Public outreach, when used effectively, can enhance the understanding and appreciation of science and demonstrate how its fundamentals, its innovations and its ultimate applications are intertwined in everyday life. The fact that science is useful to society often gets lost in translation; everyone knows it is, but few care to dig deeper than the surface of understanding why without someone providing a nudge or moment of inspiration. Good public outreach is effective at sparking the “Aha” moment within individuals. Great public outreach is capable of inspiring individuals and teaching them about scientific concepts and principles (in a manner suitable to the intended audience). Our Member Societies and affiliates are in the business of producing great public outreach—with the help and collaboration of AIP—by educating and sparking passion within the next generation of scientists and technology leaders.
In 2016 AIP has participated in two public outreach engagements; first, helping to bring a physics circus to the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC, and then collaborating on outreach at Six Flags America Physics Day in Upper Marlboro, MD. The USASEF was held April 15–17 in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. More than 350,000 attendees swarmed the +1,000 exhibitors, including the Big Top Physics pavilion (14 booths with nothing but physics to talk about)—a major collaboration of ten groups (see below) and Physics Today which donated booth space. Big Top Physics had more than 100 individuals volunteer their time to make the pavilion possible.
A major aim of the festival seemed to be to provide that moment of personal/professional inspiration to individuals to want to pursue a scientific career or hobby. Judging from the faces of attendees at the Big Top Physics pavilion, AIP and its collaborators were very successful.
Big Top Physics was hosted by the following entities:
- AAPT: American Association of Physics Teachers
- AAS: American Astronomical Society
- ACA: American Crystallographic Association
- AIP: American Institute of Physics
- APS: American Physical Society
- ASA: Acoustical Society of America
- IS: Inside Science
- NSHP: National Society of Hispanic Physicists
- OSA: The Optical Society
- SPS/ΣΠΣ: Society of Physics Students/Sigma Pi Sigma
The organizers estimate that around 8,000 attendees came to each booth in the exhibit halls in 2016. Highlights of this year’s collaboration were a bed of nails (APS), a light painting booth (OSA), singing pipes (ASA), a photo wall (AIP), and several smoke cannons (SPS) to draw attendees toward the Big Top Physics Pavilion. Those of us at AIP enjoy working with our Member Societies and other organizations on efforts like these because we can make more noise, create bigger bangs, and enjoy greater engagement with people through such collaborations than we could on our own -- all while having fun, too.
On another note, the rain held off for the 2016 Six Flags America Physics Day, hosted on April 22 in Upper Marlboro, MD. The Society of Physics Students’ volunteers (a big thank you to the Penn State University volunteers for driving so far for physics!) along with staff from the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Physical Society, and the Society of Physics Students National Office provided regional students the chance to ride a rollercoaster while wearing accelerometers in order to conduct experiments and learn the fundamentals of what makes a rollercoaster “go.” There were screams of excitement about science at this year’s Six Flags America Physics Day.
