invited Speaker: The LIGO Science Education Center (SEC) is located adjacent to the LIGO Livingston Observatory and brings the excitement of gravitational wave science to Southeastern Louisiana. While the SEC offers programs targeted for middle school students, we also offer programs for students through post-secondary levels, teacher professional development and the public. Programs are LIGO related inquiry based activities and include guided investigations in our classroom and free exploration of the more than 40 hands on exhibits in our exhibit hall (most built by the Exploratorium). Students also get to visit the working LIGO observatory to interact with scientists and to see the science concepts they are learning in action. The LIGO SEC is the result of the unique collaboration between a museum (The Exploratorium), science laboratory (LIGO), university (Southern University-Baton Rouge) and local education agencies (LaSIP and LaGEAR-UP) to scaffold this outreach. The SEC also serves as a test bed for educational research through collaboration with a Tulane University psychology faculty member. New initiatives of the SEC include developing programs of repeated engagement with teachers through professional development and with students through field trips in order to undertake longitudinal studies on the impact of the informal education environment. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 1:39PM - 2:15PM |
B3.00005: Teachers on the Leading Edge: A Place-Based Professional Development Program for K-12 Earth Science Teachers Invited Speaker: Teachers on the Leading Edge (TOTLE) is an Earth Science teacher professional development program featuring Pacific Northwest active continental margin geology. To engage middle-school teachers and students, TOTLE workshops: (1)~invite novice learners to geophysical studies of tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes; (2) provide access to EarthScope research; and (3) explain geologic hazards as understandable aspects of living on the ``leading edge'' of the North American continent. Fundamental concepts and observations progress from global patterns, to regional context, and then to local applications. For example, earthquakes are concentrated near tectonic plate boundaries such as the Cascadia subduction zone between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. Earthquake hazards include liquefaction and landslides that are affected by regional and local geology. And relative earthquake hazard maps provide comparisons of hazards on county, city, and neighborhood scales. Inquiry-based field investigation of coastal ghost forests and Cascadia tsunami geology stimulates learning about Cascadia great earthquakes and tsunamis and provides a case study of scientific discovery. Field studies of volcanic mudflow (lahar) deposits from Mt Hood and Mt Rainier highlight volcanic hazards to rapidly increasing populations that live near recently active Cascade volcanoes. We emphasize the importance of infrastructure engineering and emergency preparedness in preventing geologic hazards damage, injuries, and deaths in order to: (1) demonstrate how Geoscience research leads to improved engineering designs that mitigate hazards; (2) align lessons with national and state K-12 science education standards that focus on science, technology, and societal connections; and (3) avoid fatalism and develop a culture of geologic hazards awareness among future citizens of the Pacific Northwest. [Preview Abstract] |
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