Pursue STEM
If you happen to be in the Physics Department on some Saturday afternoons this spring, you may notice many excited students participating in the Pursue STEM science and math enrichment program for Black high school students that is now in its third year. The program was initiated and led by the Physics Department in partnership with the Lifelong Leadership Institute (LLI) as part of its Leadership By Design (LBD) program, and provides science activities by leading faculty and students from the Departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Cell & Systems Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics, and the School of the Environment. The program is supported by the participating departments, the Office of the Provost, the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. The program has also benefited from help and advice from the Canadian Black Scientists Network.
This year we are very excited to be offering most of the activities in-person for the first time. The kit-based at-home sessions that ran over Zoom in previous years were very successful, but hands-on interactive science and math are always better with in-person engagement, and having access to university labs and facilities greatly increases what we can offer students. Because students come from all over the Greater Toronto Area, we also provide space and LBD provides refreshments and discussion for waiting parents.
So far this year, students have investigated the mathematics of museums, used Arduino microprocessors, studied worm regeneration, panned for precious minerals, and much more. We are looking forward to the rest of the program and are already planning for next year.
Thank you to the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Cell and Systems Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Math, Earth Sciences, Physics, Statistics, and the School of the Environment for another successful year.
Pursue STEM provides high-achieving Black high school students with the opportunity to participate in STEM workshops. The program is a joint effort between U of T Physics, U of T Office of Student Recruitment, and Leadership by Design.
More on Pursue STEM: https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/physics-at-uoft/outreach/pursue-stem/
U of T Physics School Visit Program
On November 9, 2022, grade 4 and 5 students from Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study participated in a school visit to the Department. Professor Ania Harlick demonstrated cool physics experiments in the lab.
On November 10, 2022, grade 12 students from Greenwood College School came to the Department for a workshop on light-matter interactions by Joscelyn van der Veen (a graduate student in the Department of Physics). This was followed by a campus tour.
On November 23, 2022, grade 11 and 12 students from the Ontario Science Centre School attended a workshop on "Laser Diffraction" by Prof. Brian Wilson. Students also participated in a self-guided tour of the campus in the morning.
On February 22, 2023, grade 4 and 5 students from the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study participated in a school visit. Prof. Daniel Gregory from the Department of Earth Sciences ran a workshop on “Starburst Rock Cycle”.
Canadian Association of Physicists High School Exam Workshop
Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12 students attended a virtual workshop for the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) High School Exam on Saturday, March 18, 2023. Twenty students attended from the Toronto area, and other regions of Canada.
This workshop introduces high school students to the CAP exam, gives them the opportunity to work through previous exam questions, and provides tips on test-taking.
The workshop was facilitated by Professors Ania Harlick and Ziqing Hong, with the assistance of U of T Physics undergraduate and graduate students. The high school students commented on how they found interacting with U of T students very useful.
Professors Harlick and Hong wowed students with physics demos, including the popular liquid nitrogen train to demonstrate superconductivity. Professor Hong also treated the students to a tour of his Dark Matter Lab in the McLennan Lab basement.