Data Activities Portfolio

The Data Portfolio is a compendium of particle physics classroom activities organized by Data Strand, Level of student engagement, Curriculum Topics and NGSS Standards. Follow the links provided for information about using the Data Portfolio to plan your students’ experience. Level descriptions explain the data analysis skills that students apply at each level: tasks in Level 0 are simpler than those in Levels 1 and 2...

Activity Name Data Strand Level Curriculum Topics NGSS Practices
wokbench Quark Workbench 2D/3D

Students use Standard Model rules to build hadrons and mesons from quarks.

Cosmic Ray, LHC Level 0 Conservation Laws, Nature of Matter, Skill: Developing Models, Standard Model 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
uspenny Mass of U.S. Pennies

Students create and interpret a histogram of penny masses.

Cosmic Ray, LHC Level 0 Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
index Dice, Histograms & Probability

Students roll dice, record the resulting individual values as well as the sum of the values, create histograms of the data and develop insight into the concept of “degrees of freedom." 

Cosmic Ray, LHC Level 0 Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty, Spanish Language 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
muoncard Shuffling the Particle Deck

Teams of students organize cards depicting fundamental particles based on their characteristics. This activity is a foundation for learning about the Standard Model and parallels the methods used by scientists to organize the elements into the period table.

LHC Level 0 Skill: Developing Models, Spanish Language, Standard Model 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
quad Mapping the Poles

Students explore some basics of magnetic fields that can be related to experimental particle physics.

LHC Level 0 Electricity & Magnetism, Skill: Developing Models 2, 4, 6, 7
sn Signal and Noise: The Basics

Students analyze signals and noise first in audio and video forms and then look at signals and noise from physics measurements.

Cosmic Ray, LHC, Neutrino Level 0 Instrumentation, Skill: Uncertainty, Waves & Interference 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
histo1 Histograms: The Basics

Students build basic histogram skills required in many of the other activities in the Data Activities Portfolio.

Cosmic Ray, LHC, Neutrino Level 0 Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty 4, 5, 7
hexigon QuarkNet: Changing the Culture

Lesson #1 in QuarkNet STEP UP Series on diversity and inclusion.

Level 0 Diversity & Inclusion
cloud chamber Making Tracks I

Students analyze tracks in a cloud chamber.

Cosmic Ray, LHC, Neutrino Level 0 Nature of Matter, Skill: Developing Models, Standard Model 1, 2, 4, 6, 7
Code image Introduction to Coding Using Jupyter

Students will learn the basics of coding using Jupyter style notebooks.

Cosmic Ray, LHC, Neutrino Level 0 Skill: Coding 1, 2, 4