Editors: About 80 seventh-grade students from 22 metro-area middle schools will attend the show as part of a Science Academy with CU-Boulder's Pre-Collegiate Middle School Academic Program. Precollegiate is designed to motivate educationally and/or economically disadvantaged middle school children to successfully complete their pre-secondary and secondary school careers and prepare them to succeed at and graduate from a post-secondary institution.
Lightening storms so common in Boulder last month will soon strike indoors at "The Electric Show," the first installment of the 23rd annual CU Wizards Program for the 1999-2000 season on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Nationally renowned physicist and CU-Boulder professor John Taylor will "make lightening," melt a nail and demonstrate other dazzling feats with the use of electricity. Widely known as the original "CU Wizard," Taylor will give the presentation at 9:30 a.m. in the Duane Physics building, room G-030, on the CU-Boulder campus.
The hour-long show is free and open to the public.
Since the program started in 1980, Taylor has wowed more than 60,000 students throughout Colorado with his shows modeled after the popular national television series, "Mr. Wizard." "Science is exciting and that's what makes it interesting," he said adding that children, though they are born with a natural curiosity, are taught to lose their curiosity over time.
Taylor, however, manages to keep his audience interested in the principles of electricity and magnets with plenty of "big sparks." Those who have seen Taylor's shows know that his past demonstrations, such as lying on a bed of nails and walking on hot coals, are quite dramatic. He said that working with children gives him a "license to focus a little more on what's fun."
The CU Wizards series is an annual program that provides an informal introduction to astronomy, chemistry and physics, intended primarily for students in grades 5 through 9. It includes presentations by CU-Boulder faculty in several areas of expertise.
Free parking is available in lots 169, 378, 396 and 436. Anyone with a disability or special need should notify the physics office at (303) 492-6952 a few days in advance of the show. The best wheelchair access to the Duane Physics building is through the east doors.
For general information about the CU Wizards program call (303) 492-4318.
The 1999-2000 CU-Wizards program schedule is as follows.
o "The Electric Show," Professor John Taylor of physics, Sept. 25, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics building, room G1B30.
o "Where Chemistry Meets Physics," Professor David Nesbitt of chemistry and biochemistry, and JILA, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics of CU and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Oct. 30, 9:30 a.m., Chemistry building, room 140.
o "The Chemical History of a Candle," Professor Casey Hynes of chemistry and biochemistry, Nov. 27, 9:30 a.m., Chemistry building, room 140.
o "Boom! The Physics of Sound and Air Pressure," Professor Michael Dubson of physics, Dec. 31, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics building, room G1B30.
o "Biology of Muscles and Motion," Professor Todd Gleeson of environmental, population, and organismic biology, Jan. 29, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics building, room G1B30.
o "Speed," Professor Eric Cornell of physics, JILA and NIST, Feb. 26, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics building, room G1B30.
o "Liquid Crystals," Professors Noel Clark and Joe Maclennan, of physics, and Professor Dave Walba of chemistry and biochemistry, March 25, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics, room G1B30.
o "Fireflies, M&M's and a Few Gratuitous Explosions," Professors Tarek Sammakia and Gordon Yee of chemistry and biochemistry, April 29, 9:30 a.m., Chemistry, room 140.
o "Lasers and Lights," Professor Dana Anderson of physics and JILA, May 27, 9:30 a.m., Duane Physics building, room G1B30.
o "Black Holes," Professor Andrew Hamilton of astrophysics and JILA, June 17, 9:30 a.m., Fiske Planetarium.