Middle School Outreach Programs
Our outreach programs for middle schoolers cover a myriad of physics topics geared towards 6th - 8th graders.
General Physics Concepts
Candy Wave Machine
Format: Onsite at your school
Construct a wave machine out of kebab sticks, candy, and duct tape. Show how waves constitute a traveling disturbance -- and the medium does not travel. Wave machine can be adjusted by moving or removing candy on the sticks.
Contact: Diana Parno
An Engine that Uses Only Heat and Air
Format: Remote, Onsite at CMU or Onsite at your school
Demo and explanation of what a "heat engine" is, how it works, and several working examples
Contact: Reinhard Schumacher
Astronomy & Cosmology
Eyes on the Universe
Format: Remote, Onsite at CMU or Onsite at your school
A presentation of astronomical images taken by the world's most powerful telescopes, with discussion of relevant astrophysical phenomena (supernova explosions, black holes, extra-solar planets, galaxy formation, etc.)
Contact: Matthew Walker
Constellations
Format: Remote
Do you want to know what's up in the sky this week (planets, the Moon, constellations) and how to observe (night vision, binoculars, light pollution), including what indigenous people saw in the sky? Noting how shadows change position during the day and year helps us understand Earth's rotation and the movement of the Earth around the Sun. We'll tell stories about women and minority astronomers. Want to know what it's like to be an astronomer?
Contact: Diane Turnshek
Massive Black Holes in Galaxies
Format: Remote
Hear a lecture from Prof. Tiziana Di Matteo on the latest discoveries in massive black hole research.
Contact: Tiziana Di Matteo
Dark Skies in Our Future
Format: Remote
The night sky is getting brighter each year, obscuring the stars from our sight. Light pollution is the cause, the excessive, obtrusive light at night that prevents us from living under a sky bright with stars. Roughly 80% of people in the US live in cities and can't see the Milky Way Galaxy. Artificial light at night adversely affects human health and the environment, can produce unsafe glare and raises our carbon footprint by wasting energy. Learn about the dark side of light and what steps can be taken to bring back the stars.
Contact: Diane Turnshek
Computer Simulations of the Universe - Are We Living in One?
Format: Remote or Onsite at your school
Hear a lecture from Prof. Rupert Croft on computer simulations of the universe - how does dark matter clump together, what happens when galaxies collide, and how did stars and planets come to be? After the lecture, students can download an app designed by CMU students that illustrates these simulations in real-time.
Contact: Rupert Croft
The Possibility of Life Elsewhere
Format: Remote
The hunt for life is on! Consider extreme life on Earth and what it can tell us about the possibility of other life in our Universe. Explore new information from probes sent to Mars and Venus. See how new technological developments, like the James Webb Telescope, will further our search for life on exoplanets. How would the news of life elsewhere change us?
Contact: Diane Turnshek
The Physics of Climate Change
Format: Remote
The Earth is getting warmer at a rate higher than is sustainable. Either our practices or our lives will have to change. The solar system is our laboratory, displaying a prime example of the runaway greenhouse effect in our sister planet. Learn the basics of human-influenced climate disruption, then celebrate creative new ideas with the potential to change the change.
Contact: Diane Turnshek
Biology & Physics
Capillary Interactions
Format: Remote
Objects floating on water can attract or repel one another due to the deformation of the meniscus around them. Several experiments are possible to investigate this phenomenon. It serves as a visible illustration of very similar effects that exist between particles bound to lipid membranes (--> biophysics), but also illustrates even deeper ideas of how field theory works: objects that "couple" to a field ("water") and locally deform it ("meniscus"), can interact with one another if these fields spread away from the object and two such fields begin to overlap (--> electrostatics, general relativity).
Contact: Markus Deserno
Particle & Nuclear Physics
Unveiling the Structure of the Atom
Format: Remote or Onsite at your school
Hear a lecture by Prof. Paulini about the experiment that Ernest Rutherford conducted in 1911 shaping the modern understanding of the structure of the atom. Introducing the concept of conservation of momentum and scattering of particles, Prof. Paulini describes the relevance of the Rutherford experiment for middle school students.
Contact: Manfred Paulini