Pursue STEM
In the Outreach in Action section of the Spring 2021 newsletter, we introduced you to Pursue STEM, a new Outreach program that encourages and supports Black students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Since the last newsletter, students have participated in virtual workshops and activities from the departments of: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Math, Physics, School of the Environment and Statistics.
Using kits that were mailed to them, the students learned about gravitational waves, artificial intelligence, kitchen chemistry, the rock cycle, water filtration, clouds, climate change and more. Student enjoyed the hands-on activities and hearing about the career paths of the presenters. One student commented “One thing I learned was that you can find a career that interests you through different paths. There are so many careers in the STEM field that I hadn’t heard of until I did Pursue STEM”
They also worked on a Capstone Project and presented their results at the closing event on August 7, 2021. The students were asked to use their Arduinos and what they learned through activities from the various physical sciences to develop a tool, gadget or technology to aid in their survival and/or to make living through a pandemic easier. The winning groups designed a “smart mask” and a “re-fill itself water bottle” and they will present their results at the Canadian Black Scientist Network conference in January 2022.
You can see the winning presentations here:
https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/physics-at-uoft/outreach/pursue-stem/
A new cohort of grade 10 students will enroll in the program this year and the previous cohort will continue in the program until first year university.
We asked Chair of Outreach Committee David Bailey to reflect on the first year of Pursue STEM:
“After decades as an experimental physicist, I always expect problems with a new project that stretches our experience and expertise, so I am very happy with the success of the first year of Pursue STEM. There are a few things we can improve, but every one of the eight departments involved provided an engaging introduction to themselves and what they study. It was great interacting with so many outstanding Black high school students, and we are very much looking forward to seeing many of the same students in Grade 11 and welcoming a new Grade 10 cohort.”
Pursue STEM was developed in partnership with Leadership by Design (LBD), U of T’s Office of Student Recruitment and the Department of Physics.
LBD is the signature program of the Lifelong Leadership Institute (LLI). The LLI is an educational organization that exists to inspire leadership and develop leaders, and dedicates its resources to advancing leadership competence and personal success among Canadian youth of Jamaican, Caribbean and Black heritage.
You can follow Pursue STEM on Instagram: pursue_stem
Photos from the Pursue STEM Closing Event
August 7, 2021
School Visits
The Department of Physics’ School Visit Program went fully virtual in September 2020. In-person school visits to the department were paused due to the pandemic, but our faculty, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students quickly adapted their activities into virtual formats so that high school students could still get a glimpse into the Department of Physics. There were talks on superconductivity and dark matter, tours of CERN, SNOLAB and the Polar Environment Research Lab. There were also, workshops on computational physics and ocean thermodynamics. The departments of Mathematics, Earth Sciences and School of the Environment contributed to this virtual initiative as well. The Department of Physics also partnered with the Office of Student of Recruitment (OSR) for the first time last year for school visits. By accompanying OSR on their school visits, we were able to reach more schools. 13 school visits took place from November 2020 to June 2021.
Even with the new online format, the feedback on programs was positive:
“Thanks for organizing the presentation for our Physics club. It was an excellent presentation and our students really enjoyed it and actively participated in discussions. Thank you Nazim for presenting the complex superconductivity in a simplified way and providing the grade 11 and 12 physics curriculum related examples in your presentation. This indeed helped the students make connections to the topic. I must say these kinds of outreach opportunities to school students indeed motivate them and enhance their interest in STEM programs. I am hoping to have similar opportunities for our Garth Webb students next year and beyond.” - Logan Jenayathan (Teacher at Garth Webb Secondary School)
Are you a high school teacher and would like to book a visit at the Department of Physics?
Take look at the activities that are offered here: School Visit Program
Email Sheela at outreach@physics.utoronto.ca to book your visit today!
Science Unlimited Summer Camp
“This was great, and I am so glad I applied and was accepted!”, “Thank you so much! This was an amazing opportunity!”. These are a few of the comments from students who participated in the Science Unlimited Summer Camp 2021.
Science Unlimited Summer Camp took place August 9-13, 2021 and it was fully virtual this year due to COVID-19. 50 grade 10 and 11 students were shipped a box of supplies so that they could run experiments from their homes.
Students had activities from the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
The activities consisted of workshops on gravitational waves, rock cycles, water filtration, chirality, clouds, spectroscopy and talks on TikTok algorithms and more. Students said they really enjoyed doing the experiments because it had been a long time since they did real experiments. One student said “I recently finished a physics unit about light and optics, so it was cool to learn about the mixture of chemistry and light wavelengths depending on the element”.
The activities were run over Zoom by faculty, postdocs, graduate students and undergraduate students.
The students also participated in a design challenge that involved creating a Rube Goldberg Machine that turned blue water clear and showing their design in a video. The students were asked to incorporate the concepts they learned at camp and the winning videos and photos from camp are posted here.
Finally, there were four camp leaders who created the design challenge, ice-breaker activities, moderated the sessions and did an excellent job at engaging students in the online environment. Students said that the leaders were friendly and made camp fun.
Here is what some of the leaders had to say about why they return as leaders and what their favorite thing about camp is:
“I returned to be a leader at SUSC because it excites and motivates me to see the talented next generation of scientists discover what they enjoy. The diversity of topics explored at the camp provides a unique opportunity for students to learn outside their comfort zones, and I love seeing how readily they take to each subject. My favourite part of SUSC is the Design Challenge. The students never fail to blow me away with how they take our prompt, apply what they learned over the week, and develop such creative projects. Even with the limitations of a virtual setting for camp this year, they still knocked it out of the park with their video productions.” – Felipe Morgado
“Despite being based in Hong Kong, returning as a leader to camp this year was an easy decision. My colleagues are always a joy to work with, the passion that the students brings is inspiring, and the care that facilitators put into their workshops is always so evident that I end up learning from the sessions too!” - Sasha Manu
Overall, the first virtual camp went well and hopefully next year camp will be in person.
Photos from Summer Camp 2021
August 9-13, 2021
Girls sySTEM
The Department of Physics has worked with Girls sySTEM since 2019. In partnership with the Department of Earth Sciences and Mathematics, the Department of Physics organizes workshops for the grades 7-12 students in this mentorship program for girls interested in STEM.
The first virtual workshop for Girls sySTEM this year was on October 18, 2021. The workshop was facilitated by Professor Daniel Gregory from the Department of Earth Sciences and the girls learned about the rock cycles by using Starburst candy. On November 11, the students took part in a Virtual Museum Tour facilitated by PhD candidate Katie Maloney from the Department of Earth Sciences.
Fall Campus Week
The University of Toronto's Fall Campus Week was held from October 23-30, 2021. This annual open house is an opportunity for parents and high school students to learn what it’s like to make lifelong friends while making life-changing discoveries at the University of Toronto. The Department of Physics participants every year and this was the second year in row where the event was virtual.
The Department of Physics was represented by Professor Sidhartha Goyal who is a professor of Biophysics. Professor Goyal explained the field of biophysics to the audience and told them what it is like to study physics at the University of Toronto.