02 December 2016

Register your group! 

LHC World Wide Data Day is a 24-hour span, midnight-to-midnight UTC, in which students from around the world can analyze data from the Large Hadron Collider and share results via an ongoing, 24 hour videoconference with physicist moderators taking shifts in four locations around the world: CoEPP in Australia, CERN in Switzerland, Fermilab in the United States, and TRIUMF in Canada.

Who is eligible:

LHC-W2D2 is open to groups of 4 or more high school students who have the aptitude and interest to analyze data from the Large Hadron Collider. We encourage but do not require each group to work with a sponsoring teacher. Groups of university undergraduate (or equivalent) students may also participate. It helps but is not required to have studied physics. To register, please directly contact W2D2 Coordination by November 20, 2016.

What happens:

On or before 02 December 2016, groups will meet to analyze data using one of the recommended measurements below. All data analyzed will be from the Large Hadron Collider and released to the public. After data analysis, the group uploads their result at least 30 minutes before they connect at their pre-assigned time via Vidyo to their videoconference. Videoconferences are nominally 30 minutes long (but may take less time) and have up to 5 groups; each group has 3 minutes to present their results. If there is open time after the presentations and questions from the moderators, students may stay to chat with the moderators and each other.

Recommended LHC measurements:

• ATLAS muon track distribution
• CMS muon track distribution

Resources:

• Intro slides
• Practice spreadsheet (sandbox)
• Results speadsheet (use for 2nd December)
• Tally sheet
• About detector geometry
• Teacher notes

Messages for group leaders from W2D2 Coordination:

November 11, 2016 - Videconference schedule

November 17, 2016 - Assignment of datasets

November 22, 2016 - Vidyo and more

November 30, 2016 - Videoconference guide

***

CMS WZH Measurement 

• Description
• Requirements for hardware and software
• Outline of the day
• Student procedure
• Presentation of results
• Sample questions
• Moderators
• Material for students and teachers
• Low/No Bandwidth Supplement

• Students use event display of (mostly) leptonic decays to determine
  • lepton ID (electron, muon),
  • likely particle ID (W, Z, zoo, Higgs),
  • charge if W, using curvature of electron or muon tracks,
• Students use particle counts to find e:µ and W+:W- ratios.
• Students create mass plots. They find the mass of the Z boson and a possible Higgs signal but also other peaks in the mass plot to reveal additional particles.
• Students use the iSpy-webgl event display and the CMS Instrument for Masterclass Analysis (CIMA). Instructional screencasts are available.

Requirements

for hardware and software
Online:

• Reliable, high-speed internet connection
• Up-to-date version of Firefox, Chrome, or Safari

• Masterclass DVD 2016
• A browser that supports the FileReader API: Firefox 3.6+, Chrome 6+, IE 10+, Safari 6+, Opera 11.5+
• Spreadsheet (e.g. MS Excel, OpenOffice) may be needed
• Work out a system for data transfer from student level to institute level and then for transmission of results to moderators
• Note: Moderators cannot show institute mass plot results in the videoconference. The mentor should share the institute mass plot through shared desktop. (In the Fermilab-based masterclass, there is an Indico page for the videoconference and the mentor can upload material such as a mass plot by means of a modification key.)

Outline of the day

• Arrival/Registration (~30 min)
• Cloud chamber, e/m apparatus, or other "gateway experience" apparatus setup for students to inspect
• Start and Ice-breaker activity (~30 min)
  • Students in small groups create 1-2 good questions about particle physics and/or LHC. Where practical, groups should be made of students from different schools.
• Mentor presentation
  • Template (~60 min, including Q&A)
• Tour of facilities/labs/cool stuff (~45 min)
• Analysis preparation (1-2 teachers facilitate; ~60 min, including Q&A)
  • Presentation (template)
  • CMS data analysis slides 
  • Guided practice with discussion
• Lunch with a physicist (~60 min)
• Data Analysis (~90 min)
  • Cheat sheet
• Pre-conference (~30 min)
  • Students and mentor discuss meaning of analysis results.
  • Students and mentor discuss questions for other institutes.
  • Revisit questions from ice-breaker, discuss which to ask in video conference.
• Designated IT expert preps video connection.
• Videoconference (~30 min)
  • Greetings
  • Presentation of results
  • Discussion of results
  • Q&A
• Summing up and evaluation (~15 min)

• Each pair of students analyzes a set of 100 events
• For each event, distinguish between electron and muon decay and between W+, W-, Z candidate, Higgs candidate, and zoo.
• Record into CIMA.
• Be prepared to discuss in Masterclass Institute and in videoconference; prepare good questions.

Student procedure

It is important to carefully note the following:

1. Mentors and tutors need to be familiar with CIMA in order to guide the students successfully. 
2. The description below is for the current event display, iSpy-webgl. which works for both online and offline masterclasses. This version is recommended for the WZH-path masterclasses used in International Masterclasses.
3. The older iSpy-online is still recommended for the J/Psi-path masterclass and as a back-up for the WZH-path.

Mentors should guide students to follow these procedures for the use of iSpy and CIMA:

Screencasts: iSpy-webgl   CIMA

• Pairs of students are assigned sets of 100 events to analyze in iSpy-online or iSpy-dvd.
• Event sets are found in the iSPy-webgl by choosing the folder icon (top left).
• A first window appears. If the data is to be taken from the internet, choose "Open file(s) from web" in this window. If the data is offline, choose the button under "Open local file(s)" and navigate to the file. Either way, a second window will open.
• In the second window, students first choose their event set (labelled masterclass_1, masterclass_2, etc.). The entire set of 100 events will then load into the browser. This may take some time.
• After the set of 100 events is loaded, a list of events in that set will appear on the left side of the window. The student chooses the first of these events and then the "load" button. This will open the first event.
• Students also open CIMA and then find their masterclass by date ("Choose your Masterclass") and then institute ("Choose your location"). They then choose the number of their event set ("Choose your group"): this is the same number as the event set in iSpy.
• Notes on CIMA for students:
  • All institutes are strongly encouraged to use CIMA rather than a local spreadsheet.
  • There are two copies of CIMA for students:
    • Production version for students at https://www.i2u2.org/elab/cms/cima/index.php
    • backup/develoment copy at http://leptoquark.hep.nd.edu/sschoppmann/index.php.
    •  
  • Please use the production version of CIMA for your masterclass. It will have your date and your institute to choose from and will be at the URL for the masterclass videoconference inn which you will participate. If needed, Google spreadsheets will be provided online in case of any problems with CIMA.
  • CIMA is also linked at the CMS Library page at /page/cms-wzh-path-measurement-2016 (scroll down to Data Analysis).
  •  

• Lepton ID (electron, muon). This is to characterize the event, not individual particles.
  • If the event has one muon track (long, red) or two muon tracks (actually likely a muon-antimuon pair) it is a single muon event.
  • If the event has one electron track (short, green) or two electron tracks (actually likely an electron-positron pair) is is a single electron event.
• Likely particle ID (W, Z, zoo, Higgs)
  • W candidate appears as a single electron track or muon track and a missing Et vector (purplish track, possibly dashed, always transverse to beamline)
  • Z candidate appears as 2 muons or 2 electrons; it is not always a Z. It may or may not have missing Et in the event.
  • Some events will have multiple lepton tracks plus missing Et. The student can choose a track with the cursor and a window will appear with track information. The most important of these is transverse momentum, pt. This can be used to distinguish which tracks are important and which are low-energy background. 
  • Suspected Higgs (H); these are rare but noteworthy. Events show as
    • H→ZZ: 2 electrons and 2 muons, or 4 electrons, or 4 muons.
    • H→γγ: no electron tracks but 2 large energy deposits (seen as towers) in ECAL.
  • Zoo events are "none of the above" but there can be interesting events among these.
• Charge if W, using curvature of electron or muon tracks. It helps to select the X-Y view and "orthographic mode" (the "flat cube" button), zoom in and to use a paper straight edge.
• Mass if Z or H candidate (taken from CIMA)

• Choose whether it is an electron or muon event under "final state".
• If the event is a Higgs or zoo candidate (under "special"), no final state is chosen.
• Choose the most likely parent particle under "primary" or "special". If it is a Z or Higgs candidate, a mass will appear. If it is a W or zoo, no mass will appear as we do not include these in the mass plot. If a W and a charge can be determined, choose either W+ or W-. Onlu choose W without a sign if the lepton track is so straight that a probable charge cannot be determined.. 
• Choose the Submit button. This puts the data below in a line corresponding to the Event Index number.
• In the case of an error, clicking the data line will erase it; you can then try it again. 

• When a  mass is shown in the line for an event, the students should record it in the Mass Histogram. The student should:
  • Choose "Mass Histogram" at the top.
  • Zoom to get a good size for the massplot, if needed, using ctrl-minus (PC) or cmd-minus (Mac).
  • The numbers on the horizontal axis are the values of the middle of the bins of width 2 GeV. Select the bin by clicking. This will iterate the massplot up by one for that mass. 
  • To remove an errant mass iteration, use ctrl-click (PC) or cmd-click (Mac) on the same number.
• Important note: The Mass Histogram is attached to all groups in the same location. Thus when a student adds to or deletes from the Mass Histogram,the student is doing this for everyone at the masterclass institute. Thus students will see the Mass Histogram seem to change by itself. This is  the normal result of other students working on it. 
• The total of number of events at each mass is then automatically transferred to the mass plot in the Results tab.

Presentation of results

Sample questions

• How many peaks are there in the mass plot?
• Where is the Z peak? What is the mass of the Z boson?
• What do the other peaks mean?
• Is there anything interesting in the 120-130 GeV range? What is it?
• What is the ratio of electrons to muons? Is it close to what we should expect?
• What is the W+:W- ratio? What should it be?

• Why are the widths or heights or numbers of peaks different from one Institute to the next?
• Why do different Institutes get different ratios? How did they identify electrons or muons or W candidates or Z candidates or zoo events? How did they measure charge for W candidates?
• Now that the Tevatron is shut down, what do you do at Fermilab?
• Is it boring at CERN when the LHC is not running?
• Why did you become a physicist?

Moderators

• Mass Histogram - students use "Events Tables" to record W or Z candidates, e or µ events, Higgs candidates, and "zoo" events. Choosing Z or Higgs candidates results in masses popping up, which students transfer into the Mass Histogram.
• Results - numbers of different types of particles are automatically transferred here; e:µ and W+:W- are calculated for the whole institute.

The moderators will access the Admin page of CIMA to view these and share them on Vidyo. They will also view and share the combined Mass Histogram and combined Results for all institutes participating in their videoconference.

1. Go to the CIMA Admin page. There is also a backup/development copy.
2. Log in. The user name and password will be sent separately.
3. Please do not touch anything above Manage Tables.
4. Go to the part of the page under the Manage Tables heading. To view the Results and Mass Histogram pages for one institute: choose the date under Masterclasses and the institute under Table and then choose the Results button. To view the combined Results and Mass Histogram for all institutes that day: choose the date under Masterclasses but do not choose anything under Table and then go to the Results button.

 

Material

for students and teachers:

• Classroom prep activities
  • Rolling with Rutherford at /data-portfolio/activity/rolling-rutherford
  • Quark workbench at /data-portfolio/activity/quark-workbench
  • Calculate the mass of the top quark from Tevatron data at /data-portfolio/activity/calculate-top-quark-mass
  • Calculate the mass of the Z boson from LHC data at /data-portfolio/activity/calculate-z-mass
• Aid in masterclass
  • Analysis presentation at /sites/default/files/cmsanalysis2016_v0.ppt
  • CMS Masterclass "Cheat Sheet" at http://leptoquark.hep.nd.edu/~kcecire/drupal_lib/files2016/CMScheat_wzh16_v0.pdf
  • Student webcast on using iSpy-webgl: Download (large file)(small file), View(YouTube)
  • CIMA webcast: View

Low/No Bandwidth Supplement

In the case where bandwidth or connection to CIMA is a problem, please use these alternative steps:

• Download what you need:
  • iSpy-webgl (zip file; works best in Firefox)
  • Data  (CMS doc-db page with ig files)
  • README file (txt file with basic instructions)
  • DVD (contains iSpy, data files, and README).
• Distribute the spreadsheet mc2016dvd_students to students. It is in the “more” folder of the DVD.
• Students should find their dataset in the Datasets tab. For each event they examine in iSpy-dvd, students should:
  • place a “1” (and only a “1”) under electron or muon only if the event is a W- or Z-candidate.
  • place a “1” (and only a “1”) under W+ cand, W- cand, W cand, or Z cand only if the event is a W- or Z-candidate.
  • place a “1” (and only a “1”) under “zoo” if the event cannot be characterized.
  • place a “1” (and only a “1”) under Higgs cand only if the event is a Higgs (diphoton or 4-lepton) candidate.
• If the student characterizes the event as a Z or Higgs candidate, a mass in GeV will appear in the rightmost column. The student should then go to the Results tab and place a “1” (and only a “1”) above the mass (rounded to the nearest odd number) in the cell directly above the mass in row 33. If this cell is filled, the student goes to the next one up. The student then returns to the Datasets tab and continues to work.
• Once the data analysis has stopped, the student should find the total numbers of electrons, muons, W+, and W- from the bottom of their dataset and write these down. They should also write down the total non-zero number of events for each mass (with the mass) from the Resutls tabs. These numbers must be reported to the mentors. Students may use the Data Report Form found in the “more” folder of the DVD.
• A mentor or a teacher can then type in the totals in the mc2016dvd_mentors spreadsheet, found in the “more” folder of the DVD. The will create a combined e/μ, W+/W-, and mass plot for the whole institute.

The results cannot be combined with the other masterclass institutes in a videoconference but they can be shared via the Vidyo desktop. Upon request, a Google version of the mentors spreadsheet can be made to make entering data much quicker. Send an e-mail to kcecire@nd.edu for this.

or: We had a great masterclass, so now what?

This page is to help to guide teachers and mentors to lead interested students beyond the masterclass if they want to.

Organize.

There are many ways to put together an act to follow the masterclass but the first step is to organize. Here are some ways.

Teachers can

• Make a class project
• Create a new class lesson
• Foster a smaller student group - like a Physics Club - that can meet after school.

Mentors can:

• Invite interested students back for futher work
• Visit the schools.
• Meet up with teachers.

How you organize will influence what you do to folloe the masterclass. What you want to do will influence how you organize. Either way, a thriving teacher group helps support the effort and thriving student groups can do great things.

More data is more data.

There is more data out there - much more - and more was in which it can be analyzed.

Try another masterclass measurement.

If you have already done, say, the ATLAS Z-path measurement, you might try some of the others. How about the CMS J/Psi path? LHCb? You can find these and more at:

• Institutes page
• International Masteclasses website.

Analyze data in spreadsheet form.

Here are some spreadsheets with a limited number of 4-vectors from masterclass data. Students can use them to calculate invariant masses and make scatter plots of one variable vs another to see what they get. The following data is from CMS.

• W → lν candidates (xls)
• Z → ee candidates (csv)
• Z → μμ candidates (csv)
• J/Ψ → μμ candidates (xls)

Here is an example of what students can do:

Use the spreadsheet of lepton-neutrino events. Calculate the mass of each lepton from four vectors using E²=p²+m². Plot these on the same graph as a function of line number. You should get 2 mass bands for 2 different particles. What masses? How can you tell? Which particles are they?

Analyze data in e-Labs.

QuarkNet has facilitated three e-Labs, which are online environments for students to conduct rich, ongoing investigations using data from real experiments. They take some investigating and some getting used to. It helps greatly to have an introductory teacher workshop. Here are the e-Labs with links to people who can help.

• CMS e-Lab (Ken Cecire)
• Cosmic Ray e-Lab (Bob Peterson)
• LIGO e-Lab (Dale Ingram)

Each e-Lab asks for credentials but you can log in as a Guest and use many of the features until you are ready to request your own account. You can find more information on e-Labs at http://www.i2u2.org.

Try something new.

LHC Open Data Portal.

In terms of amount of data, number of different formats, and variety of types, the LHC Open Data Portal just has more. Yet we still need to work out the best ways to use it. Go there. Try it. Experiment.

Virtual Atom Smasher

Virtual atom smasher is an educational activity that has been developed by Ioannis Charalampidis, Peter Skands, and Francois Grey. The team is now looking for high-school students who have been in masterclasses and would enjoy being alpha testers of the game. Encouraging your students would be appreciated! The project can be introduced to students by using a one-slide summary or a short presentation. Please guide your students to the signup page: They can register there and be contacted by the team as soon as the game is ready for testing.

Rock the LHC!

Rock the LHC is a video contest sponsored by the University of Notre Dame for U.S. residents over 18 years age. Submissions start 23 March 2016 and the deadline is 31 May 2016. Learn more at the website, on YouTube, or on Facebook.

Communicate.

The students have learned something about particle physics, the Standard Model, and the LHC. This may be time to share what they have learned even as they delve deeper. They can make presentations to other students (especially younger students), write (maybe on the International Masterclasses Facebook page), or make videos. You can find examples of the latter at the following sites.

• Cascade (UK)
• Cascade (Slovakia)
• International Masterclasses YouTube Channel

Create.

If the above don't appeal, make something new. Write to us about it.

This page is to help to guide mentors and teachers in planning the masterclass videoconference.

Using a computer

Make sure your computer has

• a robust internet connection.
• webcam.
• microphone (echo-canceling best, noise-canceling good).
• speakers with enough amplification that all in your room can hear.

Connect to Vidyo meeting URL:

• For CERN-moderated videoconferences, link directly to:
  • Masterclasses VC1 for ATLAS.
  • Masterclasses VC2 for CMS.
• For Fermilab-moderated videoconferences, find links to Indico pages in the Videoconference section of the Masterclass Library for the current year; connect from Indico (see the box below).

Using an H.323 (Polycom or equivalent) device

To call into a meeting, dial in the IP address of a Vidyo gateway:

• CERN: vidyogw1.cern.ch (137.138.248.204).
• Internet2 (Ann Arbor): cern-vidyo-gateway0.internet2.edu (207.75.165.80).

Dial in the Vidyo Room extension followed by the # key.

• Find the Vidyo meeting extension.

For additional information, contact vidyo-support@cern.ch.

Go to Project Map

This page is to help to guide mentors and teachers in planning the masterclass videoconference.

CERN videoconferences

Register!

Please consult the CERN videoconference schedule and then contact Uta Bilow.

CERN institutes connect to videoconferences using special links CERN-VC1 and CERN-VC2; consult the schedule found in Circular #3 for which one to use.

Special CERN Videoconference with South American Institutes:

Fermilab videoconferences

TRIUMF Videoconference

Moderators 2016

CERN moderators

Fermilab moderators 2016:

Mike Albrow Fermilab,  CMS	Jamie Antonelli Ohio State University,  CMS	James Dolen SUNY Buffalo,  CMS	Daniel Elvira Fermilab, CMS
Catherine James Fermilab,  MicroBooNE	Ben Kreis Fermilab,  CMS	Kaori Maeshima Fermilab,  CMS	Sudhir Malik Univ of Puerto Rico Maygüez, CMS
Sho Maruyama Fermilab,  CMS	Adam Martin Notre Dame, Theorist	Jessica Metcalfe Argonne , ATLAS	Scarlet Norberg Univ of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, CMS
Jesus Orduna Brown University, CMS	Alexander Paramonov Argonne,  ATLAS	Jimmy Proudfoot Argonne,  ATLAS	Allison Reinsvold Notre Dame, CMS
John Stupak Purdue-Calumet,  CMS

Go to Project Map.

This page is to help to guide mentors and teachers in planning the masterclass with the CMS WZH-path measurement..

First things: iSPy and spreadsheets

Each computer should have robust internet access (preferred) or the DVD version of the masterclass loaded. Two students should work together at each computer to complete 100 events of the 1900-event sample.

Online: 

• Students must have access to the event display program iSpy-webgl using the latest version of Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.
• Students must have access to the online spreadsheet. These will be linked from the schedule of CMS videoconferences under Data Analysis below.
• Students should have access to the CMS Masterclass website prior to the masterclass day.

Download versions:

• iso file (event display and data for DVD)
• zip file (compressed directory with event display and data in sub-directory)

Grab the data:

See Data Analysis, below.

Familiarize yourself:

Please note that introduction of the new CIMA data tool means key procedures have changed. It is important for mentors to and teachers review the documentation and try it out in the CIMA Sandbox.

• CMS Masterclass documentation
• CMS Masterclass website
• Try the measurement out with iSpy-webgl and the CIMA Sandox. (Look for CIMA Sandbox under Choose your Masterclass.)

Share these with students when appropriate!

Students arrive

This should occupy the first 30-60 min

• Registration: please have students sign in (sample registration sheet)
• Gateway experience: have a cloud chamber, e/m apparatus, or something similar to whet interest
• Ice-breaker activity: students in small inhomogeneous groups create 1-2 good questions about particle physics, ATLAS, and/or LHC.

Shift training

Get students ready for their data analysis shift! This will take about 3 hours, though parts of it can be moved to other times of the day.

Mentor presentation, 30-60 min:

• keep it interactive - ask questions about prior experience, shows of hands, wild guesses, etc.
• give students something to touch, e.g. a wave-shifting fiber
• connect to classroom prep
• touch on standard model
• talk about your research
• template

Tour, 30-60 min:

• adds much to the day - often most popular part
• if you have an accelerator to show, great!
• if not: any interesting labs, even if not particle physics, are still great
• have enthusiastic grad students around to chat and explain

Analysis Prep (30-60 min):

• Have a teacher lead this if practical.
• Use/adapt the data analysis slides.
• Important: go through "masterclass-samples" in iSpy-online on the projector with the students:
  • Show students how to navigate to a data file
  • Discuss how to use the tools in iSpy-online (or iSpy-dvd)
  • Discuss each event in terms of:
    • Particle tracks, missing energy, ECal deposits, etc.
    • Most likely parent particle (ask them what is what)
  • Show how to record results on sample spreadsheet.

Lunch with a Physicist (30-60 min):

• This is also very popular and a great way for students to interact and get comfortable with scientists.

Data analysis

This is the heart of the masterclass and takes 60-90 min. There should be 2 students at each computer, cooperating to get their data measured. Mentors, tutors, and teachers should circulate to help the students analyze the events and work out any problems they have. Don't give them answers. Help them figure things out and learn to see data as scientist does. Remind them that each event is a candidate Z, W, Higgs, or something else - not a definitively identified particle.

• iSpy-webgl event display
• Cheat sheet
• CIMA data analysis tool.

Note: Google spreadsheets have been phased out in favor of CIMA. If there are special cicumstances, contact Ken Cecire for an exception.

Sharing results

This takes a little over one hour. Both parts are important.

Discussion (30-45 min):

• Mentor leads, students interact
• Look at combined mass plots for your institute in spreadsheet.
• Help students point out peaks, bumps, significance; discuss results.
• Each institute is assigned another institute to question: look at their data as well. Students should form questions and comments.

Videoconference (30-45 min):

Connecting to videoconferences:

• For CERN-based videoconferences, see the schedule page of the IMC website.
• For Fermilab-based masterclasses, see the schedule on the Videoconferences page.

Course of a videoconference:

• Connect to videoconference link or Indico page (see above).
• Someone should log into the videoconference 15 min early to be sure the connection is established. See the Schedules page.
• Follow the agenda on Indico:
  • Introductions and warm-up
  • Institute reports; questions from other institutes (assigned); questions by moderators
  • Discussion, Q&A, and wrap-up
• It is good to have a student spokesperson but try to arrange so it is not too hard for another student to make a comment or ask a question.

After this, we have post-discussion and closeout. Have a nice day.

Go to Project Map

This page is to help to guide mentors and teachers in planning the masterclass with the ATLAS Z-path measurement.

This and the ATLAS and CMS pages help to guide mentors and teachers in planning the masterclass.

Elements common to all masterclass institutes

Previous to day of the masterclass:

• Orientation for mentors and teachers by QuarkNet staff or fellow (1-3 hr)
• Classroom preparation of students by teacher (~3 hr)

Masterclass day (6-8 hr):

• Registration (sign-in sheet) and gateway activity (e.g. cloud chamber, cosmic ray detector, or e/m apparatus)
• Icebreaker activity
• Mentor presentation (a bit of standard model, a bit of mentor's own research)
• Lab tour
• Teacher presentation on masterclass measurement (ATLAS Z-path, CMS WZH-path, or other)
• Lunch with a physicist
• Masterclass measurement by students with help from mentor, teachers, other physicists 
• Discussion of combined results for Institute
• Videoconference
• Wrap-up

Masterclass 2016 Institutes in Fermilab group

Go to Project Map.

This page is to help to guide teachers in preparing students for their masterclass.

Measurement

There is a variety of masterclass measurements. You can find these at:

• Institutes page
• International Masteclasses website.

Which works for you and your class?

Organization

Narratives

Go to Project Map

This page is to help to guide teachers in preparing students for their masterclass.

Prior knowledge for masterclasses / Classroom prep objectives

Meeting these objectives will assure that students are well prepared for the masterclass.

• Describe the claim and indirect evidence in Rutherford's or another key experiment.
• Identify the peak in a histogram and explain what it means.
• Describe how quarks combine to form mesons and baryons.
• Apply conservation rules to measurements to provide evidence for unobserved particles.

Suggested activities

Particle physics research requires the use of indirect evidence to support claims.
Rolling with Rutherford
Students will be able to:

• Describe the claim and indirect evidence in Rutherford’s experiment.
• Identify the peak in a histogram and explain what it means.

The Standard Model is the current theoretical framework for our understanding of matter.
Quark Workbench 
Students will be able to:

• Describe how quarks combine to form mesons and baryons.

The behavior of particles is governed by conservation laws and mass-energy conversion.

Choose one or both:

• Mass Calc: Z (website)
• Top Quark Mass Reconstruction (website)

Students will be able to:

• Apply conservation rules to measurements to provide evidence for unobserved particles.

Additional resources

• ATLAS Masterclass website
• CMS videos
• ATLAS videos
• The Particle Adventure
• Bubble Chamber Activity
• Hands-on CERN

Go to Project Map