The idea that there are models in existence for electricity and how to improve its generation and utilization is an important quest in light of our resources. This CRPA project will stimulate the target audience's thinking by describing the relationships between electricity, nanoscience, and superconductivity. An audience of 4th-8th graders, parents, and teachers will come away from watching the video with a new sense of science and its possibilities. This project is a collaboration between physics faculty, educators at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, a communications professional, and the Bazillion Pictures of Kansas City, Missouri along with independent evaluators.
An animated video of 8-10 minutes is intended to engage, entertain, and provoke thought on how electricity works and how it could be used/generated in nano-molecules to derive superconductivity. Most individuals turn on the electrical switch and use the result without the slightest understanding of how electricity arrived at the switch, how it was generated and what resources are needed for it to be there at the "flip of a switch." Further, most do not consider or have sufficient background knowledge to understand how the efficiency and use of this resource might be improved. This project could bridge this gap which if successful would be highly transformative in the public understanding of science.
is a Communicating Research to Public Audiences grant which is tasked with producing a 10 minute animated video exploring how electrical conductors and high temperature superconductors work. The project builds upon the success of the Quarked!TM Adventures in the Subatomic Universe project using the existing characters and animation frameworks to produce the animation which was developed at the University of Kansas (KU). Adventures at Nanoscale: Superconductivity contributes to the field of informal science education by exploring an approach to engage and educate viewers about electricity works, and how this knowledge and a grasp of scale helps to inform research efforts to increase efficiency. Project outcomes and evaluation demonstrate a successful strategy for bridging the gap in the public's understanding of how electricity is generated and factors that influence how it works and how it might be improved. This video also provides an important resource for those in the formal science education community as many of the freely available Quarked! resources, including this video, as part of their curriculum (e.g. middle school physical science classes, physics undergraduate courses, and pre-museum visit activity suggestions for school groups). Participation by physics researchers on the project builds capacity within the scientific community to communicate about their work.
