I. Science Day (March 29)

           a. Need a few "major organizers who will be in charge of a major task- if interested contact Kacey Meaker.

            b. Activities: Sheldon`s Demo, Toteva`s Demo, evolution, building task, scavenger hunt, trivia contest, work on the hamster wheel?

            c.   In charge of volunteers - Emily, need people in charge of distribution of information and after party.

 

II. Physics Movie Nights (Sunday Nights at 6:30)

           a.    January 27: Absolute Zero

           b.    February 10: Ice Princess

           c.    March 16: another nova show

           d.    April 13: undecided (suggestions?)

 

III. Ice Skating (Feb 1, 2-3 pm)

            a. Email Professor Sheldon to sign up

            b. $5 - admission, $3-skate rental.

 

IV. Smitshonian Field Trip (March 22)

            a. At one point there would be an e-mail, so reply to sign up.

 

V. Hamster Wheel.

              a. Still working on the generator, so hepofully it should be finished this week

              b. Roll out of the hamster wheel?

 

VI. Talks

              a. Senior Talks, last Wednesday at 5:30, Martin 323, Emily and Kacey Maker

              b. Carl-about engineering?

 

VII. Creative Science Challenge

              a. Day? Theme?

 

VIII. T-shirt Designs

               a. 2 designs

               b. Kacey would email out the designs and people should email her to get one.

               c. 12.95 each?

 

IX. Wii tournament

                a. How?

                b. Suggestion: Block of time each 3-4 days in a row (might help with participation?)

 

X. Button-Making - Winncy and Kacey.

                a. Going to make physics related buttons to sell - 1$ each.

                b. Suggestions on what to put on a button, or if you want to help make or sell, email Kacey or Winncy.

 

XI. Photo Contest

                a. Prizes?

                b Due Date?

 

XII. Science Festival? (Science Day for older kids)

               a.Demos, play, science poetry?

               b. Running commentaries: Jurrasic Park - Shedd, Core- Toteva.

 

XIII. SPS Officer election (later in the semester)

               a. Volunteer your name if interested. Need to be willing to get involved on SPS activities.

 

XIIII. End of the year party?

                a. RC car building and racing?

Sunday, September 2, 2007

I.                    Intro

a.       Officers:

                                                               i.      President: Kacey

                                                             ii.      Vice-President: Winncy

                                                            iii.      Secretary: Iva

                                                           iv.      Treasurer: Emily

                                                             v.      Historian: none yet, Felicity volunteered

II.                 Activities

a.       Amusement Park Trip 10/20 8am to 8 pm: about $15

b.      Talks

                                                               i.      Amusement Park Physics Talk

                                                             ii.      Why Cats Land on Their Feet, 9/29 11:30 Student Center

                                                            iii.      Senior Talks, last Thursday at 5:30, Martin 323

                                                           iv.      Dr. Michalik: Time Travel part 3

                                                             v.      Other speakers???: Dr. Ishibashi’s husband on engineering

c.       Physics table/physics teas/weekly meetings: decided on a monthly informal social gathering like a physics table at lunch

d.      Science Day, March 29, 2008

                                                               i.      Need to organize registration better

                                                             ii.      Don’t make the day any longer

                                                            iii.      Need another activity and possibly more groups

e.       Creative Science Challenge

                                                               i.      New name without the word science in it

                                                             ii.      sometime in the fall

f.        Photo Contest: probably sometime in February

g.       Meeting attendance: should we move to a more central location to increase attendance

h.       Hamster Wheel

                                                               i.      Need to get plans from Tiffany

                                                             ii.      Dedicate a weekend or a Sunday to just build it in the lab

                                                            iii.      Advertise to entire community to come help if they want to

i.         T-Shirt design: due really soon so we can get shirts soon

j.        Other Ideas: all pretty okay, possibly as social activities

                                                               i.      Ice skating trip w/ Mary Baldwin???

                                                             ii.      Bowling???

                                                            iii.      Hiking trip- Toteva with environmental club

                                                           iv.      Others???

                                                             v.      Pool tournament- use as fundraisers, one in fall and one in spring

                                                           vi.      Wii tournament

III.               Jobs

a.       Involvement Fair: info to follow in a separate email

b.      Historian: election after Involvement Fair, Felicity volunteered

c.       Website: Winncy is in charge

d.      Movie Nights: Laura offered to coordinate

 

Sunday, March 25, 2007

We have a schedule planned out for the most part (or as planned out as it can be without a final number of students)

·        We have individuals in charge of each section

Demo – Psheldon

Education – Pschmoeller

Boat Building – Tiffany & Steph

Earthquake – Dr. Toteva

Quiz Show – Katrina and Winncy

Scavenger Hunt – Kate

Snacks – Shannon

Registration – Reeju

Direction Signs – Winncy

Volunteer Coordinator - Tiffany

TShirts – Psheldon

Clean-Up – EVERYONE

• We need to make name tags for the children indicating Name, Group, and Whether or not their photos can be published.
• We may take advantage of the opportunity of having so many of the parents in one area:  we could sell some physics pens!
• The college photographer has volunteered, so we will have pictures again this year!
• PRIZES!!!  Boat Building – 5 larger prizes (B&N giftcards?)

                                Earthquake – 25 smaller

                                Quiz Show – 15 smaller

• Each child gets a certificate of completion (Reeju has the old copy, so we could just alter it a bit and print them out).
• April 11 will be Dr. Michalik's talk.  We will make and distribute flyers.

Monday, March 19, 2007

• We have 175 kids registered for Science Day!!
• We need to start recruiting volunteers – this Wednesday we will sit outside the dining hall to get people to sign up (we only need 24 more volunteers)
• We also need to decide on how many t-shirts and what spread of sizes
• Dr. Toteva has made headway on her project for her presentation
• Kate has made some decisions on her scavenger hunt, but if anyone would like to give her some ideas or some other help, e-mail her at kdescouteaux@randolphcollege.edu
• We should hold a meeting this weekend to actually work on our projects:  This Sunday March 25, 2007 at 1:00 pm in MR 320
• Other Agenda: parking – we need to use signs to direct parents to PER and certificates should be printed soon
• We’ll order tables for that day (20 tables)
• We could get media services to video record the event (D.D. Mack? Or Chem Amanda?)
• In other media, we should send an e-mail to DOS to ask if they want to send a photographer
• How many kids are going to be in each group?  We may have more groups to keep the number of kids to a workable number.
• Tentative Schedule: we have five blocks of time for each activity, and we have six activities, so each group does five activities.  There will be SIX groups of students (25 students each?).
• People need to come to the meetings!  Science Day is coming upon us quickly!!
• Shannon is getting snacks and drinks for 150 kids (oh my!)

Monday, February 26, 2007

• Posters and flyers will be distributed by Dr. Schimoeller and then a few more will be distributed by us to Amazement Square and to a few other schools.
• We can also post them up at super markets, stores, etc.
• Application forms will be distributed this week as well (to Girl Scouts, Amazement Square, stores, etc.)
• We may try to get it as an announcement on the news either channel 7 or 13.
• We will start to separate into groups to discuss details of each part of science day.
• Dr. Toteva will need help from students to build her shake boxes for her presentation (and maybe to help a bit in the designing of them)
• The trivia contest is getting underway, and it may involve a buzzer system and multiple questions.  We could also sample from SOL questions.
• Katrina is taking charge of the trivia contest, Tiffany will be in charge of the boats, Kate will be in charge of the scavenger hunt, and Dr. Toteva and PSheldon will be in charge of their respective demonstrations.
• We’re going to designate someone to videotape each of the events.
• The T-shirts still need to be completed and ordered.
• Snacks:  someone needs to get the food!  We can go with either MC or Amanda to Sam’s Club to get stuff in bulk.:  Shannon is in charge of the food!
• Security needs to be contacted about parking.  (Reeju did you do that or does it need to be done?)
• Contact KP in PER about the Science Day (as a courtesy or if we need equipment from them).
• We need to get the signs from admissions on that day to put up directions to parking and PER.
• Davenport may get involved (either as volunteers or as heading portions).
• Pie Day Contest:  We will hold sign ups the Monday and Tuesday after Spring Break, and the pie-eating contest will be held on that Wednesday.  I need to ask Jeff Ledbetter or Mitch about getting pies.  The contest will be held in Bell Quad.  If we don’t get donated pies from the Dining Services we could use whipped cream and graham cracker pie shells.
• Our Smithsonian Trip is still March 17!  We will be gone from about 8am-10pm.  Let Dr. Sheldon know if you’re interested, and there will be ten spots open.  This trip is first come first serve.
• On April 7, Dr. Toteva and her physical geology class are going to the gem mines near Richmond, VA.  You could come back with up to 5 lbs of gems!  You need to let Dr. Toteva know by the end of this week if you are at all interested.

 

Monday, January 22, 2007

• Thanks to Dr. Sheldon for his informative talk on Summer Research Programs!
• Saturday March 17, 2007 we will make a trip out to the Smithsonian!!  There are 10-12 seats available to SPS members
• Meetings will be every other week.  There are 5 meetings before Science Day on March 31 (mark your calendar)
• Maybe there will be an ice skating trip sometime in April (to celebrate the end of Science Day!!)
• Movie Nights:  we will change movie nights to only one Sunday a month, and they will be held in Martin 315:  February 4 and 25, March 18, April 15.  Movies will be announced the week prior to the date.  (Hopefully we will find a way to do this legally..)
• The Involvement Fair is coming up!  This Wednesday from 5-7pm.  E-mail Reeju if you are available to sit at our station and recruit fellow physics (and science) lovers to SPS
• Science Day:  it is coming under way:  1.We will start finding out what schools will be participating in the event, 2.We are also seeking money from our usual sponsor (gee thanks to Areva), and 3.We will start designing and printing posters for schools and local businesses
• For Science Day we will be holding a T-Shirt Contest!!  If you are interesting in creating a new design for our Science Day t-shirts, please submit a drawing or electronic drawing to Reeju (rpokharel) or Tiffany (tlpaonessa).
• We are thinking about recruiting volunteers from SPS, Circle K, education department.
• If anyone has ideas for different stations or activities for Science Day (remember it needs to be an activity that keeps 3^rd-5^th graders entertained for a significant period of time)
• Specifics:  Science Day is March 31, 2007 from noon – 4pm

Sunday, December 3, 2006

Hamster Wheel Committee

 

• Today was a productive meeting!
• Stephanie suggested we build the entire project out of wood rather than incorporating metal into our design.  Not only will this be less expensive, it will make the project easier to build and simpler to obtain.
• The “wheel” will be octagonal in shape, as opposed to actually circular.  This will be easier to run on.
• The wheel will be of 244 cm diameter and 76 cm width.  
• The base may be made of plywood as opposed to 2x4 pieces of wood. 
• We were hoping to purchase some relatively dense but still inexpensive species of outdoor-treated wood.
• A schematic diagram will be made over the winter break.
• We hope to complete the project before Science Day with tentative building dates on weekends in February.
• More detailed plans will be made starting next semester!

 

Sunday, November 12, 2006

• Saturday is our trip to Amazement Square:  let Dr. Sheldon know if you want to go ASAP!  Time:  1:00 pm sharp we will meet in Main Lobby.  There are unlimited spots for this trip.
• To learn more about Amazement Square, check out their website.
• We should begin to advertise for our t-shirt contest, and it will be open to all students.
• Science Day has been planned!!  It will be March 31, 2007!!!  To do:

                                                   Contact schools

                                                    Make registration sheets

                                                    Research some potential sponsors for Science Day

                                                    T-shirts, food, other supplies (we need money for all this)

                                                    Make a formal list of things to do  (haha)

                                                    We need to figure out any issues with distribution of                   

                                                       Forms

                                                     Think of another interesting demo show

                                                     Possibly contact a teacher other than PSheldon for it

• Everything needs to be planned by the beginning of Spring Break, to give us enough time to accommodate for the amount of  children
• Science Day Competition:  catapults, paper airplanes (glide ratio) -> individual or group activity?, boats, towers (height & weight)
• Who will be included?  Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Education and others?

Monday, October 30, 2006

our trip is to Amazement Square: Saturday November 18, 2006.

Dr. Michalik this Wednesday in MR 323 at 7:00pm: come here him talk about Time Paradoxes

Sunnie's talk is TBA

Next meeting we will discuss Science Day and begin to plan it.

Next weekend is movie night: Sunday at 7:00 in MR 320 as usual. Movie TBA

 

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Hamster Wheel Meeting:
Discuss
-materials: aluminum or steel [hollow] square rods for round circles
                        Densities: Aluminum= 2.7 g/cm^3
                                                Steel= 7.8 g/cm^3
            Chicken wire for “cage”
         Wood for “steps” (probably 2x)
-dimensions: 8-foot diameter
            2.5ft width
            Base: TBD
            Spokes: TBD (see how many sections are needed for each round, maybe every 60-72^o
-what to purchase
            Actual hamster wheel from a pet shop
-Design:
Where would we build this?
 Transportation?

 

Sunday, October 8, 2006

Creative Science Challenge will be going down October 21, 2006. This is the week after fall break. It will last from 1 pm until 5 pm. It will take place in the Student Center. Groups of students will be instructed to create something clever out of a wacky array of objects. Sign ups will be this week. Students will sign up either in their groups or as individuals.

There will be a judging session at the end. Dr. Sheldon & Co. will be the judges. There will be prizes and certificates awarded.

We will ask Dr. Michalik if a Wednesday is alright to speak. November 1, hopefully, at 7:00pm? We could make this in conjunction with Sigma Xi (a scientific research society). It's in MR 323.

We should begin advertising for him around the last week in October.

PSheldon's thoughts: have a hamster wheel design competition to all schools around (high schools, middle schools, etc.) and they bring their ideas to science day, and we judge on the best one...or we could have some deadline before January or so, in order to be able to build it by science day

we still want to design our own

we will have a contest for schools that come to science day.

we should send out a flier sometime soon, including anyone on campus

hey, maybe we should have 2 competitions, one for local colleges, and one for younger age children

make it due right after winter break, send out fliers soon

let's start designing NOW!:

we will have a solid bottom, possible made out of 2x6's (similar to a deck).  the wheel could be constructed similarly, or it should be made of sheet metal (we have to consider cost).  the spokes should be made of some relatively light but strong metal (aluminum?).  We should have a rubber belt attached to the generator and one spoke of the wheel.  We should plan two wheels, one wooden and one metal.  We need to consider the frequency of rotation.  More to come!