Outreach

PASSAGE Outreach is involved in a wide variety of fun and educational events. Below is a sampling of some of the recent activities we’re participated in. For more details, please see the PASSAGE Outreach website at https://passage-outreach.github.io/ or contact Jessica at jjenick@ur.rochester.edu.

Recent Events

Computation Museum

We received an APS FEd grant for a family-friendly portable computation museum where participants will explore the history of computing. The goal is to design and construct demos showing the history of computers from the abacus to neural nets, as well as document the process and make it digitally accessible so that anyone interested in similar demos can access our work. If you are interested in helping with design, construction, or documentation, please let Jessica know!

House of Illusions

A NYSS-APS grant allowed us to debut the House of Illusions at Spooky Science Day this year! The House of Illusions is a science museum-style exhibit themed as a haunted house. We built and displayed several classical illusions, teaching visitors about the science behind the deception. Thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible!

Volunteers demonstrate mystifying exhibits at the House of Illusions 2025 debut Volunteers demonstrate mystifying exhibits at the House of Illusions 2025 debut

APS PhysicsQuest

APS PhysicsQuest is a program that provides lesson plans and kits for middle and high school teachers to help make physics accessible. In honor of the International Year of Quantum, this year’s theme was Quantum: The Future State. We created a Dancing Matter activity to teach students about X-ray crystallography, which was accepted and included as a project in this year’s program. The video explanation can be found here on the APS YouTube channel.

RMSC Perseids Fest and Space Week

PASSAGE Outreach has participated in several events at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, including at Perseids Fest this fall and the Space Week Spring Break program. These events give volunteers an opportunity to share the love of science with the broader community, showing off demos and teaching families.

Teaching visitors about electricity at RMSC Perseids Fest 2025 Volunteers at RMSC Space Week 2025

Humanities and STEAM Day

Each summer, we host a day-long event where local students get the chance to attend multiple workshops (and get a free lunch). The event is an opportunity aimed at helping 5th-10th grade students develop broad interdisciplinary interests by showing the fun and interesting areas in which science, technology, engineering, and mathematics intersect with the arts and humanities. Grad students from various departments volunteer to teach 50-minute workshops on areas where STEM and the humanities collide. Example classes from this year include Cosmic Cartography and Optics, Art, and the World Around You.

Fun with Optics

This year, we once again volunteered with our friends in Optics for their U of R Optics Family Night! This is a family-friendly event where kids of all ages are given the opportunity to participate in optics experiments and watch some mesmerizing demos. For the past few years, we have also joined the Department of Optics for their booth at the Lilac Festival.

PASSAGE volunteers at Optics Family Night 2024

Community Outreach

We show science demos at a variety of local events, including the ROC Public Market and programs like STEM Nights at local schools. These present an opportunity to show how science can be fun, interesting, and accessible to the general public.

Volunteers tabling at the 2025 ROC Public Market

Opportunities

Past Events

  1. Ask a Scientist Table at Brighton Farmers’ Market

  2. Spooky Science Saturday with SPS

  3. Physics of Rockets (Boy Scout event)

  4. STEM day with Warner School of Education

  5. Weekly STEM activity with the Boys & Girls Club

  6. STEM Superstar (Girl Scout event)

  7. STEAM Day @ Jefferson Road Elementary

  8. Demos @ Volunteers of America

  9. Science Exploration Club at Allendale-Columbia