Oklahoma QuarkNet: Annual Report 2023

The University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) QuarkNet groups again joined forces for a lively summer QuarkNet Teacher Workshop.  This year’s workshop was hosted at OU from July 24-26.

We improved our recruiting processes and there was overwhelming demand for the available travel support.  Fortunately, the OU Physics & Astronomy department was able to contribute additional funds to cover all interested participants.  In total, we had 20 participants attend the three-day workshop.  Six of the attendees had previously participated in QuarkNet, while the remaining fourteen were new to the program.  Our recruiting effort targeted schools with a high proportion of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.  Among the fourteen new participants, nine represented schools where at least 50% of the student body received free or reduced-price lunch.

We were joined by Ken and Paul Sedita, who put together a fantastic agenda.  The first day began with a HEP crash course, including a presentation by Dr Tau Xu of OU.  We then discussed some outstanding problems in physics, such as the W mass and muon g-2.  On the afternoon of the second day, we focused on neutrinos and performed the Noνa MasterClass, with an introduction to the subject from Prof K.S. Babu of OSU.  On the third day, we toured the OU history of science collection, did a share-a-thon, and discussed implementation plans.

In addition to the summer workshop, OSU hosted three ATLAS MasterClasses in 2023, hosting around 40 high-school students from various schools in Oklahoma to learn about particle physics and participate in hands-on activities.  The students analyzed real data from the ATLAS experiment at CERN and presented their findings in a video conference with Fermilab. 

We had another great year, and we are thankful to the NSF for funding this program.  Teachers and students in Oklahoma do not have much exposure to basic research, and QuarkNet has been one of our most successful tools for getting high school students engaged in, and excited about, physics.  We look forward to next year, with the summer workshop back at OSU for 2024.