Forum on Education of The American Physical Society
Summer 2006 Newsletter
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The General Atomics Fusion Education Outreach Program Rick Lee Plasma, as the fourth state of matter, is making its way into more and more textbooks and it is an effective subject area to combine the concepts underlying matter, atomic structure, ionization, forces, and many other topics covered in middle and high school physical science, chemistry, and physics courses. The Fusion Education Program at General Atomics ( General Atomics has worked closely with academic and industry collaborators to develop and provide exciting opportunities for teachers and students to experience. As an industry member of the San Diego Science Alliance, an education-based academic and industry partnership, we have interacted with the San Diego County Office of Education and individual teachers to develop relevant workshops and curricular material. We also interact with members from other labs and universities such as PPPL, MIT, U. of Pittsburgh (Contemporary Physics Education Project - Fusion), and the U. of Wisconsin and share literature, demonstration ideas, and workshop strategies. The Division of Plasma Physics, DOE/OFES, and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education are examples of facilitating organizations that provide monetary support, promote educational outreach opportunities, or otherwise help smooth the logistics required for either local or national events. The DPP and OFES sponsored Teachers Day and Student Plasma Expo events during the annual fall DPP meeting are great examples of how more than twenty-five individual groups can get together and promote grade 6-12 science education.
Hundreds of teachers and thousands of students have participated in one of the General Atomics Fusion Education Program's many facets, with a significant number of teachers returning each year to learn something new. The fusion education program is dedicated to assisting educators in the teaching of gaseous plasma science and fusion science in their classrooms. In addition, we provide opportunities for students to learn about plasma and its applications with a focus on fusion processes and how these age-old natural processes are being used today and where they might lead us in the future. Locally, the Fusion Education Team offers 3-hour tours of the GA DIII-D Tokamak facility for student groups. Students are presented an overview of magnetic confinement of plasmas in fusion research and global energy issues, and rotate through interactive stations covering radioactivity, plasma, states of matter, the DIII-D machine hall, and the electromagnetic spectrum. More than 300 students tour the facility each year. Unfortunately, not all students who would like to visit DIII-D are able to do so due to conflicts with the facility's operating schedule. To compensate for this, we send personnel out to the classroom to present topics in plasma and fusion science, the electromagnetic spectrum, and states of matter. Students find the interactions with an infrared camera, plasma balls, and other hands-on equipment to be stimulating and fun. The Scientist in the Classroom program started in 1997 when scientists visited a handful of schools and several hundred students. It has since grown to include more than 35 schools and more than 5500 students annually. About 20 different scientists, engineers, and technicians from GA and collaborating institutions participate in this exciting outreach program. The Fusion Education Team has developed many classroom materials to supplement the teachers' already packed curriculum. The popular "Fusion: Nature's Fundamental Energy Source" VHS tape is a 22 minute introduction to magnetic confinement fusion for grades 7-12. The video is available in English, Spanish, and French and provides a group learning experience. It is also available in DVD format. Another popular learning tool is the highly interactive STARPOWER CD that allows the user to earn points through individual modules so they can enter the control room of the STAR 2020 Tokamak Facility and provide power to Fusion City. The CD format allows for self-paced learning. STARPOWER earned a rating of "Excellent" from Physics Education in March, 2001. Our publications group has produced colorful and engaging literature and other curricular materials. A teacher's notebook, available online as well as in paper and CD formats, gives users an opportunity to perform laboratory exercises in topics already mentioned. Educational material distribution of over 6,400 notebooks, and more than 20,000 posters on fusion, the electromagnetic spectrum, and radiation has occurred on local and worldwide levels. We have distributed more than 5,000 fusion videos with about 350 of these each in French or Spanish. Internationally, materials have been sent to India, Nigeria, Brazil, Finland, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.
The DIII-D scientific collaboration is made up of over 20 institutions from the US and around the world. This collaboration provides a deep resource of individuals for the education team and it is not unusual to have persons from multiple institutions participating in any given program task. The shared vision of promoting plasma science education across the country relies on the continual interaction of many scientific collaborators and other laboratories, universities, government, and industry partners as stated previously. In addition, many other institutions play a vital role in providing excellent presentations and materials for students, teachers, and the public. The sustained commitment of the fusion education team to provide informative and unique learning experiences to students and teachers alike for more than a decade has resulted in many outside groups incorporating some program facet directly into their curriculum. For example, teachers from the M. J. Murdock Foundation in the Pacific Northwest, middle school girls in the local Better Educated Women in Science and Engineering (BeWISE) group, and many college and high school groups make the interactive DIII-D Facility tour a 'must-see' destination each year. The Science and Technology Education Partnership (STEP) in Riverside, CA has invited us to present annual science stage shows to more than 2000 students for each of the last 5 years. In a similar fashion, the Kauai in STEP organization has done the same for 2 years. General Atomics regularly participates in local and national science teacher workshops and student science expositions. Fusion education team members have presented more than 60 educator workshops to over 1000 teachers and have participated in more than 20 expos having an estimated total of 40,000 students in attendance. The success of these types of programs relies on dedication from team members and management alike. The management and staff of the institutions noted above have over and over again shown they can provide a sustained and enthusiastic level of commitment to educational activities. Many of us support programs like these because they are something either dear to us or important to the national interest, or both. We may also participate because it's fun and we may have had similar experiences (or wished we had) as students that allowed us to view science in a more positive manner. In any case, educational outreach programs can provide unique learning experiences for students and teachers and offer each an opportunity to broaden their view of the universe. Let us know if you're interested in promoting science by starting up a program of your own. We'd be thrilled to help. Rick Lee is a DIII-D Tokamak Operations scientist and Fusion Education Manager in the Energy/Fusion Group of General Atomics. He is also the APS/DPP Education and Outreach Chair. He can be reached at: Rick.lee@gat.com |
