A Free Renewable Energy and Quantum Physics-based Summer Camp for Middle School Girls

In 2019, the Physics Wonder Girls Program¹ provided a free, novel, renewable energy and quantum physics-based immersion experience to two cohorts of middle school girls selected from a pool of high-performing students in the Philadelphia-New Jersey area. Campers came from diverse communities were introduced to renewable energy, took a crash course on solar cells, and then built and raced solar cars, and solar boats. They were taught quantum physics principles including how quantum devices such as the LED and solar cells work, how blackbody infrared radiation is produced and detected, energy storage, and how superconductors work. Campers compared the efficiencies of silicon cells versus organic solar cells, built solar cells based on dyes from raspberry fruit, and used a thermal imaging camera to audit heat leaks. They met women physicists engineers - including a quantum materials scientist, women food scientists who use optics in R&D, toured a local food company and presented demonstrations to a community of friends and teachers. I will also discuss ideas to incorporate quantum information education in the future.
¹Web: https://sites.google.com/usciences.edu/physicswondergirlscamp/