Physics Field Day Helps Students Prepare for the AP Physics Exam

In the spring of 2024, our SPS chapter at Georgia Tech hosted Physics Field Day for the first time since the pandemic, drawing in more than 75 high school students from across the region for a full-day competition and outreach program. We aimed to challenge participants’ experimental skills, analytical thinking abilities, and understanding of physics in a fun, engaging way that helped them prepare for the AP physics exam.

Making that vision a reality required months of careful planning and dedicated effort from our entire team. SPS members Corinne Hill and Srijan Deoraj spearheaded this initiative. We secured over $2,000 in funding and sponsorships from businesses like Jane Street Capital and Chick-fil-A to cover the costs of catering, T-shirts, cash prizes, registration fees for those unable to afford it, and other logistics. Determined to make the event more inclusive than it has been in the past, we worked closely with local school districts to identify and reach out to underserved high schools with large minority populations in the Atlanta area.

The Saturday event kicked off with a warm welcome from the SPS Executive Board, setting the stage for the exciting day ahead. Students were then tasked with tackling a series of physics-focused challenges, each designed to test their knowledge and problem-solving skills.

The first portion of the competition consisted of a two-hour written exam, featuring multiple-choice and free-response questions modeled after the AP physics exam. Next, we challenged students with a round of Fermi problems—short, back-of-the-envelope calculations designed to test their ability to estimate and reason about physical quantities (How many trees are there on Georgia Tech’s campus? How many electrons are in Lake Michigan?). The questions pushed participants to think critically and apply logic and physics knowledge in creative ways.

Members of our chapter spent countless hours meticulously crafting each of the exams, ensuring that we challenged the students while also inspiring them to think through problems creatively.

After a group lunch, the students with the top 10 scores participated in a final round, during which they were tasked with designing and executing their own physics experiments. High school student Kavin Prakash took first place and received a $500 prize at the awards ceremony. Four others also won cash prizes.

After the competition, students toured physics research labs, getting a glimpse into the cutting-edge work being done by Georgia Tech faculty and graduate students. We showcased real-world applications of physics and the diverse research happening on campus, from Professor Flavio Fenton’s research on cardiac dynamics to Professor Claire Berger’s work on graphene.

Overall, the event was a success. We are proud of every student that took part, and we hope that the day gave them confidence to tackle the AP physics exam and future scientific endeavors.

As members of SPS, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage the community and inspire a love of physics in young people. We are already planning to build on the success of the 2024 Physics Field Day. With the help of generous sponsors and the support of the physics department, our team is committed to making the event bigger and better than ever before, attracting even more high school students. This event is a testament to the dedication and creativity of our members, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.