Professor Schmitz has conceptualized in the past two years a number of outreach activities and these outreach activities are now commencing for the first time.
The declared goal of this program in the K-12 education arena is to bring Plasmas as a widely relevant state of matter to students of the entire basic education program. On Monday 06/04, he visited
a first and a third-grade class at Glen Stephen’s Elementary, Madison, WI and presented a Plasma Show. This show takes the kids on a journey from basic plasma phenomenon and appearances to the basics of electrostatics and hands-on experiments on a giant Plasma Ball. Students learn about light emission fr
om plasmas and how it is generated to magnetic fields used to contain plasmas. It is a great pleasure to experience the untampered, grand curiosity of children at that age, approaching to comprehend a totally unknown subject matter without any hesitation.
In summer 2018, Prof. Schmitz will also teach a two-week Research Experience for high school students guided by two high school teachers and later a one-week “Plasma Academy“, in which a group of six high-school students and six teachers will develop teaching modules for the Advanced Placing Physics curriculum in the state of Wisconsin. It is planned to continue the summer internship in a weekly internship project for high-school students starting this fall.
This K-12 outreach activity is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of Prof. Schmitz’s CAREER award under grant number PHYS-1455210. Teachers or students who are interested in either of these activities, please contact Prof. O. Schmitz.
— News: 06-04-2018