Millbrook Takes First Place in Fermi Quiz at Yale Physics Olympics
Eight Millbrook students traveled to Yale University on Saturday, October 13th, to participate in the Yale Physics Olympics. Millbrook sent two teams, Absolute Zero and Quasar, which had the following students on their respective rosters:
Absolute Zero
As Yale only shared Fermi quiz questions in advance of the event, students were able to dedicate time to practicing these in advance but had to rely on their experiences from their science courses to prepare for the other events.
Back
Absolute Zero
Kevin Wang (team captain)
Chris Wedd
Hanji Xu
Kevin Yu
Quasar
Quasar
Anastasia Strulistova (team captain)
Justin DeFour
Owen Miller
Andy Qiu
"The Yale Physics Olympics is a competition designed to get students excited about physics, to test their skills in estimation, measurements, experimental design, and to build on other areas related to physics," says Jeff LaCosse, a Millbrook physics instructor.
As Yale only shared Fermi quiz questions in advance of the event, students were able to dedicate time to practicing these in advance but had to rely on their experiences from their science courses to prepare for the other events.
The study of physics is offered through two courses (Physics and Advanced Physics), and students have the option of joining our engineering team, which is offered as an athletic alternative during the winter months. "Our astronomy course also exposes students to areas of physics, such as optics, celestial mechanics, and nuclear physics," says Mr. LaCosse. "In Advanced Physics and on the engineering team, students gain valuable insights through group project-based learning or in various STEM competitions such as Team America Rocketry Challenge or VEX Robotics."
The Mustangs certainly put their physics skills to work and earned victory on multiple fronts, placing first in the Fermi quiz, second in the measurement event, and sixth place overall among 50 teams!
