Pupils immersed in physics for a day
PHYSICS pupils from St Peter’s College in Gore may be painfully aware that if they could travel at the speed of light, they could have travelled from school to Dunedin in a fraction of a second yesterday.
But noone seemed to mind the twohour bus trip because they were among 24 year 12 pupils from across Otago and Southland invited to attended a rare day session in the University of Otago Department of Physics as part of the Otago University Advanced School Sciences Academy for rural schools.
Science teaching coordinator Emily Hall and Professional Practice Fellow Esther Haines guided the pupils through several lightrelated experiments, which included the use of lasers and mirrors in the department, before going to Otago Museum to do physicsrelated activities in Tuhura.
The academy is designed to introduce potentially high achieving pupils to cuttingedge research being done at the university, in the hope of encouraging them to consider a career in physics.
St Peter’s College pupil Wyatt Simon said he was particularly interested in hearing about the university’s work in quantum mechanics.
‘‘I’m only year 12, so it was a little bit difficult, but it was very interesting to see how things work with light and wave.
‘‘It was pretty cool. This has really opened my eyes and I think I might go into studying physics at university.’’
Each year, the top year 13 secondary school pupils across the region are invited to attend fiveday residential science camps and receive online support through the university’s Virtual Academy.
It aims to increase their knowledge of the sciences, give them practical skills, teach them how to communicate science and be familiar with the range of career options open to scientists.
The academy has a strong focus on analytical thinking and problem solving, the important role of communication and the way science in the 21st century considers social and ethical concerns.