What a Slip ‘n Slide Taught Me About Outreach
James Szalkie (back row, in green) and his SPS chapter at Wabash College pause for a group photo during a weekly meeting.
When I started at Wabash College in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had left a very large hole in the culture of our SPS chapter and school. Our chapter had only one regular event: Pi Day at the local history museum, where members of the physics and math department set up demonstrations for the local community. It was an enjoyable afternoon, but I never felt like it was enough outreach for a whole chapter. We needed to get creative, but we didn’t know where to start. Then a heat wave changed the way our chapter viewed outreach and engagement for good.
When we returned to school after summer break in 2023, Indiana temperatures were soaring to nearly 100 degrees. During one of our regular SPS meetings, I brought up the idea of a slip ‘n slide. We joked about how it could be a good friction demo and an exercise in energy conservation—topics you learn about in a 100-level physics course.
Slip ‘n slide physics in action. Photos courtesy of James Szalkie.
The joke slowly became a vision. I thought back on the slip ‘n slide a group of students had once set up on the baseball hill. I talked to the coordinator of TGIF, a weekly grill-out held on campus that is free and open to the school community. He agreed to host one at the hill, and SPS bought a 100-foot tarp, dish soap, and a few stakes. Then I coordinated with campus services to get a water supply. A 3D-printed medallion became the prize for sliding the farthest.
The competition was fierce. More than 60 people took on the slip ‘n slid out of a student body of 850 people—that’s a massive win! SPS members drew free-body diagrams on a whiteboard, and we had a lot of great conversations. The event was such a hit that it has become a campus staple.
So what made this event different? Why has it worked so well for us? And how does it contrast with the usual physics demos?
SPS members diagram the forces on a slip ‘n slider during the back-to-school event.
During our Pi Day event, I noticed that we had plenty of what my advisor, Professor Dennis Krause, refers to as the gee-whiz stuff: Tesla coils, plasma balls, Rubens tubes, etc. But what kids—and college students—seemed to enjoy the most were the simple things. Marbles rolling on ramps and making loop-de-loops held their attention longer than the high-voltage, mind-bending demos.
Through these experiences, I learned that our generation craves tactile engagement. They don’t need more light and sound blasted at their faces. Consider the slip ’n slide. It’s engaging, but the work of enjoyment is entirely on the participant. It’s tactile, real, and you can move through the experience at your own pace. It’s familiar, but in the context of physics, it begs the question: What is the science behind the slide?
I also learned that while people enjoy seeing science for the sake of discovery, we need to make room for the physics of everyday life. I’ve seen the same look of bewilderment on a person’s face while I’m explaining the mechanics of the Higgs boson as when I’m explaining circular motion, although one of those topics directly impacts their everyday life. Having more 100-level physics discussions may increase the likelihood people will stay engaged in science. That can begin with tactile, hands-on demos.
