The “Out” in “Public Outreach” at Weber State University Brad Carroll, Dept. Physics, WSU

Four Strategies: Traditional outreach Bringing selected groups to WSU Sending faculty and majors to public schools Interdisciplinary outreach to non-majors

Traditional Outreach Talks for Lions, Elks, Audubon clubs Guest commentaries in local papers, magazines Presentations for local elementary and high school classes

Traditional Outreach Ritchey Lecture (endowed) given annually Gene Shoemaker, Steve Vogt (extrasolar planets)

Traditional Outreach Get out where the people are! Physics booth at the Weber County Fair Exhibit in theater for “Attack of the Clones”

Traditional Outreach Planetarium run by director and 5 physics students 18 astronomy classes taught in planetarium Hosts ~200 events yearly to ~8000 people (nearly half are special presentations to school groups) Budget $4500/yr, plus grant from Utah State Office of Museum Services

Traditional Outreach Student-run public observing sessions at WSU Free every Wednesday night Supported by Ogden Astronomical Society Most telescopes donated

Traditional Outreach ~20 off-site public star parties per year Numerous locations, including out-of-state and public schools Run by faculty and Ogden Astronomical Society

Traditional Outreach Ogden Nature Center Summer Solstice Celebration Creatures of the Night (Halloween)

Traditional Outreach Natural Science Museum Run by emeritus faculty Coordinates with planetarium in serving school groups Budget a few $k Grant from Utah State Office of Museum Services In Lind Lecture Hall

Student Activity Scholarships Full tuition waiver Participate in community and school district outreach programs Planetarium and museum each have two scholarships, physics department has one Prepare for a fight persuading your university scholarship committee to grant these!

Selected Groups to WSU S 4 (Science Seminars for Superior Students) Run by Center for Science and Math Education Presentations by faculty and outside specialists

Selected Groups to WSU Utah State Science Olympiad Run by Center for Science and Math Education Physics faculty and students are event supervisors

Selected Groups to WSU MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) and STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering) programs Increase the number of underrepresented minorities and women who enter and succeed in science and engineering Tours given by faculty and physics majors Statewide, reaches over 3000 annually

Selected Groups to WSU Science teacher workshops (NASA, NSTA) Run by Center for Science and Math Education Taught by faculty

To Public Schools SPS tutoring in high schools Awarded the Blake Lilly Prize

To Public Schools “From Spreadsheets to Space” video distributed to local high schools Produced by physics faculty and majors

To Public Schools Model rocket clubs Supervised by physics faculty and students

To Public Schools Project Starshine Shuttle will place a mirrored satellite into orbit for observation by K-12 students Director Gil Moore (Morton Thiokol) Physics faculty supervise polishing of mirrors by public school students

To Public Schools “Gifted and talented” programs Activities led by physics faculty

To Public Schools After-school enrichment programs Presentations by faculty and students

Interdisciplinary Outreach Half-time physics faculty position belongs to WSU Honors Program One course per semester taught for Honors Program “Energy and the Environment” “Energy and Entropy” “Physics of the Mundane” Three Cortez professors in physics Physics faculty on Honors Faculty Advisory Council “Pizza with a Prof” talks

Interdisciplinary Outreach “Physics in the Plays of Tom Stoppard” Read Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia, and Hapgood Theme: How much control do we have over our lives (philosophy and physics)?

Interdisciplinary Outreach In preparation: “Measuring the World” Read Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon The Measure of Reality by Alfred W. Crosby Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris

Interdisciplinary Outreach Interdisciplinary faculty collaborations A five-year series of independent study courses on astronomy with a WSU artist Painting selected by Swedish Academy of Sciences for 2003 Nobel physics poster

Interdisciplinary Outreach “Principles of Physical Science” for elementary education majors Team-taught with a chemist Students have close contact with both instructors

Interdisciplinary Outreach Physics majors as ambassadors Some SPS events open to all

Essential Ingredients Commitment to volunteer and service work Cohesive self-motivated group (faculty and students) Realistic goals