Three Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned recognition in the recent American Association of Physics Teachers High School Physics Photo Contest.
MK Mashburn Lillian Slaton and Winnie Smith, all members of the Class of 2022, earned honorable mention recognition in the contest’s “Contrived” category. The contest is an international competition for high school students in which they learn about the physics behind natural and contrived situations by creating visual and written illustrations of various physical concepts.
Students compete in an international arena with more than 1,000 of their peers for recognition and prizes. The contest recognized 100 students for their entries. It was the first year that ASMSA has placed in the contest.
Shane Thompson, an ASMSA physics instructor, said the idea behind the competition is to show that physics applies to all aspects of life, including the arts. He has used an art project as a final exam for his Physical Concepts class for several semesters.
“The task is to take a photograph of something found in nature or to set up a contrived situation and write a 250-word essay about the physics illustrated in the photo,” Thompson said. “I combine the photos and essays into a single presentation that I share with both sections during our finals time. I have in the past also sent the presentation to my colleagues and the student body to showcase our work.
“I really like this approach to finals since it allows the Humanities and STEM students to excel in their creativity as we finish the semester. I feel that it takes some of the stress off of them at a typically very stressful time.”
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Mashburn’s entry was titled “Winter Wonderland.” The photo depicts a Christmas lights display reflecting off the finish of a vehicle as seen in the sideview mirror of the vehicle. The photo focuses on the different colors in the photograph, including how they are displayed and how they behave. To view the photo and read the essay, visit https://asmsa.me/aaptmashburn
Lillian Slaton’s entry was titled “Transparent Mirrors.” She placed two mirrors next to each other, each reflecting the view in the other mirror seeming to create an endless chain of mirrors. The angle of the camera used for the photo then restricts the light rays that bounce off the mirrors into the camera lenses, affecting the brightness of the images in the mirrors. To view the photo and read the essay, visit https://asmsa.me/aaptslaton
Smith’s entry was titled “Artificial Glow,” a contrived self-portrait meant to display fluorescence. She applied various colors of fluorescent eyeliner to her face to make a pattern. Smith shined a UV flashlight into a mirror which dispersed the light evenly on her face leading the eyeliner to glow. To view the photo and read the essay, visit https://asmsa.me/aaptsmith
Thompson said he was pleased that three of the five entries he submitted were selected for the Top 100, which were displayed at this summer’s AAPT meeting. The top entries were selected by votes of the attendees.
“I am very proud of each and every one of them,” Thompson said.