Physics on Stage 1 was held at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, 6 - 10 November 2000.

Physics on Stage 1 European site: http://physicsonstage.web.cern.ch/physicsonstage/

Irish Delegation

Plumbers Sinfonia

National Steering Committee

Physics on Stage 1 Report

In November 2000 seven delegates from Ireland travelled to CERN near Geneva to join 400 educators in a physics teaching fair. This was the culmination of a year long initiative involving 22 European countries called 'Physics on Stage'. It was organised by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Other partners were the European Physical Society (EPS) and the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE). Each country had a national steering committee to co-ordinate activities within the country. Prof Denis Weaire, Dr Ian Elliott and Dr Eamonn Cunningham were the main co-ordinators of the Irish programme.

The primary goal of Physics on Stage was to counteract the current decline in interest and knowledge about physics among Europe's citizens. The objective was to infuse excitement and to provide new and innovative educational materials and methods for teaching physics by bringing together leading scientists, educators, science institutions, government bodies and the media.

The programme at the fair covered four types of activities: on-stage performances, an exhibition fair, workshops, and plenary sessions. The opening session by Dr John Lewis 'The past and future of Physics education' was inspirational. It was a fitting start to what turned out to be a very exciting Physics conference.

On Stage

Accompanying the Irish delegation was a band, called the Plumbers Sinfonia, which had been specially formed for the event. It was made up of seven students of physics under the direction of Gordon Douglas, a music teacher who runs workshops with students of all ages making musical instruments out of plastic plumbing pipes. The band presented the on-stage performance for Ireland using an assortment of Gordon's percussion and wind instruments as well as conventional instruments. The performance was called 'Movers and Shakers' and was scripted by Denis Weaire. The commentary was punctuated by acoustical demonstrations presented by Dr Cathal Flynn of NUI Galway to show the intimate connection between physics and music. Overhead was a striking video presentation created by Dermot Flynn of Carton Le Vert. The arrangement of historical images relating to the physics of sound perfectly complemented the music and demonstrations. The performance was extremely well received by the European delegates at the conference: resounding applause was maintained until the band performed an encore!

Inspiration for the various presentations came from a wide range of sources: e.g. scientific history and controversy, circus acts and sports (The Physics of Ping-Pong!). One of the highlights was 'The Oracle of Delphi' performed by a professional Swiss theatre company. They presented Paul Dirac's discovery of anti-matter through the medium of mime, acrobatics and wonderful visual displays using a vast experimental hall for a stage (much in the style of the work of 'Cirque de Plume'). It was an excellent example of how to engage the interest of the public and to encourage them to think about the philosophy of science.

Exhibition Fair

For the fair each country had an exhibition stand related to the size of its population. The Irish stand followed the theme of physics and music with demonstrations of Chladni Plates and the Rijke Tube by Cathal Flynn. Paddy Healy of DIT brought an Irish Harp and a computer to show by fourier analysis the characteristics of the soundbox of the Harp. Two students from Sandford Park School who had competed in the Institute of Physics 'Paperclip Physics' competition in February 2000 also attended the conference with their teacher Dr Angela Kelly and brought their 'Paperclip' exhibits: these included a long piece of elastic across which a great number of cocktail sticks had been carefully attached. A transverse wave could be neatly demonstrated by holding the elastic taut and flicking it at one end.

With exhibitions from twenty-two countries it was a challenge to take in even a small percentage of the information on each stand. The Eastern European countries, perhaps due to lesser funds, often had the simplest yet most innovative ideas of all; e.g. children as young as 12 from the Czech Republic had made a variety of 'Time Machines' using items such as matches, sparklers and shadows. Another group of students had made a large wall chart of a time-line placing famous physicists beside other famous scientists, artists, writers, rulers, discoverers etc.

Workshops

There was a choice of thirteen workshops for delegates to attend. These included topics such as 'Mapping the Crisis', 'Physics in Secondary Education', 'Physics and Toys' and 'Physics and Public Understanding'. At these sessions everyone got a chance to discuss and debate the issues. Some differences between countries were evident but so too were great similarities in areas such as the decline in numbers taking physics, concerns over the state of public understanding of physics (and science in general) and the importance of the role of all participants - educators, researchers, science institutions, government and the media - to try to achieve the objectives. One clear outcome of Physics on Stage was the rapid exchange of ideas and enthusiasm between all the delegates. The hope is that some of those new ideas can be transmitted back to educators and concerned individuals in each of the member countries.

Videoclip

A video clip of the Physics on Stage Festival is available at http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/vid-01-01.html