Our Phenomenal Physics Camps are meant to inspire a love of science in all of our campers – regardless of level or ability or experience – and to show that physics is everywhere in our world in visible and invisible ways!
What do parents say about our camps?
- “This was all fantastic, the camp leaders are so supportive and encouraging cheering on the campers when they have good comments and questions. I thought it was a testament to how committed the leaders are developing and supporting confidence in science learning for young minds.”
- “Incredible staff!”
- “My child enjoyed making the rocket propeller and was explaining me newton’s laws of motion on which he was quite good at (I’m astonished). I believe the teachers were really good at explaining them👍🏻.”
- “The camp seemed basically made for my son. He loves science – all forms; and I’ve never seen him so excited to wake up and go to any activity before.”
- “I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to each and every staff, educator and admin behind this amazing, hands down best camp ever experience. This is the first camp I’ve sent my kids to, that I’d like to send again and again until they age out.”
What do we offer?
∗ Lots of fun, accessible Physics content! ∗
Interested in some of the content we cover? Topics include: Mass, Force, Gravity, Momentum, Sound and light Waves, Particles, Orbits, Black Holes, viewing the Sun, Gravitational Waves, Electric Circuits, Arduino coding, Breadboards, C++, Water Density, Buoyancy, Surface Tension, Air Pressure, Planets, Exoplanets, How the seasons work, Crystal lattice structure, Newton’s laws, Conductivity, Magnetism, liquid nitrogen and more.
∗ Demonstrations, presentations, guest speakers, tours, builds and experiments ∗
Actively participating in science is a great way to learn! We build in lots of demonstrations and presentations explaining key concepts and how they work, invite in guest speakers to share their knowledge and research related to camp content, take campers on tours of our robotics lab and other facilities on campus, build models, and get campers to collect data, test and discover via experiments!
∗ Activities to practice skills and new knowledge ∗
Do you like to make models and machines that work? Activities are designed to practice the concepts and information shared in the classroom. Knowing how things are built helps us understand concepts even better, and helps us relate concepts to the wider world around us.
Who is involved?
Guest Speakers
We offer a rich variety of guest speakers from our pool of undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctorates, staff and faculty working in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UBC. They provide expert information in their fields using simple demonstrations to illustrate concepts and theories to current research trends and findings, as a way to show our campers how science is actively shaping the world.
2023 Guest Speakers
Niko Lecoeuche is a first year PhD student at University of British Columbia, working in the LIGO group. LIGO is an observatory network that detected the first direct evidence of gravitational waves from two merging black holes in 2015. Niko studies unwanted noise in LIGO and how it affects our observations of gravitational waves.
Hi, my name is Jess and apart from trees I like black holes the most! Did you know that when two black holes collide, they briefly emit more energy in a fraction of a second than the entire visible universe!
Petar is a PhD student at UBC who studies the suckiest subject in the Universe: black holes! Understanding what happens to objects (planets, stars, astronauts, etc.) that fall into the singularity at the centre of a black hole has puzzled physicists for a hundred years. Petar hopes that he can help solve this puzzle!
Janelle is a key part of our camps as she helps us put together our Friday science shows! These shows showcase interesting equipment, fun factoids and cool demonstrations of physics concepts, including the creation of our famous liquid nitrogen ice-cream!
Abhishek is a UBC postdoc who studies very small things with one of the biggest machines ever made: subatomic particles with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider! He measures interesting particles like the top quark (the most massive particle we know of), and looks for new things we’ve never seen before like supersymmetry.
Ryan is a PhD student at UBC who studies particle physics with the ATLAS Experiment, which is a fancy way of saying “smashes protons together to see what comes out”! Measurements of the physics processes involved in these high-energy interactions can inform our understanding of everything from the stability of the universe to why the universe has more matter than antimatter.
Zhengcheng works in the ATLAS lab with friends Abhishek, Ryan and Cole. He enjoys answering complicated questions from our campers, including “how much does a photon weigh?” and “how can particle physicists measure the speed of light?” Our campers thank you, Zhengcheng!
Hi! My name is Serene (she/her) and I’m a new graduate student doing an MEd in Science Education at UBC. My undergrad was in Physics and Astronomy, so I’m really interested in cosmology, galaxies and particle physics! I enjoy researching physics education the most as I strive towards making physics an inclusive and positive space for everyone. Outside the classroom, I hike, climb and stargaze as much as I can. I love physics outreach as I get to share my knowledge and fascination with the vast universe around us!
Cole works in the ATLAS lab with friends Abhishek, Ryan and Zhengcheng. So what does a particle physicist need to know? A lot of code, electronics and communication skills to talk to and share information with international colleagues around the globe.
Thanks to the generosity of the EngPhys Team, we had the great fortune of booking tours for our campers to see the Robotics lab and meet Engphys students creating robotic masterpieces! What an inspiration! Thank you, Bernhard, Dylan and Miti!
The UBC ASTRO club gave our campers exclusive access to their sunscope – a telescope for the sun, which through using filters was
a good way to view our nearest and
brightest ball of fire. What a view! Thank you, ASTRO Club!
Andrzej oversees all programming for PHAS Outreach, from camps to the High School Physics Olympics, the CAP Exam and the International Physics Olympiad, to the end of the year December Faraday Science show!
Physics Instructors & B.C.- certified Teachers
Our physics, astronomy and computer science instructors are undergraduate students close to completing their programs, who have an interest in science education, outreach, and making science accessible for all ages! As they all bring unique skills to their positions, the teaching associated with camp activities content will also be unique, year to year.
We also hire We hire B.C.- Certified teachers to help with classroom management, being camper supports and science mentors.
2023 Instructors and BC-Certified Teachers
Hi, my name is Elise Phelan. I am a fourth year student in Honours Biophysics. I am interested in cell biology and medical physics, but I also love to think about some of the big mysteries in theoretical physics (like how many weeks are in a light year!). I find physics fascinating, and am passionate about sharing that. Outside of school, you’ll find me rock climbing, reading, or riding my bike.
Heya! My name is Sajjan Grewal (he/him/his) and I’m a fourth-year student majoring in Physics and minoring in English Language! I love learning about how the world moves, both physically and within our minds, and I’m always excited to share that passion with others. I’m big into creative writing, going to the gym, and doing little side experiments outside of the classroom; you’ll usually find me in the Hebb Building during the school year – a place that’s only a bed short of being my permanent home – and I’m always happy to talk!
Hello, my name is MJ. I love science…and I have been using my brain learning so much physics this summer at our camps that it – Hertz!
My name is Jordan and I am a grade 5, 6, 7 teacher. My favourite subject is science and camps offer the opportunity to do this all week long! I love helping kids to understand how the world around them works through physics.
Volunteers
We have a great volunteer team to help us as classroom assistants, as staff support on tours, and as important helpers in our weekly science show! Volunteers are high school students interested in science and outreach, who love working with children! We take on two volunteers per camp. Volunteers help us make great camps, and this volunteer opportunity is an excellent addition to a resume! We offer training, mentorship, and professional references for our volunteers, as well as information referrals to different Departments, programs, facilities, clubs, and activities accessible on UBC-Vancouver campus.
For more information on how to apply for a volunteering position, please see our Volunteer Opportunities page.