The Physics Lecture Demonstration Facility at the University of Maryland Proudly Participates In
The 2014 US Science and Engineering Festival
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| Click Here for More Photos From the Festival |
The USA Science and Engineering Festival, held on April 25-27, 2014 was an exciting venue for us to show off the department and share the joy of physics with an audience of thousands (estimated attendance 325,000).
Our showcase focused on high-interest, hands-on demonstrations provided by our Lecture Demonstration Facility. We carefully chose demonstrations to engage audience members of all ages.
Our 2 booths were staffed by graduate, undergraduate, local high school students, and department staff. These enthusiastic volunteers shared the wonders of physics and informed booth visitors about the department's education opportunities, dynamic research areas, and outreach programs. Many visitors were familiar with our Physics is Phun shows and were excited to see us at the Festival.
Our give-away was a red cloth bag with a large UMD Physics logo, which was a very popular and could be seen all over the Convention Center.
Some of the demonstrations shown throughout the three days included the shocking Van de Graaff Generator, the Gauss's Shooting Marbles, the infamous Lead Brick, the Pen and Bottle, Coanda Effect, Smoke Rings, Lenz's Law, and more. Also, with the help of members of the Lecture Demonstration Facility, we were able to include dynamic demonstrations such as Pencil and Plywood, Beaker Breaker, and our new Vacuum Launcher!
Here are some things people said about our booth:
"You just made my day! I could watch that demonstration over and over all day long!"
"Now, I get it! Okay, now let me show you and I can explain it."