Saturday, March 30, 2013

Computer Science Outreach Magic

For several months, I always carried a deck of cards in my backpack. I like playing gin rummy as much as anyone, but that's not the reason why. I carried them because I had discovered Computer Science Outreach Magic.

I learned a Computer Science magic trick from cs4fn.org/magic, and I've been hooked ever since. I've performed this trick to much success when manning booths at outreach events and teacher visiting days. It lets you engage people while illustrating a bit of computer science. At the PyLadies' lunch at PyCon '13, Esther Nam convinced me to write a blog post about this card trick I was so excited about. "Lots of people want to know how to demonstrate computer science without a computer!" she said.

Teaching the card trick to Computer Science student volunteers at the Tucson Festival of Books.
Performing the big reveal at a University of Arizona College of Science ceremony.