Physics Fair draws young visitors and participants

By: Alex Still

Posted: 5/1/08

This past Saturday afternoon, the physics department hosted its fifth annual Physics Fair, transforming the Bloomberg Physics and Astronomy Building into a bastion of science. The building's floors and courtyard were filled with observers of the various physics experiments.

Judging by the conspicuous presence of a large trebuchet strategically placed in front of the building, one could suppose that this was no ordinary weekend.

Freshman physics major Jake Mokris, a member of the crew of excited students preparing the catapult-like device for fire, described his fascination with the fair and his decision to volunteer. "I had actually seen the Physics Fair two years earlier, and it was one thing that made me want to come here. I liked how students were involved with the professors and in playing with the demos."

The crew drew a large crowd as they fired melons down the hills facing the Homewood campus. They explained the capabilities of their powerful device while bystanders scampered after their shots, measuring the distances.

The Physics Fair featured an array of physics demonstrations and exhibits. It was an effort to reach out to the local school community and to present some of the innovative research taking place at the University.

Professor Bruce Barnett, the Fair's chief organizer and the man responsible for first creating the event here at Hopkins five years ago, described how the fair began.

"This was my idea of getting out into the local community. I wanted to connect university research with high school teachers, and to try and get more people, particularly high school students, informed and interested in science," Barnett said.

By teaming up with sponsors including Quarknet, the National Science Foundation and other physics-based scientific companies, Barnett sought to provide both a stage to show off some of the department's work and to give local area high and middle school students a chance to compete and become more interested in science.

The fair included two separate challenges in physics and other sciences, with prizes awarded to the best performers in two different groups - middle school students and high school students.

"We deliberately have the event the same weekend of the Spring Fair to attract people visiting the campus," physics professor Morris Swartz said. The added influx of visitors was noticeable, and part of a well-received trend.

"Each year [the fair] has grown in scope and popularity. There are over 100 different demonstrations running, and we expect 500 to 1,000 people to come today," Swartz said.

Bloomberg's first-floor labs were filled with demonstrations of air pressure, electricity and optics. Enthusiastic graduate students entertained kids and adults with their projects. There was also a science-inspired scavenger hunt for the Fair's younger visitors as well as exhibits on aerodynamics and propulsion.

One of the more popular stations involved several graduate students making their own unique brand of ice cream which was made from liquid nitrogen and served to lines of hungry observers. It was this that drew freshman Alex Rozenshteyn back to the Fair a second time: "I wasn't going to pass up free ice cream!"

The centerpiece of the fair was the Professor Extraordinaire show, a 30-minute display of various scientific experiments performed in the Norman I. Schafler auditorium. Last year, thanks to the growing popularity of the Physics Fair, people were turned away from the Extraordinaire show. Fair organizers were open to the possibility of such a situation reoccurring this year.

"We always choose a theme for the show, and we pick a different one each year," said Dr. N. Peter Armitage, the professor giving this year's demonstration. The theme for this year's show was "From the Nano to the Micro before your eyes." He ended his demonstration by propelling himself across the auditorium with a fire extinguisher, a finale that was greeted with applause.

Edmund Liu, a member of the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center (CPIC), commented on his company's connection with the University and the primary purpose of the Fair:

"With fewer citizens in this country going into the sciences and the rocket and propulsion industry, we want to get the parents of this generation to encourage their kids to be interested in the sciences - this fair is a great way to do that."