UCA students in the Society of Physics Students participate in local “Science Nights” at local elementary schools.
CONWAY—The University of Central Arkansas Society of Physics Students chapter has been selected as a 2014 Blake Lilly Award winner.
The award was based on the chapter’s science outreach activities on campus and within the local community. Some of the SPS chapter’s activities include collaborating with other science clubs in the KidsZone during football games and participating Bear Facts Days to introduce potential students to the department. SPS students volunteered at EcoFest which is sponsored by the City of Conway.
The SPS chapter presently has a membership of 36. All student classifications can join the chapter.
As part of the award, the SPS chapter receives as set of Feynman Lectures. The chapter was also recognized on the national website with this description:
Known throughout the region for their popular science demo shows, the University of Central Arkansas invites elementary schools to take a field trip to the campus to view science in action through one hour showcases followed by a planetarium show. The University of Central Arkansas also showed Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey live in their planetarium, in addition to holding a variety of smaller scale outreach activities including booths at a variety of student fairs to promote the organization, recruit new members, and share the wonders of physics.
The Blake Lilly Award was established in 1996 to honor Blake Lilly, a student who died while in graduate school at Georgia Tech. The award recognizes SPS chapters and individuals who make a genuine effort to positively influence the attitudes of school children and the general public about physics.
SPS chapters at Rhodes College in Memphis and the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio were also awarded the Blake Lilly Award.
For more information on the Blake Lilly Award, please visit http://www.spsnational.org/programs/awards/lilly.htm.
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