NEWS from Georgeana Barboza

" ​I created and presented an exhibit called "Colors in Motion" for the Family Day at the Alabama Museum, where I explained different phenomena of light, presenting the Newton’s disc to show how white light is composed of many colors and how persistence of vision works, along with other exhibits such as refraction with a pencil in water. I presented slides on a tablet, prepared using publicly available educational resources, created a QR code with instructions for families to build the discs at home, added a hashtag so they could share their own creations afterward, and even designed a playful “Roll Tide” sign where the Newton’s disc stood in for the O. My husband complemented this by helping with the hands-on assembly of the discs and showing the effect of the colors blending into white when the disc spins. It was rewarding to see the reactions—some were surprised, others (including children) already understood the concepts, an adult walked around the museum still spinning the disc, one woman happily recalled her childhood, and many visitors stopped to take pictures of the “Roll Tide” sign. This was my first outreach experience in the US, shortly after starting my PhD, and it was both a personal challenge and an academic accomplishment for me."