News From Student Chapters

OSA Student Chapter at UNICAMP organizes the 5th “Physics on Vacation”
Written by Felipe Vallini

CAMPINAS, Brazil – On the second week of July, 2007, 55 students from high schools visited the University to enter in contact with modern physics.

This event stimulates interest for science among young students and vocations for physics as a career. Students are trained to work as a team, introduced to the scientific method and how research is conducted at the University.

High School students at the 5th Physics on Vacation.

After assisting lectures on modern physics, the students are grouped into teams to perform an experiment where they measure the speed of light, analyze data, and present their own conclusions. This year, the topics included the corpuscular character of the light, spectroscopy of atoms and molecules, critics to the theory of the ether, and plasma physics. Each team study one of these topics and present to the others what they have learned.

Another activity for the students was to build an elevator that could raise small objects using easily available materials and tools such as wood, ropes, pipes, scissors, and screwdrivers. This activity challenges their imagination and explores basic concepts of mechanics.

Two of the elevators constructed by the students.

This event is also important to integrate students from different regions in Brazil, show how to enjoy physics, and complement their educations with themes that are not seen in high schools. It is interesting to mention that some students that participated in previous editions of the Physics on Vacation are now undergraduate students at our Physics Institute. For this event, the Student Chapter at Unicamp was awarded with the Educational Outreach Grant from OSA. This event was sponsored by OSA, by the Optics and Photonics Research Center, and by the Physics Department at UNICAMP.

I would like to thanks everyone who participated and helped us on this vocation!

Measuring of the speed of light using a laser.

A team of students presenting the theme chosen by them to learn about during the week.