MIT Physics outreach in developing countriesMIT Physics outreach in developing countries
Matt Landreman ([email protected])PhD candidate, MIT Physics / Plasma Science & Fusion Center
1. Aspire-Sabre: textbooks for universities
2. Teaching high school physics in Zambia
3. CDs to address the “internet gap”
4. How you can get involved
SabreSabre FoundationFoundation• Provides heavily discounted textbooks to
universities in developing countries & conflict regions
• Has shipped to Iraq, Liberia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, etc.
• Has shipped 8x106 books ($3x108) to 80 countries over last 24 years
• 7 cargo containers to Iraq in 2009
• Headquarters in Central Square, warehouse in Lawrence, MA
• 6 paid staff
MITMIT--SabreSabre partnershippartnership
• MIT volunteers sort, inventory, & pack textbooks
• ~ ½ of volunteers are MIT Physics grad students
• In 2009, MIT volunteers allowed shipment of 25,000 extra medical, science, & engineering books compared to 2008
• Program organized under the MIT student service group “Aspire”
1. Aspire-Sabre: textbooks for universities
2. Teaching high school physics in Zambia-- Tour of the schools
-- Zambian national high school curriculum
-- Low-tech experiments we created
3. CDs to address the “internet gap”
4. How you can get involved
Teaching high school mathand physics in Zambia
IAP 2009 – www.CosmosEducation.org
Physics Today,
Sept 2004
Zambia at a glanceZambia at a glance
• Independence from UK in 1964
• Stable multiparty democracy since 1991
• 165th of 177 countries in UN Human Development Index
• HIV infection rate: ~ 1 in 7
• 630,000 orphans out of 11M total population
• Life expectancy: 42 yrs
The 2009 TeamThe 2009 Team
The schools
The schools
School libraries
Physics & math high school Physics & math high school curriculum in Zambiacurriculum in Zambia
• High-stakes exams in grades 9 & 12
• Elite government high schools for top students
• Standard maths syllabus:– Grade 10: compound interest, c2=a2+b2, area, volume– Grade 11: trigonometry, matrices– Grade 12: more trig & vectors, basic calculus
• Optional “additional maths” course for top students– Radians, quadratic eqn, exp & log, more calculus
Physics & math high school Physics & math high school curriculum in Zambiacurriculum in Zambia
• Most students follow “physical science”syllabus– Largely qualitative– Measurements, calculating e.g. density
• “Pure physics” syllabus for advanced students:– Δx=gt2/2, U=mgh+mv2/2, but not a=v2/r– PV/T=constant– Waves: v=fλ, Snell’s Law equation– Resistors in series & parallel, right-hand rules
LowLow--tech TEAL tech TEAL ““clickersclickers””
LowLow--tech tech ““clickersclickers””
Nairobi
to Sun
rays of sunlight
Lusaka
Eratosthenes’s measurement ofthe Earth’s radius
αβ
distance from Nairobi to LusakaRβ α
≈−
R
x
y
d
2d xy=
Low-tech kinematics
Low-tech kinematics
d (c
m)
Measuring the speed of sound
Measuring the speed of sound
Using trigonometry for surveying
y
d
h
X
a
h = y + d tan a
Surveying:
Calculated distance to within 1 cm of direct measurement
Pressure
Bridge engineering competition
sun ab
rq
Using parallax to measure thedistance to a “star” (i.e. tree)
Todistantobject
a = qb/r
Alphacentauri
1. Aspire-Sabre: textbooks for universities
2. Teaching high school physics in Zambia
3. CDs to address the “internet gap”
4. How you can get involved
CDs to address the CDs to address the ““internet gapinternet gap””
• Many schools in developing countries have PCs but not internet
• Internet may be slow
• CDs: cheap to burn/ship
• Theft: less of a problem for CDs than books
CDs to address the CDs to address the ““internet gapinternet gap””
Prototype includes:
• Lesson plans
• PhET Java/Flash simulations from UC-Boulder
• Hyperphysics
• PDF textbooks (from MIT-OpenCourseWare, etc.)
• MP3 audio lessons
• Installers for Acrobat Reader, Flash, etc.
250 CDs deployed so far to high schools throughout Zambia
1. Aspire-Sabre: textbooks for universities
2. Teaching high school physics in Zambia
3. CDs to address the “internet gap”
4. How you can get involved
You can get involvedYou can get involved• Volunteer with the MIT group at Sabre Foundation warehouse. (Every other weekend,
alternating Saturdays & Sundays.)
• Help us find transportation (MIT-owned vehicles?) to Lawrence MA for the Sabrevolunteering trips.
• Suggest math & science demonstrations & experiments with low technology requirements.
• Suggest materials to include on future CDs:– PDFs (textbooks, logic puzzles, popular science, classic books, etc.)
– Educational websites
– Java/Flash applets
– Lesson plans
– MP3 audio lessons
– Advice on installers / anti-virus for old PCs without internet
• Find $ for CD printing & shipping.
• Suggest schools/teachers to send CDs to.
Sabre Foundation: www.sabre.org
For more information contact Matt Landreman ‘G: [email protected]
