4:00pm EST., Friday February 20th

Live at the DeVos Center, Grand Rapids Pew Campus. 

Sundials and Seasons  

This hands-on, drop-in workshop invites explorers of all ages to understand how sundials work and how Earth’s tilt and rotation combine to create seasons. Participants will:  

1. Use a flashlight and a “gnomon” to understand how sundials work and why the length of shadows varies throughout the day.  
2. Investigate actual “shadow plots” for sample dates in Michigan to understand differences in the Sun’s apparent motion across the sky during summer and winter.  
3. Use a globe and a light bulb to further explore how shadow plots relate to seasons and understand how to make a sundial that will be accurate year-round.   

Dr. Karen Gipson and Dr. Keith Oliver are both professors in the Physics Department at Grand Valley State University, and both are passionate about science outreach.  Dr. Gipson’s research specialty is physical acoustics; she has done numerous acoustics projects with GVSU students, ranging from room and musical acoustics to fluid and bubble dynamics.  Dr. Oliver’s specialty is physics education research (PER), and he often works with physics students on PER projects studying student misconceptions. Dr. Oliver also coordinates GVSU’s Integrated Science program, working with pre-service teachers for grades K -12. Both Dr. Gipson and Dr. Oliver have often visited numerous schools in the greater Grand Rapids area to share their expertise and love of physics with the next generation.    

4:00pm EST., Friday February 20th

Live at the DeVos Center, GVSU Pew Campus