Education and Public Outreach

First Discoveries: An Initiative for Early Childhood Science Education

Sharing the Excitment and Science Communication

First Discoveries: An Initiative for Early Childhood Science Education

We initiated a program called First Discoveries, aimed to improve science enrichment at the early childhood level. The program began in 2017, through a partnership with local Bright Horizons pre-schools, and since has expanded into local Chicago Public schools at the Kindergarten and 1st grade level.

SPT volunteers design and lead physics and astronomy-focused activities in the classroom that foster scientific reasoning through play- and inquiry-based learning. Volunteers collaborate directly with full time educators through emails and workshops to coordinate lesson plans and extension activities, which are documented for future use by other classrooms and educators.

The program aims to excite young students alongside teachers, and encourages them to approach science as a tool for exploring and understanding their own curiosities and intutions. By avoiding memorization and instructor-focused demonstrations, the authority of learning and thining scientifically is turned back over to the students in an equitable way, before any notion of what science or scientists look like have formed.

Graduate student Paul Chichura showing off some of the extreme cold weather gear to kindergarten students.

KICP fellow Dr. Jason Henning running a lab designed to teach students about the properties of friction.

Physicist Donna Kubik teaching students about how to make observations of and learn about birds.

CMB Instrumentation Summer School

We run a 1-week "hands-on" summer school designed to provide participants with working knowledge of the detectors and instrumentation used to measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Bi-annually at U. Chicago, we host approximately 15-20 students, aimed at senior undergraduates and early graduate students interested in pursuing a PhD in experimental physics or astrophysics.

Topics include: superconducting detectors, transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers, kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs); detector characterization, including beams, bands, time constants and polarization calibration; cryogenics and mm-wave optics; coherent and holographic techniques for characterizing optical components; and Fourier transform spectroscopy.

Laser spectroscopy lab, designed to measure properties of mm-wave materials, including index of refraction, tranmission, and reflection. Led by graduate student Shreya Sutariya.

Soldering lab, designed to teach students the basics of laboratory electronics and soldering. Led by Dr. Amy Bender.

Making liquid nitrogen ice-cream at the summer school dinner.

Sharing the Excitment and Science Communication

Cosmology, the South Pole (and Antarctica), and Telescopes are exciting to a diverse audience, and provide a hook for teaching many scientific concepts. SPT collaboration members routinely participate in numerous outreach activities, including: giving tours of scientific facilities to K-12 and junior college students; producing online scientific content and videos; volunteering to give online or public lectures through many outside programs, including at Adler Planetarium, Life Long Learning lectures at Senior Centers; Saturday Morning Physics, and participating in local science festivals.

Dr. Sasha Rahlin in a youtube video describing the SPT telescope and science

Graduate students Wei Quan and Paul Chichura showing a hands-on demo at the South Side Science festival.

Graduate student Kyra Fichman giving a tour of the Pritzker Nano-Fabrication (PNF) facility at the University of Chicago to high school students in the KICP Space Explorers program.

Education and Public Outreach

First Discoveries: An Initiative for Early Childhood Science Education

CMB Instrumentation Summer School

Sharing the Excitment and Science Communication

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