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Johns Hopkins University
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Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920


Media Advisory
Physics Fair at The Johns Hopkins University

April 17, 2008
TO: Education and science reporters, calendar and weekend assignment editors
FROM: Lisa De Nike | 443-287-9960 | LDE@jhu.edu
RE: Physics Fair at The Johns Hopkins University, noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 26

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University is hosting its 5th Annual Physics Fair from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, coinciding with the annual Spring Fair celebration on the Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Events will take place in the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy, located on the north end of the campus near Homewood Field.

Free and open to the public, the fair will feature individual and team competitions for local students, as well as a physics-themed scavenger hunt and demonstrations by Johns Hopkins physicists, graduate students and undergraduates. The idea is to bring physics to the community in a fun, accessible way. Highlights of the event particularly suited to photographers and camera crews include:

Elementary-Middle-High School Science Challenge, 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. Teams of up to four students will compete to answer a variety of general science-related questions in a quiz show format. This activity will be held in Bloomberg's Schafler Auditorium, which is equipped with a system allowing contestants to press buttons to select their answers, with the results being displayed in real time. Winning teams receive trophies for their schools.

Professor Extraordinaire Show, 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. JHU Professor Peter Armitage and his assistants will give a demonstration show entitled "From the Nano to the Macro Before Your Eyes!" The show will explore how scientists investigate and explain the nanoscale world of objects just a few atoms wide across.

Hopkins Construction Project, 1:10 to 1:40 p.m. Individual participants and teams of up to four people of all ages will have 30 minutes to build a structure using materials provided on-site. Participants can sign up on the day of the event.

Weather-permitting, the Maryland Space Grant Consortium Observatory, located on the roof of the Bloomberg Center, will be available for public tours. Visitors also are invited to tour several research laboratories, and to enjoy some refreshing liquid nitrogen ice cream.

For more information and a short video of the highlights of last year's Physics Fair, go here: www.pha.jhu.edu/~fair/.