Teachers from different science backgrounds, including physics, biology and chemistry attended our Spring Workshop where Xraise hosted presentations from researchers and presented one of the Lending Library activities called “Water Analogy to Electrical Circuits”.
The day included talks by Richard Gillilan where he talked about the research done at MacCHESS, Ken Finkelstein, with an overview of CHESS and x-ray science, and Jeney Weirman, on her work on graphene application to protein crystallography. The group of teachers also toured the different research facilities and stopped by a few hutches to learn about research currently being done.
The “Water Analogy to Electrical Circuits” was presented by Xraise staff and master teacher Walter Peck from Whitney Point High School. Mr. Peck explained how he inserts this lab into his curriculum and how he troubleshoots issues that often take place in his classroom. Participants were appreciative of his advice and carried out the lab using water, tubing, pumps, flow meters and physical resistors to measure voltage and current. These participants are now eligible to borrow the kit — free of charge — to use in their own classrooms. Teachers were very grateful to be here, especially the ones from disciplines outside of physics. One of the comments we got from the evaluations stated: “Thanks for incorporating Biology. It is always good to see how my field merges with other fields of science,” wrote one teacher.
An Xraise undergraduate work-study, Jack Novak, who is currently recording videos for the Lending Library program also came to the workshop to help facilitate the activity and gather feedback from teachers on what they would find interesting and useful for a motivational video to the “Water Analogy to Electrical Circuits” activity.
Teachers got to interact with the Junk Genies’ exhibition of synchrotron related phenomena and live demos showcasing the Coriolis force which resulted in lively discussions of additional activities to do in the classroom to increase student engagement in science.
Attendees were already asking when the next workshop will take place and again, expressed their gratefulness for such opportunities.