INSIDE THIS ISSUE
New science outreach programs
PAGE 2
Focus on Astronomy
PAGE 3
Public outreach at U.Va.’s field stations
PAGE 3
Spring 2013 Newsletter
Harnessing U.Va. students’ talent and
enthusiasm for science outreach
PAGE 4
Science Outreach @ U.Va.
Welcome
Recent Happenings
I am pleased to share the first quarterly
newsletter for U.Va. science outreach to
communicate to the U.Va. community,
external partners and supporters, and
others about what we are doing to
engage the public in science.
U.Va. students, faculty, and staff take time to help inspire and excite
youth about science through school visits, afterschool programs,
mentoring, and special events.
Please read on to gain insight into
how U.Va. students, faculty, staff, and
partners are working together to
excite future generations of scientists,
increase dialogue about science in our
communities, and share U.Va. science
with a broader audience.
Do you want to join in and help to raise
public awareness of, understanding of,
and involvement in science? Contact
me about how to become involved
as a leader, participant, or supporter.
Do you work with an exisiting U.Va.
science outreach effort? Let’s talk about
collaboration ideas and how to connect
what you are doing with other efforts.
Michelle Prysby
Director of Science Education
and Public Outreach
Dean’s Office,
University of Virginia
College and Graduate
School of Arts &
Sciences
Youth are one major focus for
many of U.Va.’s current outreach
activities. In just the first few
months of 2013, hundreds of K-12
youth engaged in science activities alongside U.Va. students
or faculty. Here is a sampling of
some of those recent events.
One
hundred
Kindergarten
through 5th grade youth spent a
day in the Chemistry department
conducting experiments and observing demonstrations during
the annual Chemistry Camp organized by the Chemistry L.E.A.D
outreach group.
More than thirty U.Va. employees
helped judge student projects at
the Virginia Piedmont Regional
Science Fair in March. Some U.Va.
scientists also are mentoring
Fun with
brains at
Science
Day
students in science fair projects
through school visits and a new
online mentoring site.
U.Va. students from Chemistry,
Physics, Astronomy, and Neuroscience led science activities
and demonstrations for youth at
Ruckersville Elementary School’s
Science Day.
Chemistry
Camp 2013
Fifteen U.Va. student groups conducted STEM activities for youth
at the Virginia Discovery Museum’s annual Kid*Vention science
festival.
Thousands of K-12 students and
parents explored engineering
and nanotechnology at U.Va. during the annual Engineering Open
House and NanoDays events.
A record 39 teams came to U.Va.
to compete in the High School
Programming Contest, sponsored
by the U.Va. chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery .
University of Virginia Science Outreach
1
ON THE WEB
What’s New
Learn more about these three new programs.
Three new programs offer opportunities for high school students
and adults to connect with U.Va. scientists and their research.
•
•
•
BLAST
In July, 160 enthusiastic rising 8th
and 9th grade students will make
U.Va. their home for a few days as
part of a new summer program,
Building Leaders to Advance
Science and Technology (BLAST).
BLAST is made possible through a
Virginia Space Grant Consortium
grant and the vision of Delegate
Joe May (33rd District, Virginia
House of Delegates.) It is offered
free to selected students from
Southwest Virginia, Southern
Piedmont, Charlottesville, and
Greater Richmond areas and aims
to spark students’ interest in STEM
studies and career opportunities.
During a very packed two days
and three nights, the students
will work in teams to accomplish
engineering challenges and
conduct scientific experiments.
BLAST blast.spacegrant.org
Science Straight Up
sciencestraightup.org
HooS-STER www.virginia.edu/hoosster
topics. Upcoming events in April
and May will focus on quantum
information, with Professor Stu
Wolf, and weird weather, with
Professor Jerry Stenger.
HooS-STER
atmosphere. Like hundreds of
other science cafés around the
world, Science Straight Up brings
science into public spaces such
as restaurants and coffee shops.
This spring, we have been holding
events at the Black Market Moto
Local high school students have
a new opportunity to do research
at U.Va. this summer through the
High School Science, Technology,
and
Engineering
Research
internship program.
Seven
Charlottesville area students,
selected through an application
process, will be matched with
faculty labs in chemistry, biology,
and engineering. Along with
conducting
research,
they
will also attend seminars and
workshops to inform them about
STEM opportunities in college
and careers.
“Fun! I enjoyed this and am compelled to learn
more about the topic.”
--Community participant at February Science Straight Up’s
discussion of sexual conflict theory with Professor Bob Cox
Science Straight Up
U.Va. scientists are getting out
of the lab and out on the town
through a new program to
promote dialogue about science
in a relaxed and approachable
2 University of Virginia Science Outreach
Saloon, a local watering hole near
downtown Charlottesville. Our
first two events have each drawn
a crowd of 60-70 participants,
most of whom are non-scientists
who are interested in learning
and talking about current science
Professor Bob Hirosky,
explains the Higgs boson at
Science Straight Up
Focus on...
Astronomy
Public nights at McCormick
Observatory continue to link thousands of
community members to U.Va. astronomers
and their research.
Fan Mountain Observatory will open
its doors April 8 for its semi-annual Public
Night, when visitors can tour the facility,
learn about research taking place there,
and look through the telescopes.
Central Virginia Governor’s School
(CVGS) students worked with U.Va.
graduate students to conduct astronomy
research projects. The CVGS students will
come to U.Va. in April to present their work
through poster and oral presentations.
Dark Skies, Bright Kids held an
8-week astronomy club at Red Hill
Elementary, during which students
built comets, explored invisible light,
investigated impact craters, and tested
rockets. The club will rotate next to
Woodbrook Elementary.
A new endowment fund in memory
of Heidi Winter, a long-time supporter
of astronomy, was created to enable
McCormick Observatory to expand its
educational and outreach programs.
From the Field
U.Va. is fortunate to have three
field stations that serve as centers of research and education
in three different corners of the
state. All three stations engage in
outreach programming as well,
serving groups such as K-12 students, teachers, and local community members.
Blandy Experimental Farm
Blandy recently expanded its Conifer Trail to include more specimens with interpretive signs and
recordings that visitors can listen
to using their cell phones. They
just wrapped up their winter
Young Naturalist series for 1st6th grade students, and spring
public programs are underway.
Highlights include full moon
hikes and English- and Spanishlanguage tours of the Arboretum.
The Education programs are gearing up for the busy spring season.
One highlight of the spring is a
MWEE, Meaningful Watershed
Educational Experience, during
which all 6th grade students from
a local school division engage in
hands-on, outdoor investigations.
Students learn how humans impact watersheds and how these
impacts affect local ecosystems.
Mountain Lake
Biological Station (MLBS)
Professor Kelsey Johnson
making comets at Red Hill
School
MLBS is developing new community partnerships as it plans
to expand its outreach activities.
The station organized and hosted
a focus group meeting for individuals and organizations in the
area that would be interested in
attending programs, visiting the
station, and contributing to the
work done there. One of the new
projects starting up is a program
to involve volunteers in studying phenology (the study of biological responses to seasonal
change.) Volunteers this spring
will be monitoring blooming and
other seasonal phenomena and
submitting the data to a national
citizen science project as well as
using it to inform visitors to the
station what’s in bloom.
MLBS will also open its doors this
June for an Open House, during
which community members can
visit the station and learn about
the research projects happening
there.
Anheuser-Busch
Coastal Research Center
(ABCRC)
The ABCRC held several fall workshops for teachers, including a
workshop to train school groups
to raise oysters to release into
the Chesapeake Bay to improve
water quality. They have also
been building upon their “Ecological Reflections” teacher program that links instruction in art
techniques with studies of ecology. As teachers learn plein aire
painting or observational drawing, they also learn about Virginia’s coastal ecology and environmental issues. Teachers’ artwork
and essays about ecology along
with works produced by Visiting
Artists-in-Residence and through
collaborations between local
artists and UVA Environmental
Scientists have been displayed
in several venues, including the
Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library at U.Va. and the
NSF Headquarters in Reston, VA.
University of Virginia Science Outreach 3
UPCOMING
April
10: Science Straight Up: When Einstein
Was Wrong
sciencestraightup.org
12: Fan Mountain Public Night
www.astro.virginia.edu/public_outreach/schedule.php/
24: National Physics Day Show
www.phys.virginia.edu/Announcements/PhysicsDay/
May
8: Science Straight Up: Weird Weather
http://sciencestraightup.org
June
12: Science Straight Up
http://sciencestraightup.org
16-28: ExxonMobil Bernard Harris
Summer Science Camp
http://www.seas.virginia.edu/admin/diversity/
16-27: Curry School Summer
Enrichment Program http://curry.virginia.edu/
community-programs/student-enrichment/sep/summer
23-29: Introduction to Engineering
Camp
29: Mountain Lake Biological Station
Open House http://www.mlbs.org/events
On-going
•
Public programs at Blandy
blandy.virginia.edu/public-programs
•
School group and teacher programs
at Blandy
blandy.virginia.edu/education
•
Public Seminar Series at AnheuserBusch Coastal Research Center
Harnessing student enthusiasm for
science outreach
U.Va. undergraduate and graduate students share their excitement
for science with thousands of people through school visits,
community events, and other programs.
U.Va. has more than a dozen
student-led groups involved in
science outreach, either as their
main purpose or as one activity of
a larger organization. Most
of these groups focus their
outreach activities on elementary and middle school
youth, critical ages for developing a lifelong interest
in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM.)Some
groups, such as Chemistry L.E.A.D.
(Learning Through Experimentation, Awareness, and Demonstration), focus on one-time visits to
classrooms to conduct demonstrations and lead youth in doing experiments. Other groups,
such as Dark Skies, Bright
Kids and Girls Excited
about Math and Science,
specialize in longer-term
interactions with smaller
numbers of youth during
afterschool programs. Additional groups, such as the Chemistry honors fraternity, Alpha Chi
Sigma, and the Neuroscience
graduate students organize and
participate in special outreach
events, such as Brain Awareness
Week and Chemistry Day.
www.abcrc.virginia.edu
•
McCormick Observatory Public
Nights (1st and 3rd Fridays) and
Group nights (2nd and 4th Fridays)
www.astro.virginia.edu/public_outreach/schedule.php/
4 University of Virginia Science Outreach
Many of these groups have
been active for years, but
students are playing critical roles in brand-new
outreach programs as well.
The HooS-STER program
(page 2) concept originated at U.Va. with 3rd year student
Adishesh Narahari. He participated in a research program through
another university when he was
in high school, and he has been
a major motivating force in developing and launching a similar
program for U.Va. Several science
graduate students have
been active members of
the Science Straight Up
committee, helping to develop the concept, line up
guest scientists, and publicize events. Students from
Chemistry L.E.A.D. and the U.Va.
chapter of the Optical Society of
America will plan and lead science experiments for youth at
this summer’s BLAST camp.
Involvement in science outreach
enriches the student experience
by offering opportunities
for students to develop
skills for communicating
science to diverse audiences and opportunities
to engage with their local
community. An ability to
present science concepts in an
accessible format is applicable to
teaching, grant writing, interdisciplinary projects, and many other
aspects of a science career. With
this idea in mind, Blandy Experimental Farm trains its Research
Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) program students in
how to develop science lessons for youth that relate
to their research activities.
The REUs then field test
those activities with youth
at Blandy’s summer camps.
We hope to provide more opportunities like these for students to
learn and practice skills for public
outreach.