Friday Flyer Super Summer Special - July 1, 2020
Spotlight on the Kansas State University QuarkNet Center
Now that summer has arrived, QuarkNet workshops are in full swing at centers across the country, as they have been for the last 20+ years. However obviously, this year, is not a normal year, and as a result, most workshops look quite different than in previous years. Without the ability to meet physically, many are meeting virtually to connect, support one another, learn some particle physics and share teaching strategies. Kansas State University was one of the first centers to host a virtual workshop, meeting on Zoom during the mornings of June 22–24. This provided an opportunity for QuarkNet staff and fellows to try out the new Neutrino Data Virtual Workshop, one of several virtual workshops we created this spring. Participants worked through several QuarkNet activities modified slightly to fit the virtual format. In addition, in a "share-a-thon" teachers shared ideas, tools and strategies. You can check out KSU's complete workshop agenda for details.
News from QuarkNet Central
Center leads: You may want to consider a cosmic ray virtual workshop this summer. Our Cosmic Ray fellows have developed a template for a virtual workshop and are available to facilitate a virtual workshop for your center. Please contact Mark Adams and your QuarkNet staff if you are interested. High schools have collected around 100,000 data files on cosmic ray muons which are available to everyone via the Cosmic Ray e-Lab. In a remote learning environment, teachers and students can design their own experiment to measure fundamental properties like the speed or lifetime of muons. This page provides documentation and support for a variety of cosmic ray analyses.
Full support for QuarkNet cosmic ray muon detectors is available again at Fermilab. Teachers and mentors with detectors can request and get assistance for needed updates, repairs and replacements by contacting Dave Hoppert (hoppert@fnal.gov). Shipping and receiving is operational at Fermilab, so you can send in broken components or an unused detector to the address below. Fermilab can pay for the shipping; Dave can give you the Fermilab FEDEX account number if you need it.
David Hoppert
Education Office/QuarkNet Project
Fermilab MS 226
Kirk Road and Pine Street
Batavia, IL 60510-5011 USA
Phone: +1 (630) 840-3188
Fax: +1 (630) 840-8248
Physics Experiment Roundup
Plenty has happened since the last FF and we have a sample. Fermilab News starts us off with a celebration of sorts: CMS has published 1,000 papers. Interactions takes over with more news. First, again from LHC, we have a rule of fours: ATLAS has found evidence of four-top-quark events and LHCb has discovered a new and charming tetraquark particle. Moving all the way to Japan, the SuperKEKB collider in Tsukuba has achieved a world record luminosity. And, from everywhere, RIKEN physicists have used the previous LHCf detector at RHIC to reveal a mystery about proton collision results.
Resources
You want videos? We have videos. Let's start with an explanation of Fermilab's newest accelerator, then go to Nobel Laureate Carlo Rubbia on neutrino research, and finally land on a recent issue of Don Lincoln's Subatomic Stories, What scientists know about neutrino masses.
But wait, there's more! If you keep reading right now, you will find summer resources from Perimeter Institute and an upgraded version of PhET. And don't forget about the QuarkNet page devoted to resources for teaching physics online.
The AAPT 2020 Summer Meeting in Grand Rapids will be meeting virtually. Several sessions have been added with a focus on teaching in a distance learning environment. The cost of registration is less than normal since the meeting will be virtual. For more information, including how to register, take a look at the AAPT 2020 Summer Meeting website.
Just for Fun
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Spencer Pasero: spasero@fnal.gov
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu