Reaching audiences big and small: holistic approach to optics outreach at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences

The Wyant College of Optical Sciences (OSC) at The University of Arizona participates in a variety of outreach activities in all levels of the education system and the Tucson community at-large, reaching thousands of students each year. We have created immersive workshops including "D.I.Y. Optics" and "CSI: Optics - Optical Forensics". For large audiences, we emphasize "pocket optics", cost-effective giveaways such as pixel magnifiers, the Pepper's ghost illusion, and Fresnel lenses. New resources and lesson plans are centralized on an online hub, which started as a UA/NASA Space Grant project in 2018 and now facilitates instructor training and acts as an on-demand resource for troubleshooting demos in the field. We share successes and lessons learned from our outreach events, culminating in an annual Laser Fun Day, the flagship student-led event supported by the Student Optics Chapter (SOCk) and Women in Optics (WiO).This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu