The SPS Intern Experience: Preparing the 2009 SPS Outreach Catalyst Kit

The Society of Physics Students' (SPS) Outreach Catalyst Kit -- also known as the SOCK, is a collection of exploratory physics and science activities specifically designed for SPS Chapters and collegiate physics departments to use in outreach presentations to local elementary, middle and high school students. New SOCKs have been prepared every year since 2001 by SPS national interns and office staff. This year's SOCK has a theme centered around Galileo Galilei and his experiments, in honor of 2009 being the International Year of Astronomy. The SOCK contains lessons, demonstration, and activities that span topics such as optics and the refracting telescope, inclined planes and the formation of moon craters. In this talk, I will highlight the procedure SPS uses in preparing and testing the SOCK activities at various pilot sites as well as discuss my overall experience as an SPS intern.