W. B. Yeats, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, once said, ‘Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.’ It is providing this ‘spark’ that the MUPPETS program is all about; building a foundation for further interest in young students about science.

‘MUPPETS’ is the Melbourne University Physics Promotional, Education and Teaching Services , and has been running from the School of Physics in various forms since 1984. Originally a concept developed by Ken Amos in the School of Physics, it is now run by physics academics Roger Rassool and Max Thompson. However, the organisation and running of the program is predominantly voluntary.

WARP is the name of our International Physics and Laser Show. Behind the scenes are a team of about 20 people comprising staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students from the School of Physics, many of whom have had no experience in lighting, theatre, sound production or script writing; but who are excited by science, are enthusiastic and learn very quickly!

The schools program consists of the WARP team visiting schools and presenting a science show of carefully selected demonstrations of basic physics phenomena. As well as the science show, our physics staff and students assist in hands-on activies with the school-children, building take-home instruments such as telescopes, perioscopes and spectroscopes. All activities and shows are provided free of charge, including all the take-home instruments!

We aim not only to excite students with the program, but also the teachers, and provide them with new ideas for primary level science activies. Another of our goals is to provide these experiences to all school children regardless of geographic isolation or socio-economic background. For these reasons, the MUPPETS program is entirely free and a travelling show. We have recently travelled across outback NSW and in regional Victoria and are looking into options for the Northern Territory in years to come.