Alice & Bob in Wonderland (gr 6-8)

"Want to inject some serious fun into your classroom? Alice & Bob in Wonderland is a series short, highly accessible, and entertaining animations that inspire youth to question their understanding of reality, to spark an interest in the wonder and mystery of our universe, and to explore some of the most powerful ideas in the history of science—simple, but profound and enduring understandings about the world around us. What are the animations about? Alice is a lovable, precocious girl, filled with childlike wonder and curiosity. She opens each animation with a question so simple it sounds silly, e.g., “Why is it dark at night?” Bob gives the obvious answer; in this case, “The Sun isn’t shining!” Alice then gives us reason to doubt Bob’s answer. Together, Alice and Bob discover that, with a bit of imagination and critical thinking, even the simplest questions can lead us to amazingly deep insights into the nature of the world we live in, e.g., the darkness of the night sky is actually a powerful clue to the single most important thing we know about our universe: it had a beginning. What will this workshop do for you and your students? Assuming no specialized knowledge whatsoever, this workshop will empower you to use these animations to capture your students’ imaginations, address big-picture scientific literacy and curriculum goals, and spark rich and lively class discussions about the nature of science and the world we live in."

Richard Epp has a Masters degree in electrical engineering and a PhD degree in theoretical physics, and has held postdoctoral research positions around the world working in general relativity—Einstein’s theory of space, time and gravity.  With both an engineering and a theoretical physics background, Dr. Epp is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the entire spectrum of physics, from curiosity-driven research at the frontiers of science, to the applied physics of how a cell phone works.  He has extensive outreach experience, having originated many of PI’s outreach initiatives, and immensely enjoys introducing people of all ages to the mysteries and wonders of our amazing universe.