CASPER's Physics Circus At Texas State Technical College May 10-16

by LoAna Lopez

The Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER), a joint venture between Baylor University and Texas State Technical College, will continue its effort to attract students to science through entertaining, educational demonstrations with the Physics Circus for area middle school students and their teachers May 10-16 on the TSTC campus.
CASPER's Physics Circus, one of many GEAR UP Waco Grant initiatives, will feature vivid production events demonstrating waves, optics, sound, color and electricity; a multimedia laser light show; a science fun house filled with hands-on activities for students to enjoy; and an egg-drop competition where students create containers to protect an egg during a fall.
Through CASPER, Baylor and TSTC conduct space and dusty plasmas research while sharing knowledge, facilities and expertise. CASPER officials dedicated the center's new Hypervelocity Impacts and Dusty Plasmas Lab on April 27.
GEAR UP Waco Grant participants include Baylor, TSTC, McLennan Community College, the Waco Independent School District, Communities in Schools/McLennan County Youth Collaboration Inc., the City of Waco and Waco Foundation. The $6 million program, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, focuses on enabling more young Central Texans to stay in school, study hard and take the courses that can open the doors to college. GEAR UP Grant programs strive to assist communities in creating plans that strengthen their schools and provide enrichment opportunities to help all students gain a pathway to a college education.
For more information about the CASPER Physics Circus at TSTC, contact Beverly Clark at (254) 867-3128. For more information about CASPER research projects, contact Dr. Truell Hyde, CASPER director and associate professor of physics and director of graduate studies at Baylor, at 710-6717 or visit www.baylor.edu/~CASPER .