Marshall University Sky Festival 5/16/2018!
Elementary school students from Cabell and Putnam counties had a great time at the 3rd annual Sky Festival held at the Marshall University! The event is sponsored by a National Science Foundation grant. Dr. Jon Saken helped to run several activities. Society of Physics Students members Emily Sutherland “SPS President” and Jason Holland “SPS Treasure” assisted in the event.
Logan High School – Projectile Motion Workshop 4/27/2018!
On 4-27-18, students from Logan HS had a fun time while learning about projectile motion at one of the spring Projectile Motion Workshops held by Dr. Sean P. McBride in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. The event was sponsored by the Physics Department within the College of Science. Society of Physics Students member Chase Preston and Eric Gandee & Jeremy McCloud, students from Dr. McBride’s PHY 211 University Physics class, assisted with guiding the students through the kinematics equations in two dimensions associated with projectile motion.
Chapmanville High School – Projectile Motion Workshop 4/12/2018!
High School students from Chapmanville HS had a really great time today at the Projectile Motion Workshop held by Dr. Sean P. McBride in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. The event was sponsored by the Physics Department within the College of Science. Society of Physics Students members Casey Frye (Recruitment Officer for the Society of Physics Students) and Chase Preston assisted with guiding the students through the kinematics equations in two dimensions associated with projectile motion. Check out more pics on Facebook!
James Monroe High School – Projectile Motion Workshop 4/11/2018!
High School students from James Monroe HS had a really great time today at the Projectile Motion Workshop held by Dr. Sean P. McBride in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. The event was sponsored by the Physics Department within the College of Science. Society of Physics Students members Emily Sutherland (President of the Society of Physics Students) and Emma Lockyer (Social Media Officer of SPS) assisted with guiding the students through the kinematics equations in two dimensions associated with projectile motion. Check out more pics on Facebook!
Science Blitz 3/31/2018!
The 2018 Science Blitz was Awesome! The Physics Department welcomed K-12 students and families to the College of Science “Science Blitz” in the Science Building on March 31st, 2018 to ride the Hovercraft built by Dr. Sean P. McBride. Thank you to Society of Physics Students Emily Sutherland (SPS president), Josh Mason, Chase Preston, and hovercraft veteran and SPS member Noah Jarvis for helping to make the hovercraft event possible! Also, check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MUPhysicsDept/
Pikeview High School – Projectile Motion Workshop 3/27/2018!
High School students from Pikeview HS had a really great time today at the Spring Projectile Motion Workshop held by Dr. Sean P. McBride in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. The event was sponsored by the Physics Department within the College of Science. Society of Physics Students members Aaron Murphy (Vice President of SPS) and Michael Payne assisted with guiding the students through the kinematics equations in two dimensions associated with projectile motion.
Physics Department’s Portable Planetarium at Meadows Elementary school 1/26/2018!
Dr. Jon Saken from the Marshall University Physics Department and Chase Preston from the Society of Physics Students debuted the Physics Department’s portable planetarium at Meadows Elementary school (1-26-2018). The students got to explore the cosmos without leaving the comfort of their gymnasium. Everyone enjoyed themselves, including Dr. Saken and Chase.
SPS Visited to AD Lewis Center 11/16/2017!
SPS had a great time shooting some hoops with some of the kids at the local A.D. Lewis Center (11-16-17). Fun was had by all. The kids loved it and spending the time with them was well worth it. Hopefully this is something SPS can do more often when time permits.
Motor Madness with Spring Valley High School 11/29/2017!
In a motor workshop led by Dr. Sean P. McBride and the Society of Physics Students, students from Spring Valley High School got to build Beakman Motors and learned how electric currents, magnetic moments, and applied magnetic fields interact to produce a torque in a motor. The students got to take home their motors home and the winners with the fastest motors received an official Physics Department T-shirt or sweatshirt. Everyone enjoyed themselves. The aim for the motor madness workshop was such that the experience would encourage and strengthen the students interest and curiosity in science and in particular physics (and have fun in the process with a little friendly competition). Students, please contact Dr. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) if you have question about what you did today or want to learn more about what a degree in Physics can offer you.
Motor Madness with Westside High School 11/8/2017!
The Society of Physics Students had a great time building Beckman motors with students from Westside High School. The aim for the motor madness workshop led by Dr. Sean P. McBride and the Society of Physics Students was such that the experience would encourage and strengthen the student’s interest and curiosity in science and in particular physics (and have fun in the process). The students got a hands-on chance to learn how currents, magnetic moments, and applied magnetic fields interact to produce a torque. The students got to take their motors home and the winners with the fastest motors received an official Physics Department T-shirt or sweatshirt.
The Haunted Hovercraft!
The Physics Department welcomed K-12 students and families to the College of Science “Science Bash” in the Science Building on November 4th, 2017. This was a Halloween focused family/community science event put on by COS with tons of hands-on activities. COS made sure to have traditional events like pumpkin carving and everything was intertwined with science fun. It was a Halloween science-themed event. The Physics Department brought the hovercraft built by Dr. Sean P. McBride so your kids (and you) can float like a ghost through the halls of the Science Building. See pics below of all the kids enjoying it. A major part of the hovercraft’s success was in no small part due to the time devoted by the Society of Physics Students members helping to push kids down the hall and handing out recruitment information to interested parents.
SPS President Emily Sutherland hosts Major Omar Angelo Nava
On October 30th, 2017, thanks to SPS President Emily Sutherland, SPS students got to have a nice discussion with Major Omar Angelo Nava, Ph.D., from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Major Nava talked to students about STEM careers and how they intertwine with a career in the military. SPS students also learned about internships and possible research opportunities that exist for both physics and engineering majors at AFIT.
Physics Research Orientation Day and BBQ 10/18/2017
As part of Physics Week, from 4-6pm, the Physics Department faculty gave brief 10 minute talks describing their research interests over coffee and light refreshments (see schedule of talks); the talks culminated with BBQ food being served on Buskirk Field from 6-8pm. The BBQ at Physics Research Orientation Day was sponsored by the Physics Department along with the Marshall University’s Chapter of the Society of Physics Students. The objectives of these annual talks and casual BBQ are to inform not only newly enrolled Physics majors of the research opportunities that exist within the department, but to also to inform local area high school teachers of the research opportunities that are available to their students when they become interested in science and specifically physics. The inaugural set of talks and BBQ were both fantastic this year! There was plenty of discussion and more than enough food to go around! All high school teachers are always welcome to this event every fall. Please RSVP for Fall 2018 talks and BBQ with Dr. Sean P. McBride at mcbrides@marshall.edu
The Great American Eclipse 8/21/2017
Recently, the SPS group here at Marshall participated in the solar eclipse on August 21st, 2017. This was an event hosted by the College of Science as well as West Virginia Science Adventures. This was a huge event with thousands of people. Our SPS group helped organized so that several Dobsonian telescopes were available on Buskirk field for the public. They also helped with set-up and tear down for the event, participated in practice runs for telescope training, and spent a good part of the ~ 3-hour event running our tracking telescope with an additional high school volunteer student.
The Week of Welcome Carnival 8/20/2017
On August 20th, 2017 the SPS group participated in the WoW carnival at Marshall’s Week of Welcome. This was a very fun opportunity for SPS to recruit majors and minors for the department and SPS. The Physics Department’s main attraction for the event was our carnival style projectile launcher game where students could launch mini cannon ball like projectiles at a target to compete for prizes. SPS members and new students alike enjoyed this event and everyone looks forward to the next one.
