E&O team demonstrates hands-on learning during Neutrino Day

Imagine being underground in a tunnel made of rock. There are no windows. No light. A faint breeze blows down the drift. The only sound is the tread of your boots on the ground and the panting of your breath as you attempt to find an escape from the darkness. Your only resources are your senses. Could you discover your way out?

Scenarios such as this are clever tools used by Sanford Lab’s Education and Outreach team to engage students and encourage an interest in science.

In “Between a rock and a dark place,” a curriculum unit developed by E&O, “students imagine themselves in an underground drift at the Sanford Lab as they listen to a story about Jessie the scientist,” said Kari Webb, education specialist. “Students ask questions and use a model of an underground drift to conduct investigations about light and sound as they devise solutions for the problems that Jessie encounters.”

The E&O Department provides several curriculum units for use in classrooms across the state. These hands-on activities motivate students to actively participate in the fun while learning about the science that surrounds them.

“Between a rock and a hard place,” will be one of several units that will be demonstrated during the 2017 Neutrino Day celebration on July 8 in the Gold Rush Plaza at 201 W. Main Street in Lead. Several other activities will also be held in the Plaza.

Sanford Lab is proud to inspire students and educators to discover science, technology, engineering and math. Units sent to teachers contain all the tools a teacher needs for 10 to 20 hours of instruction. Teachers receive training on how to facilitate the units, all of which are based on a science experiment hosted underground at Sanford Lab. Each unit is aligned with South Dakota science standards.

June Apaza, director of Education and Outreach at Sanford Lab, encourages the community to come and experience all of the Neutrino Day events and have a chance to dig into science.

“Hear a little bit, learn a little bit, and then let’s have some science fun!” Apaza said.

July 8 E&O Scheduled Activities/Demonstrations for Neutrino Day:

10:30 a.m. “Three Flavors” - Discovering Neutrinos Activity

12:30 p.m. “Between a Rock and a Dark Place” - Discovering Real World Science Using Our Senses, with a K-2 Curriculum Unit from Education and Outreach

2:00 p.m. “Visualizing Gravity” - Discovering Gravitational Waves Activity

E&O Numbers, September 2016-May 2017

Curriculum Units

55 Schools
3,040 Students

Assembly Programs

66 Schools
306 Programs
8,585 Students

Field Trips

24 Schools
639 Students