Week 4: Starting off (at NIST) with a Bang!

Share This:

Sunday, July 5, 2015

By:

Shauna LeFebvre

Hello again!

I've had an amazing week! It started off with the interns working in the ACP building giving everyone else a tour of where we work.  Hannah and I showed the other interns our cubicles and the SOCK room, and then presented all of our demos.  Then we went to the third floor where Connor and Brean gave us a wonderful tour of the Niels Bohr Library and the archives.  We even got to see Richard Feynman's high school calculus book! They also talked about their work writing lesson plans to bring awareness of the forgotten women in physics.  After lunch we met Pat’s mentor and had a discussion about how the AAPT can help physics departments across the country offer their students a better education.  We finished the day by meeting Aman’s mentor and learning how APS is creating different materials, like demos, comic books, and coloring books, to bring physics to the public.

Materials for the NIST Summer InstituteTuesday I started working at NIST with Kate, my new mentor, and Kelly, a local elementary school teacher.  We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday moving materials More Materials for NISTand preparing for NIST’s Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers.  Someone’s Fitbit said we walked 4 miles one day just transferring everything to the classroom we are located in.  I can’t wait to start working with the middle school teachers on Monday!

This week had a wonderful ending! I don’t think I can think of a better place to spend the Fourth of July then right here in our nation’s capital!  I went to the parade and then spent the afternoon on the National Mall.  I eventually had to go back to the apartment because I got caught in a rain storm and had to change.  Then Hannah, Pat, and I got a spot by the Washington Monument to watch the fireworks.  Along the way we handed out diffraction glasses to people so they could watch the fireworks with them.  The effect the glasses had just made the fireworks all the more spectacular!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth! See you all next week!

4th of July Parade
Uncle Sam on Stilts
One of the Marching Bands
Look at that Flag!
My Favorite Balloon
A Very Patriotic Eagle
Fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks Through Diffraction Glasses
Fireworks
Fireworks

Shauna LeFebvre