Emory physicist takes science out of the lab and onto the playground

Almost every month, Justin Burton and his graduate students step out of the lab and bring loud, colorful experiments to younger students. WUPA via CNN Newsource

ATLANTA, Ga. (WUPA) -- Inside a small lab at Emory University’s Math & Science Center, physicist Justin Burton spends his days teaching and asking some very big questions.

How do dust particles behave in plasma? How fast are glaciers melting? Is it possible to handle delicate materials without ever touching them by levitating them with sound?

“If you look at those particles, it’s quite complex,” Burton said, gesturing toward a video monitor displaying an experiment in progress.

Burton’s research has earned recognition from the National Academy of Sciences and caught the attention of the New York Times, which recently featured a piece headlined “The Secret to Sliding Eggs Off Stainless Steel.”

For Burton, the mission behind all of it is clear.

“We’re trying to explore nature’s secrets, but we’re not just doing it randomly,” he said. “We do care about important problems.”

In another room, a small-scale model of a glacier, composed of what appears to be white blocks of plastic submerged in a water flow, yields valuable insights into the impacts of melting glaciers on rising sea levels.

But beyond the research, awards, and academic recognition, Burton says he’s made an even bigger discovery.

Almost every month for more than a decade, he and his graduate students have packed up their experiments and carried them out of the university and onto the playground at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Decatur. There, the laws of physics get demonstrated loudly.

“Usually, making it big and loud gets them excited,” Burton said.

The demonstrations are exactly that. Chemical reactions. Exploding trash cans. Balloons that go out with a bang. Burton sees the spectacle as inseparable from the science.

“There’s enjoying the wonders of nature like blowing up trash cans, and there’s discovering her secrets as well,” he said. “So, we gotta do both.”

Fifth-grade science teacher Tracy Hammer has watched the program’s impact stretch well beyond her classroom walls.

“I’ve had kids who have written me letters, sent me emails from high school, thanking me for introducing them to science, and thanking Dr. Burton,” Hammer said.

That kind of response — observable, measurable, and lasting — is exactly the proof Burton finds most meaningful.

Some of the most important discoveries, it turns out, don’t always happen in a laboratory. Sometimes they happen on a playground, with exploding balloons, a group of fifth graders, and a lesson they never forget.

Burton and his team are currently on their summer break from the Laurel Ridge program and are set to return when the new school year begins in the fall.

Brian Unger