9:00am - 9:30am: Check-In & Ice-Breaking Activities | Campus Center
9:30am - 10:30am: Welcome & Keynote Address | Jemez Rooms
10:30am - 11:45am: Workshop Session 1 | Assigned Classroom
11:45am - 12:45pm: Lunch and Group Photo | Cafeteria
12:45pm - 2:00pm: Workshop Session 2 | Assigned Classroom
2:00pm - 4:00pm: Raffle & STEAM Fair | Jemez Rooms
Dr. Eileen Ryan earned a B.A. in Physics from Rutgers University, a M.S. in Astronomy from New Mexico State University, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Geophysics from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Ryan is the Director/Senior Scientist of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-meter telescope, an instrument whose mirror is the same size as the Hubble Space Telescope. She specializes in finding and characterizing Near Earth Objects, including asteroids, comets and manmade satellites. Dr. Ryan is also known for her work in the physics of collisions and catastrophic fragmentation.
She was a participating scientist on NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft mission, which successfully demonstrated NASA’s ability to alter the orbit of an asteroid. DART was sent to the binary system Didymos, and kinetically impacted its small moon Dimorphos, as the first test of NASA’s deflection technology.
Dr. Ryan joined the Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO) in 2002. The MRO 2.4-meter Telescope is located on 1,000 acres at 10,600 feet in the Magdalena Mountains of the Cibola National Forest in Socorro County, New Mexico (NM). This multi-use research and educational observatory is built and operated by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) with offices located on the NMT campus in Socorro, NM.
As Director of the 2.4-meter Telescope, Dr. Ryan manages its technical, financial, and operational activities, and leads the development of scientific and military initiatives. She is the Principal Investigator of a NASA-funded Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) follow-up program, together with Co-Investigator Dr. William Ryan. This project has been funded by NASA since 2008 to obtain high-precision astrometry of near-Earth asteroids and comets, and to derive physical characterization data such as spin rates and spectral composition, to better assess the potential danger to Earth from these objects.
A ) Brain Games!
Join Marina Philip, a former chemist and now educator at Explora Science Center and Children's Museum to investigate a mysterious and puzzling box. Next, step into the shoes of an educator and learn how puzzles and similar activities are used to make science engaging and fun. Take a behind-the-scenes look into how science museums turn learning into play!
B ) Roller Coasters, Engineering, and Fun with Physics
Be a Civil Engineer for a day and design your own roller coaster for marbles! And have fun with physics, learning about potential energy, kinetic energy, friction and gravity. You will build your own marble accelerator ramp to transform potential energy into kinetic energy. Then, design a roller coaster with a loop, managing your marble’s energy to get to the end.
C ) The Secret Code of Computer and Robots
Students will have the opportunity to learn about all about binary encoding/decoding, binary logic of circuits, visual coding, and textual coding. Their new skills will then be applied to control robots!
D ) Microbes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
In this workshop the students will learn about microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) with an emphasis on their small size and unique characteristics. After discussing the variety of ways microbes help and hinder us in our daily lives, the students will use microscopy to identify an unknown bacterial sample. The students will then use an antimicrobial solution to kill bacteria and assess its effectiveness.
E ) Building Self-Propelling Bots
This engaging activity combines the topics of potential and kinetic energy, electronic circuits, and robotics to build a mini self-propelling robot. Students will build a mini robot by attaching a battery to a motorized propeller sitting on top of a toothbrush head. We will then discuss how the concepts learned with the mini robot can be used to build real world objects, like motor boats.
F ) What starts wildfires?
Have you ever wondered how fire investigators figure out what starts a wildfire? After all, it is usually something small and black, in the middle of a lot of black stuff. Participants will learn the basics of wildland fire behavior, indicators of fire direction to track and find the origin, and learn about different causes of wildfires. To put their new skills to the test, students will analyze a scenario and evidence left in the "origin" of a fire.
G ) Get Excited for Electrons! Flame Tests and Emission Spectra of Atoms
Students will use sterno flames to test the ions produced by excited electrons in an atom. Then they will use diffraction glasses to view the spectral lines of the excited electrons present in gas molecules.
H ) Is climate change melting sea ice?!
This workshop demonstrates how ocean warming, as a result of climate change, leads to melting sea ice. The students will take part in a hands-on demonstration to quantify the impact of ocean warming on sea level rise.
