Issue date: 5/24/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Lennie Mahler Patrick Higgins pours liquid nitrogen on an inflated balloon in one of several science experiments performed at the U Museum of Natural History on Monday to entertain a class of Wasatch Elementary third-grade students. The event announced a partnership between the museum and the U physics department, as well as the beginning of Free Family Mondays, which invites families to the museum to promote interest in science among children.

"It's a flying hot dog!" yelled students from Wasatch Elementary School. Patrick Wiggins and Tori Spratling, employees in the physics department, had just launched a small balloon rocket into the sky.

The students had watched a brief physics demonstration earlier this week as part of Free Family Monday, a new weekly event at the Utah Museum of Natural History that aims to involve young children in physics and science.

The new program is the result of a partnership between the museum, the U's physics department and Salt Lake County's Zoo, Arts and Parks program.

The activities at Free Family Monday encourage participants to ask questions, try new experiments and to discover results, said Patti Carpenter, a museum employee.

"We have piloted the program and the response from the public has been excellent," Carpenter said. "We're starting to see the same families come back because they had such a good time together."

Rumany Pen, a junior majoring in chemistry who helps coordinate the event, said Free Family Monday is a good step to attract children to science because "it's hands-on (and) it will catch children's attention (so) they will actually want to learn more about physics.

"And since it is free, parents can bring their kids or teachers can arrange for field trips and not worry about going over budget," Pen said.

Because of the new partnership between the physics department and the museum, visitors can also tour the U's observatory and look through telescopes located on the roof of the physics building.

Free Family Monday is held the first Monday of every month from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. The program offers free admission to all Utah residents. Demonstrations from the physics department run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and are presented by Wiggins and Spratling.

t.lieu@chronicle.utah.edu

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