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Physics in and Through Cosmology Workshop 2011 |
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A QuarkNet Leadership Workshop for High School Teachers and Their Students This summer 33 high school students from 17 different Bay area schools, 9 teachers and 1 Cal Berkeley student endeavored to understand how the infinitely small and the infinitely large are connected in a 7 day workshop. The workshop was hosted by the BCCP Global Teacher Academy and the Berkeley Lab Physics QuarkNet program. Talks were given by LBNL & BCCP physicists on quarks, the LHC, Formation of the Elements, Super Novea, Dark Matter & Dark Energy, The History & Design of the Universe. See student responses. Student Responses
Day 1 – Welcome to our Universe Warm Up:
Pre-test Concept (Diagnostic) Evaluations: students evaluated their own proficiency with basic chemistry, physics, and other science concepts.
Pre_Posttest Concept Evaluation(1).xls Cosmological Concept Maps: students examined their understanding of the universe by creating a concept map that connected different cosmological terms through labeled relationships
Activity: Guess What I am Students were given a cosmological/physics term on their back so that they were unable to see their term. Their goal was to go around and ask other students for clues in order to figure out their term. Lab Safety Rules with Marty White:
Lecture: Io Kleiser – Introduction to Supernovae Undergraduate student Io Kleiser discussed her research in supernovae, introducing both fundamental ideas of cosmology as well as sharing her experience in undergraduate research
Small Group Discussion: Students were divided into smaller groups led by a Quarknet teacher and introduced a number of key concepts in physics that would be essential in topics covered later in the workshop Discuss the 4 forces – what does each do? When & how is each one important? Which one holds the Universe together or does it?
Design & carry out an experiment to determine the acceleration of gravity. What do we know (in detail) from the beginning of the Universe until now! How do we know it? Diagram of the Universe from the smallest part to the largest. (This does not have to be to scale, but maybe you can figure out a way of doing it to scale?) Hand out and discuss the particle chart. What is all this? How do the different things relate? Who are really at the bottom, how heavy are they, what are their color & taste, & how charged are they?
Lecture: Kris Whelan – Quarknet Kris Whelan discusses the history and activities of Quarknet.
http://pdg.lbl.gov/quarkdance/particledance Day 2 – The Big and the Small Warm-up: Particle Skit Students were divided into groups and given a physics vocabulary term; each group had to create a short skit that would allow the audience to determine the group’s vocabulary term. Lecture: Nao Suzuki – Tour of the Universe Nao Suzuki guided students through various landmarks in the observable universe, with highlights such as stellar nebulae and a timeline of the evolution of the universe.
Follow-Up: Questions from Day 1 with the entire Workshop Lecture: Lauren Tompkins – The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Lauren Tompkins explained the distinctions as well as the unifying similarities between cosmology and particle physics, while introducing the particle physics research occurring in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Distance Activities with Miles Chen: Miles Chen led the students through a number of literally hands-on activities (using fingers & fists) that demonstrated techniques in measuring the distance between faraway objects, between humans and stellar objects.
Time Dilation with Glen Melnik: Glen explained Einstein’s equations of special relativity and quizzed students. http://aether.lbl.gov/bccp/Academy/workshop_09/workshop4_09.html Day 3: Elements and Particles The Elements and the Big Picture Activity: Students were given a hidden word identified only with blanks and corresponding clues; each clue was that of an element whose chemical symbol spelled part of the hidden word. The students then grouped themselves with others with the same word and tried to connect their term with Carl Sagan’s statement: “To make an apple pie, you must first invent the universe.”
Lecture: Rick Norman – Stellar Alchemy: Origin of the Elements Rick Norman reiterates important cosmological concepts through the overview of nucleosynthesis; the genesis of elements from the primordial universe, within stars, and during the violent events of supernovae.
Activity: Parallax Using meter sticks, students used the parallax technique to measure the distance between their thumb and the whiteboard, as well as the distance between the lab and the Golden Gate Bridge. Students developed their own technique to do this based on Miles Chen’s discussion. See this video for and explanation: http://aether.lbl.gov/bccp/Academy/pdfs/Parallax.pdf
Hubble Constant Activity: Supernovae data was used by students to examine the logic behind Hubble’s Constant and the expansion of the universe.
Day 4: What’s out there? Lecture: Miles Chen – Further Distances Elaborating on the distance and parallax activities held during the previous days, Miles Chen puts such techniques into perspective by discussing the expansion of the universe and the relative distance of other stellar objects. Infrared Research Tour: Students had the opportunity to tour the research division of Lawrence Berkeley Lab responsible for the development of efficient insulating windows and studies of infrared radiation.
Lecture: Peter Nugent – Supernovae, Super Computing, & the Fate of the Universe Lab scientist Peter Nugent described an ongoing project that focuses on finding supernova events in different sectors of the night sky.
Activity: Supernova Identification Using the online tools provided by Peter Nugent and his associates at: http://supernova.galaxyzoo.org students were able to look at satellite and observatory images to determine the presence of a supernova in the captured images.
Day 5: Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Activity: Raytek Gun Infrared-detecting devices were used by students to examine the different patterns of temperature in the auditorium. Students also used the Raytek’s to measure temperature difference over ice cubes on a tray & related these differences to the CMB.
Lecture: George Smoot – Cosmic Microwave Background Nobel laureate George Smoot discusses his research in cosmic microwave background radiation, which elucidates the origins of the universe. A video of the talk can be found here:
Tour: Advanced Light Source Laboratory Students were able to see the advanced light source at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, which is used by many different scientists and fields for research purposes.
Question and Answer Session with Eric Linder: Theoretical physicist Eric Linder answered students’ questions about various topics in cosmology and physics, and helped clarify unclear concepts that came up during the workshop. Here are some of the questions: i. Discuss forces at the Quantum Level. ii. Explain Black holes & entropy. iii. Discuss nothingness / vacuum. Despite quantum fluctuations, is there still "nothing" within a vacuum, especially at one point in time? iv. What is accelerated by the weak force? Does it cause bosons to be shot out of atoms? v. How can the 3 quarks that make up a proton or a neutron have such small masses, compared to the proton or neutron, especially if the gluons traveling at the speed of light are massless?
Day 6: Fundamental Questions Warm-up: Fundamental Questions Students were given a question to discuss with 2 other students. Lecture: Andre Walker-Loud – Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos Lab scientist Andre Walker-Loud discussed his educational career and how he became interested in particle physics. Andre’s talk related the time with the temperature to explain major events in the Universe’s evolution. He also introduced some developments in his research.
Activity: Cosmic Ray Detector After familiarizing themselves with the detectors, students designed & conducted their own experiments to examine the incidence of cosmic rays, specifically muons, and the effect of various materials on the passage of cosmic rays. This article explains Cosmic Rays:
Lecture: Narayan Sankaran – Physics and Sound Narayan Sankaran demonstrated his work in the sonification of solar frequencies and showed how he was able to apply the same principles to terrestrial phenomena such as ocean waves and wind.
Day 7: The Dark Side
Activity: Centripetal Force Students were given a worksheet and sling weighted at both ends in order to illustrate centripetal force. They then determined that the planets orbit the sun according to this law but they could not mimic galaxy motion this way. Lecture: Shirley Ho – Dark Energy and Dark Matter Shirley Ho described her research in dark energy and dark matter, two components that comprise the majority of the universe but are still poorly understood. See more about Shirley’s research here:
Post-test Concept Evaluation: Students evaluated their understanding of basic science concepts especially in the context of improvement over the course of the workshop. Place a link to: ‘Summary of Science Concepts Improvement.doc’Final Concept Maps: Students applied the knowledge gained from the workshop to create new concept maps that transcended the concept maps created at the beginning of the workshop. The preliminary maps showed an average of 20 relationships. The final maps showed an average of 70, with the largest change being from 20 relationships to 119.
Certificates of Completion and Awards: Students received their well-earned certificates, handed out by Peter Nugent. George Smoot was skyped-in from Paris |
