The full day of science fun is free for K-12 students, teachers, parents, and the entire community. The event is in conjunction with the year-long series of activities celebrating the World Year of Physics 2005 at Grand Valley.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., nearly every lab and classroom in Padnos and Henry Halls on the Allendale Campus will be filled with hands-on activities. Visitors will experience how physics connects with all areas of science including biology, chemistry, geology, health sciences, mathematics, statistics, engineering and more.
Presentations on astronomy and "whiz-bang" science will be provided by specially invited guest Congressman Vern Ehlers and physicists from the Inside Einstein's Universe Forum. Area members of the American Chemical Society will also be here celebrating National Chemistry Week.
School groups are requested to provide one adult chaperone for every five students. The open house is sponsored by the Regional Math & Science Center, Physics Department, and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at GVSU in conjunction with Laker Homecoming. Special funding is provided by CLAS, the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, and the NASA-Smithsonian Universe Forum.
Past Super Science Saturday events in 1996 and 2001 were extremely popular, drawing between 2,500 to 5,000 participants. For more information about this event, and a complete schedule, contact the Regional Math & Science Center at (616) 331-2267 or go to www.gvsu.edu/rmsc.
Guest presenters include:
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U.S. Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers of Grand Rapids is the first
research physicist to serve in Congress. He was first elected to the
103rd Congress in a special election on December 7, 1993, and was
sworn in on January 4, 2005, to serve his sixth full term. Ehlers
received his undergraduate degree in physics after three years of
studying at Calvin College and his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the
University of California at Berkeley in 1960. After six years
teaching and research at Berkeley, he moved to Calvin College in
1966 where he taught physics for 16 years and later served as
chairman of the Physics Department. As a member of the 109th
Congress, Ehlers serves on five committees. He returns to the
Science Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee
on Environment, Technology and Standards. During his tenure on the
Science Committee, he also has rewritten the nation's science policy
and introduced the National Science Education Acts aimed at
reforming the nation's K-12 science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology education. He also serves on the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, the Education and Workforce Committee, the
House Administration Committee, and Joint Committee on the Library.
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Dr. Deborah B. Haarsma is an Assistant Professor of Physics
and Astronomy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. She earned a Ph.D.
in astrophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1997. She uses radio, infrared, and optical telescopes from around
the world to study extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, and her
work on gravitational lenses and galaxy evolution has been published
in the Astrophysical Journal. She is a member of the American
Astronomical Society, the American Scientific Affiliation, and the
American Association of Physics Teachers.
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Dr. Joel Bregman is coming from the University of Michigan
Astronomy Department to present "Black Holes and the Theory of
Relativity," suggested for students in grades six through 12th.
- Jerry Pahl, of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, will present "Why Airplanes Fly," a 45-minute program geared for third through eighth grades.
