More than a dozen high school teams from the Waikato and Bay of Plenty will launch rockets from the University of Waikato field this month.
School teams have to design and build a water bottle rocket that will travel the greatest distance horizontally, using only a 1.5 litre bottle, plastic and cardboard, a limit of 80psi of pressure, and some imagination.
The OsPEn Lectures are an annual event at the University of Waikato aimed at Year 12 and 13 students who are high achievers in science. Students attend lectures and practical demonstrations that focus on applications of physics and provide examples of how the physics they are learning at school can be used. Links are made back to the NCEA level 2 and level 3 curriculum.
About 650 students from high schools around the region are expected to attend over the two days from June 30 to July 1.
University of Waikato Science and Engineering Learning Hub content developer Steve Chrystall says OsPEn Days are about broadening the minds of gifted students.
“The intention of the days is to cover physics-related topics to a more specialised level than what these students will have seen in their schools.
“A big part of it is to get them inspired and involved. A plus side for the students is that they get a taste for university life as well.”
The students will hear from Dr Hamish Campbell from GNS Science about the physics of earthquakes, Dr Rod White, the head of NZ Measurement Standards Lab about the fundamental importance of consistent standards for scientific measurement, Dr John Campbell from Canterbury University about the challenges of being a physicist and Mr Chrystall on rockets and microgravity.
The event is supported with sponsorship from the Waikato Science Learning Hub and the NZ Institute of Physics.
As a bit of added fun, this year the OsPEn Days involves the water bottle rocket challenge to be held on the university fields during the lunch break both days.
Osborne Lectures began in 1986 in honour of Dr Roger Osborne, who taught physics at Waikato University from 1970 to 1985. During this time he was responsible for organising and presenting a significant number of lectures for year 12 and 13 physics students in the Waikato region. From 2002 the lectures became known as the OsPEn Days.