Community Outreach
Hands-On Engineering Design Activities
By participating in hands-on engineering design activities, children learned engineering concepts through constructing paper airplanes, gumdrop towers, aluminum foil boats, and straw cantilevers.
Science on Saturday
Science on Saturday events began in 2005 under a new initiative to emphasize educational outreach to K–12 students. These fun, free science demonstrations at Lincoln Laboratory are given several times each school year by volunteer scientists and engineers. All local community K–12 students, their parents, and their teachers are welcome to attend. Please see our schedule for more recent events and upcoming demonstrations.
Science on Saturday demonstrations from 2005 through 2011 are listed below.
| 2011 Demonstrations |
| Hands-on Science |
| Robotics |
| Acoustics |
| 2010 Demonstrations |
| 2009 Demonstrations |
| 2008 Demonstrations |
| 2007 Demonstrations |
| 2006 Demonstrations |
| 2005 Demonstration |
Archives
Hands-On Science
December 3, 2011
Speakers: Lincoln Laboratory Technical Women's Network
This event featured hands-on activity stations where students could experiment with colors of light, separate chemicals using chromatography, test buoyancy of model boats and submarines, and simulate missile launches.
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Special Presentation of Hot Science
Friday October 14, 2011
Special presentation at MIT Museum, Cambridge
Speaker: Mark Hanson, Lincoln Laboratory
This demonstration, a reprise of 2009's Hot Science presentation, was part of the MIT Museum's "Second Fridays" program entitled "Feel the Heat." Hands-on activities based on the presentation were offered until 8:00 p.m. Robotics Outreach at Lincoln Laboratory was also on hand to showcase student-built robots designed for "hot competition."
Robotics
June 4, 2011Speaker: Jonathan Williams, Lincoln Laboratory
You've seen robots in movies, but what can real robots do? What kinds of robots can you buy now? How can you build your own robot? Participants met champion competition robots in person and controlled their movements!
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Special Traveling Demonstration for 150th Anniversary of MIT
How Computers Work
April 30, 2011
Speaker: Masahiro Arakawa, Lincoln Laboratory
MIT Campus, Kirsch Auditorium at the Stata Center
MIT campus hosted a special Science on Saturday presentation during its 150th anniversary celebration. This was a reprise of the June 5, 2010 demonstration.
Acoustics
February 5, 2011Speaker: Keri Moos, Lincoln Laboratory
What are sound waves? How does sound travel? Is there sound in space? Why do different musical notes or different musical instruments sound the way they do? Can a laser "record" sound? You'll hear like never before!
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How Computers Communicate with Each Other
December 4, 2010
Speaker: William Streilein, Lincoln Laboratory
How can two computers talk to each other? How does the internet work? How can data such as credit card numbers be encrypted to prevent the wrong people from reading it?
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Amusement Park Physics
October 16, 2010
Speakers: Curtis Heisey and Jessica Olszta, Lincoln Laboratory
What can amusement park rides teach us about physics concepts like acceleration, momentum, and energy?
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How Computers Work
June 5, 2010
Speaker: Masahiro Arakawa, Lincoln Laboratory
How do computers use binary numbers? What are AND and OR gates? Why do computers have built-in clocks to time each step the computer makes?
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Lasers and Optics
April 3, 2010
Speaker: David Caplan, Lincoln Laboratory
This show demonstrates the properties of optics, lasers, and light. How can you bend light? What are lasers good for? Why is the sky blue? What are fiber optics? What can a Slinky teach you about polarization? Find out at this amazing light show!
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How to Talk to Your Computer
February 6, 2010
Speaker: Robert Dunn, Lincoln Laboratory
How is human speech produced? How can we make computers speak? Can we make computers understand what people say? Come see or volunteer to help with on-stage demonstrations of speech production, digital speech processing, voice modification, and automatic speaker and language recognition.
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Cold Science
December 5, 2009
Speaker: Dr. Richard Williamson, Lincoln Laboratory
What is cold? What is the coldest temperature possible? What happens to various objects when they get very cold? See a liquid nitrogen cannon, watch frozen pennies shatter, and volunteer to help with other demonstrations on stage.
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Hot Science
October 3, 2009
Speaker: Mark Hanson, Lincoln Laboratory
What is heat? How is it measured? How is it transferred from one object to another? How can it be used to run an engine? How can you keep heat out of your house during the summer and keep heat in during the winter?
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Principles of Acousto-Electric Musicology
June 6, 2009
Speaker: "Richard Pianiopolis, PdB. Hz."
How do musicians describe different sounds? How do electrical engineers describe the same sounds? Come and find out how music, voices, or any sound can be seen and explained both from the musical side and the engineering side. Listen to and watch your voice and music; hear and see all the different ways sounds can be altered.
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Slime and Flubber
April 4, 2009
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Siegel, Lincoln Laboratory
How do you make sticky, green slime? Would you like to mix up some flubber to make bouncing balls? Polymers are more than just plastics—they are formed naturally within the earth. They are also "grown" by living things like plants and people. We can synthesize some of them in laboratories, form others in furnaces, and even grow slimy ones in the back of refrigerators (Yuck!). Ever seen a non-Newtonian fluid in action? Come learn about rheology, and see all of the strange things that plastics and polymers can do.
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Lightning, Tornadoes, and Storms
February 7, 2009
Speaker: Robert Hallowell, Lincoln Laboratory
Can you make lightning? How do tornadoes form? What causes fog? How does air pressure affect weather, and how can you measure it? Come see our demonstrations and find out.
This review of the demonstration describes what happened during the Lightning, Tornadoes, and Storms Science on Saturday event.
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Asteroids — Fact or Fiction
December 6, 2008
Speaker: Dr. Grant Stokes, Lincoln Laboratory
What are asteroids like? Where did they come from? What happened when large asteroids hit the earth in the past? How can we detect and prevent large asteroids from hitting the earth in the future? Come and find out!
This review of the demonstration explains each topic discussed during this Science on Saturday event.
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Rockets and Flight
October 4, 2008
Speakers: Curtis Heisey, Jessica Olszta, and Dr. Mykel Kochenderfer, Lincoln Laboratory
How do rockets work? How about airplanes? How can you build and launch your own rockets safely? Come see our fun demonstrations and find out, or volunteer to help with them on stage.
This review of the demonstration itemizes each activity performed and its importance to understanding rocketry.
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Archaeology
June 7, 2008
Speaker: Dr. Steven A. LeBlanc, Director of Collections at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
What do we know about the mysterious objects and places featured in the Indiana Jones movies? What is it like to be an archaeologist? How old are the artifacts that have been found? The presentation is given by real archaeologists who have done excavations at the same places featured in the movies.
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Robotics
April 5, 2008
Speakers: Professor Kenneth Stafford of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Tom Indelicato of Bishop Guertin High School's FIRST Robotics Team
You’ve seen robots in movies, but what can real robots do? What kinds of robots can you buy now? How can you build your own robot? Participants met world-champion robots in person and controlled their movements!
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Math for Fun, Profit, and World Domination
February 2, 2008
Session 1: John Peach, Lincoln Laboratory
Session 2: Art Gelb, Four Sigma Corp., and TASC
In Session 1, Mathbusters, John Peach demonstrates how math can be fun for all ages. In Session 2, Why Study Mathematics?, Art Gelb discusses the applications of math and careers for mathematicians.
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Hands-On Engineering Design Activities
December 1, 2007
Hosted and supervised by Lincoln Laboratory engineers.
Participants learned engineering concepts through four different projects. Children learned about tension and compression by building gumdrop towers with structural integrity. The concepts of flight, lift, gravity, thrust, and drag were tested by designing different types of paper airplanes and measuring their flight distance. The relationship between buoyancy and displacement was proven by various designs of aluminum foil boats filled with strategically-placed pennies and styrofoam. With 25 straws and 1.5 feet of masking tape, children practiced building cantilever bridges applying the principles of torque and center of mass.
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Towers using gumdrops and toothpicks |  |
Paper airplanes |
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Boats using aluminum foil for holding pennies |  |
Cantilevers using straws |
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Plasma and Ions
May 12, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Siegel, Lincoln Laboratory
Presentation Slides (pdf)
What are plasma and ions and where do they exist? Find out how ions are generated in YOU, and what common household items use the power of ions, as well as how this power is used for scientific purposes.
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Lasers and Optics
February 10, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey Roth, Lincoln Laboratory
The Lasers and Optics show demonstrates the properties of optics, lasers, and light. What's the difference between red, blue, and green lasers? What happens when a laser shines through water? What can a slinky teach you about polarization? What are "fiber optics"? Find out at this amazing light show!
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Chemistry Magic Show
December 9, 2006
Speaker: Dr. Roderick Kunz, Lincoln Laboratory
This chemistry demonstration surprises children and adults alike. Can a chemical burn green? Which chemical changes color and changes back over and over again as long as it is heated? This chemistry show will answer these questions and more!
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Properties and Applications of Sound Waves
October 14, 2006
Speaker: Robert Haupt, Lincoln Laboratory
Discover how sound works and why soundwaves are used in a laboratory environment. How does sound travel? Is there sound in space? Can a laser "record" sound? Find out how human vocal chords work and use our software to transform your voice to male, female, child, or adult! You'll hear like never before!
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Electricity & Magnetism
June 3, 2006
Speaker: Paul "Mr. "Magnet" Thomas, MIT
Can you "feel" magnetism? How do magnets and electricity work together? Mr. Magnet shows children just how strong a magnet can be, and how that power can be harnessed for scientific purposes.
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Cryogenics & Liquid Nitrogen Demonstrations
March 18, 2006
Speaker: Dr. Richard Williamson, Lincoln Laboratory
This popular demonstration amazes everyone with feats of freezing. Can you freeze a balloon? What does liquid nitrogen look like? How cold is "cold"? Learn which items freeze or defrost fastest and why cryogenics are helpful in a laboratory.
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