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News Release
Contact: Tom Parisi, NIU Public Affairs
(815) 753-3635
October 17, 2003
NIU invites families to visit 'haunted laboratory'
DeKalb, Ill.--Those who dare are invited to explore NIU's Haunted Physics Laboratory from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, on the first floor of Faraday Hall.
The haunted lab will provide an afternoon of spooky fun and hands-on activities. The NIU Physics Club and Frontier Physics outreach program are sponsoring the free event.
NIU's Frontier Physics program is known far and wide for its traveling road show. The program last year visited 58 schools, making 160 presentations to about 12,000 students.
"We know from experience that kids get excited about Halloween, and we're hoping to use the occasion to introduce them to the wonders of light, magnetism and nature," said resident mad scientist Pati Sievert, who is preparing the haunted laboratory. Sievert also serves as coordinator of Frontier Physics.
"This just seemed like a natural way to get kids' attention," she said.
The darkened, windowless laboratory is definitely an attention grabber. Magnets float around a broomstick, a ghost levitates and an eerie fog seeps from a "witch's cauldron," filled with a concoction of liquid nitrogen and water.
Visitors will have an opportunity to assemble their own kaleidoscopes, create glow-in-the-dark drawings and make artworks that will only appear normal in a funhouse-like mirror. Glow-in-the-dark face crayons also will add to the fun.
Demonstrations are geared toward students ages 5 through 12. Despite all the spookiness, the Haunted Physic Laboratory promises to be an "un-scary family event." It is recommended, though, that adults accompany children.
Parking will be available in the NIU Parking Garage along the west side of Normal Road, about one block north of Lincoln Highway (Route 38). Use the south entrance of Faraday Hall West (across the street from the parking garage) and follow the signs. A west-side entrance to Faraday Hall West is handicapped-accessible.
For more information on the event, contact Pati Sievert at (815) 753-6418 or by e-mail at sievert@physics.niu.edu. More information on Frontier Physics is available at www.physics.niu.edu/frontier.
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