PASADENA, Calif.--Holding a vibrating tuning fork close to the lip
of a PVC pipe, high school junior Kelsey Peterson bends close, suddenly
saying, "I hear it!" She is trying to find the speed of
sound indirectly, using her own measurements and a chain of logic
she must forge for herself. She has learned that, as in a pipe organ,
the cavity of her PVC pipe is an acoustic resonator, and the change
in volume she hears tells her that it has reached the right length
to resonate at the tuning fork's frequency.
But how can she vary the size of the cavity? This challenge is one
of many she confronts in the inquiry-based physics lab of Gabrielino
High School physics teacher Kevin McClure. (The solution: leave one
end of the pipe in water, partially filling the cavity.) "When
we get to the labs, I want it to be an authentic investigative experience," he
says. "My ability to run inquiry-based labs has come directly
as a result of my partnership with Dr. Sunil Golwala." Golwala
is an assistant professor of physics at the California Institute
of Technology, who volunteers with others in his lab to help in McClure's
classroom about twice a month.
This partnership between a high school physics teacher and Caltech
researchers is part of the Caltech Classroom Connection (CCC), which
aims to create sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships between
Caltech volunteers and local educators. Started in 2002, the program
is currently expanding with the help of a four-year grant from the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The CCC complements Caltech's other
outreach programs by bringing Caltech people and resources into classrooms
in Pasadena and beyond.
"The best partnerships go both ways--a really motivated teacher
with enthusiastic volunteers," says CCC codirector James Maloney. "We're
getting more and more volunteers returning."
Golwala says, "I think it's a good match. I like teaching and
going into high schools. We kind of live in an ivory tower. It's
nice to get out and see what it's really like. The thing I like about
the CCC is that it really is so adaptable. You can arrange with the
teacher how you want to work. We just figure we have better demos
than the typical high school teacher.
"It's good for you personally and it's good to have on your
grant," Golwala says. "At least in physics, funding agencies
like the National Science Foundation are happy to hear about outreach.
There are always a couple of students who are clearly going to end
up in science, and it's nice to encourage them."
On this day Golwala extends the lesson in sound waves, explaining
that physicists use similar properties to understand quantum mechanical
waves in atoms. Student Andy Tholt throws Golwala the kind of layman's
question he wouldn't often hear from his own students: "Why
would you want to know the position of an electron?"
"I watch the volunteers interact and there's no condescension," McClure
says. "They really try to draw out knowledge and help students
see the connections. I've seen them grow in how they work with the
kids."
At McKinley Elementary School, graduate student John Meier fields
even more basic questions, from the third-grade class of teacher
Stacy Williams. "It's amazing how responsive they are," Meier
says. "At third grade they'll tell you everything they know
about a subject, and they're going to ask you every question they
have about it."
Williams says, "The students look forward to the scientists
coming in. They love having a relationship with another positive
adult. The second graders are saying, 'We can't wait until third
grade, when we do science experiments.'"
Third-grade teacher Jen Gahlmann agrees. "The kids love it.
They sense that somebody else is coming in and caring about them." McKinley
Elementary is just a few blocks from Caltech, but through their visits
the volunteers bridge a much larger gulf. "The kids see that
scientists aren't these scary people in lab coats," she says. "It
gets them thinking that science is neat and interesting and cool.
I think it's good to get them early."
"The kids absolutely adore the volunteers," Gahlmann says. "As
a scientist, when are you ever going to get treated like a rock star?"
John Avery
Caltech Public Releations
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