Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Annual Report 2015
Mentors: Tony Spadafora & Alex Kim
Workshop Coordinator: Laurie Kerrigan
The LBNL Physics Division hosted its ninth “Physics In and Through Cosmology” workshop for QuarkNet Leadership teachers and high school students. The five day workshop from June 22 to June 26 was held at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Ten science teachers participated. Five of the teachers have been active members of QuarkNet for five or more years. Three new teachers joined the group this year. The QuarkNet Teachers and 42 students represented public and private high schools in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
The first day focused on getting all participants familiar with concepts & terms in particle physics & cosmology. This was accomplished through “mini” lectures given by returning QuarkNet teachers & two LBL researchers: Alex Kim and Danny Mittelberger.
The daily format consisted of a hands-on warm-up activity, a morning scientist talk and an afternoon talk. Between talks, groups worked on hands-on experiments (e.g. QuarkNet acitivty lead by Ken Cecire using data from ATLAS), discussed the lecture, and toured the ALS (Advanced Light Source) and Molecular Foundry research facilities. Groups also designed & carried out experiments with Cosmic Ray Detectors. Each group consisted of five to six students and one teacher.
Teachers also meet with Ken Cecire over lunch on the second day to discuss QuarkNet.
Formal presentations included:
Tony Spadafora (LBL) - Welcome from the Lab
Marty White (LBL) - Safety talk
Theresa Summer (QurkNet teacher) - Conservation Laws, Gravity, Newton’s 3 & Vectors
Alex Kim (LBL) - Introduction to the History of the Universe with
Emphasis on Dark Matter & Dark Energy
Glen Melnik (QuarkNet teacher) - General Theory of Relativity
Danny Mittelberger (LBL) - Introduction waves & applications with BELLA
Ray Adams (QuarkNet teacher retired) - Distance Ladders
Bryan Marten (QuarkNet teacher) - Element Formation
Ian Hinchliffe (LBL) - ATLAS - Higgs and other LHC Physics
Zach Marshall (Skyped from CERN) - ATLAS video, questions & answers
Peter Sorensen (LBL) - Dark Matter and Detectors
Ken Cecire (QuarkNet) - Get to know experiments & particles
Rolling with Rutherford & Quark Puzzle,
& Mass Calc. Z, and W's and Z's in ATLAS Data
Freija Descamps (LBL) - Neutrinos and SNO+
Glen Melnik (QuarkNet teacher) - Derivation of Special Theory of Relativity Equation
Phil Marshall (Stanford) - Mapping the Universe
Brian Hayden (LBL) - Supernova Cosmology and Dark Energy
Saul Perlmutter (LBL) - Surprise drop in
Blake Sherwin (LBL) - New CMB results
Carl Pennypacker (LBL) - Supernovea to FUEGO
Alex Kim, Freija Descamps, Brian Hayden, - Panel Discussion
Tony Spadafora, Carl Pennypacker, Blake Sherwin
On the last day students completed a self- evaluation of how much they learned about science concepts during the workshop. They used a scale of 1 (nothing) to 5 (a lot).
3.72 Was the average for the overall category of Cosmology and Particle Physics.
Specific concepts within that category that received the highest gain were:
|
3.93 The Cosmic Microwave background is the baby picture of the Universe when matter & energy decoupled |
2 |
5 |
5 |
12 |
18 |
3.9285714 |
|
3.86 Supernovae are the explosions of dying stars, and certain types can serve as a standard candle. |
3 |
4 |
8 |
8 |
19 |
3.8571429 |
|
3.88 The Universe’s expansion is accelerating due to Dark Energy. |
2 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
19 |
3.8809524 |
|
4.30 The Universe is approximately 5% atomic matter, 20% dark matter, and 75% dark energy. |
1 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
25 |
4.2857143 |
|
3.93 Quarks have color & flavor & make up protons & neutrons. |
0 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
18 |
3.9285714 |
|
4.02 Higgs bosons allow fundamental particles to have mass. |
2 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
19 |
4.0238095 |
|
3.98 Cosmic rays interact with material on Earth. |
2 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
15 |
3.9761905 |
3.88 Quantum fluctuations during inflation lead to stars & galaxies.
Some comments by the students and teachers include:
Meeting Saul (Perlmutter) was also really cool.
Having so many physicists come to talk about their life & work was really great.
They definitely confirmed what I want to pursue in the future!
I like everything about the workshop because I get to learn about the Universe, meet new
people, learn science from many professionals, visit laboratories, have fun & get feed.
I learned much about physics and cosmology, especially particle physics. I learned how
the fields of study are connected, what remains a mystery, and what experiments are
underway to solve these mysteries.
I really enjoyed the style in which each of the topics was taught. The amount I learned
was much greater than the amount I usually learn in school.
It taught me that there is still so much we don’t know & that curiosity, interest is the way
to find the path through life.
I enjoyed learning just for the sake of learning & curiosity.
I understand the science world better from hearing about current live research from
working scientists.
Teachers expressed their views and asked questions that provoked deep thoughts.
I like the interactive activity, especially Rolling with Rutherford, QuarkNet puzzle
– educational & fun
I like presentations from scientists on cutting-edge research.
