October 7, 1996

Scientists reach high school students and public via the Internet

UCSC may sit in an isolated hillside forest, but scientists have reached out beyond their campus to schools across the country. Using the Internet, faculty from several scientific fields have shared their expertise with schoolteachers and their classes nationwide, as well as with the local community.

UCSC has a long history of working with local schools to improve science education. Now, with the World Wide Web becoming so prevalent, faculty are able to help students outside the local area. "I think the Internet is a good way for students to get access to experts," says professor of physics Stanley Flatté.

One such Internet interaction involved members of the Physics Department. Last spring, a physics class from a small high school in the cornfields of north-central Illinois contacted the department for help with an assignment from physics teacher Gerald Castelli. The students were to explore why Isaac Newton's 300-year-old classical theories of physics are emphasized in physics classes over Albert Einstein's more modern relativity theories.

Castelli's students browsed the Web in search of answers and came across the UCSC Physics Department's Web page. "At random we took a shot and sent some e-mail," says Castelli. "The next day we had eight or nine responses. I was impressed by the speed and number of responses we got." Flatté and physicists Joel Primack, Michael Dine, David Belanger, Bruce Schumm, Peter Scott, and Robert Johnson all sent answers to the students. The scientists replied independently, but they came up with similar answers.

Associate professor of earth sciences Robert Anderson used electronic connections to work with teacher Nancy White and her class at C. D. Hylton Senior High School in Woodbridge, Virginia. The project concerned the motions of windblown sand, a topic in which Anderson specializes.

"We had considerable e-mail banter, first just between the two of us, followed by specific--and rather demanding I might add--questions from the students," says Anderson. "They got all jazzed up and ended up winning an award for their work." Indeed, the students won first place in SuperQuest 1994, a national math and science competition in which high school students use supercomputers to tackle complex problems.

The Astronomy and Astrophysics Department encourages people to write via e-mail with questions. The department's Web page includes a section called "Ask an Astronomer." Included in this page are answers to frequently asked questions about astronomy, as well as a way for people to submit their own inquiries. Postings come from local students and their parents, as well as from Silicon Valley engineers and amateur astronomers across the country.

"I have been surprised at how sophisticated the questions are," says Debra Fischer, one of three graduate students who take turns answering questions. "Sometimes students will write back telling us they got an 'A' on their paper and thanking us for our help."

--Amy Adams