Although newspaper articles are not the most obvious texts for physics instruction, one professor sees things differently.

Students in the Newspaper Physics learning community, which brings together English 105 and Physics 290, had the chance to explore the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and interview top scientists last week.

Fermilab, located in Batavia, Ill., is the top research laboratory for high-energy physics in North America.

The class, which takes a field trip to Fermilab every semester, allows students to interact with top physicists and get a closer look at the field of physics.

“It was really interesting to see everything he talked about in class,” said Jennifer Christensen, freshman in English, referring to John Hauptman, professor of physics and astronomy.

Hauptman said although Fermilab is very open to elementary and high school students, it is a rarity that an entire class from a college visits.

Hauptman and Jennifer Thornburg, lecturer of English and co-instructor of the English sections of the class, said Newspaper Physics was structured so non-science majors could understand physics through more of an English outlook, and vice versa. Students approach physics through Hauptman’s explanations of newspaper articles and, along with receiving the same basic instruction as in English 105, learn to interview and write for nonscientists.

Students said they liked the way information is presented and enjoy learning about the large amount of research conducted at Iowa State.

Dereck Lewis, freshman in pre-business, said he liked how Hauptman taught physics through real-life situations like rainbows and car crashes, rather than the tedious basics of the subject.

“It’s for people who don’t care about physics,” he said, quickly adding that students leave the class caring.

Greg Bonett, junior in electrical engineering who took the class last year, said the class was extremely beneficial.

He said during his sophomore year he entered the class “vaguely” interested in physics, but came away with an appreciation for physics. Bonett said the class sparked his interested in physics, and after taking additional classes on the subject he decided to double major in physics.

“It definitely solidified my interest,” Bonett said.

“I decided I wanted physics to be a part of my career.”

Hauptman and Thornburg, who are in their fifth semester of teaching the course, said no other learning community on campus more closely integrates English 105 with a science or has the variety of majors.

“The advantage is that students come from diverse backgrounds,” Thornburg said.

Sam Pritchard, lecturer of English and co-instructor of the English sections of the class, said it is a good opportunity for students to be able to interact with a scientist as accomplished as Hauptman, who often stays after class to finish discussions. Hauptman was part of a team of physicists at Fermilab who in 1995 discovered the “top” quark — the sixth, final and most massive one. Quarks are the basic parts of matter, and the high-precision measurement of the sixth particle’s mass could help explain the origin of mass.

Hauptman said the idea of using newspaper articles to explain physics first came to him when he was at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he would share an article and see the students suddenly perk up and listen.

“It’s like telling a joke in the middle of a boring lecture. It lightens up the room,” he said.