Implementation Strategies

• Time of Flight Study during modern physics and relativity
• Allow students or groups of students to perform experiments on campus - provide research opportunities
• Tie together with University of Minnesota masterclass
• More students can be involved now that plateauing is so much easier
• Use plateauing with all classes to discuss precision and accuracy
• Create t-shirts for muon week
• Getting students from different schools together to present posters and defend research
• November 2nd is International Cosmic Day with DESY
• Watch for Muon Week

Objectives

Participating teachers will be able to:

• Organize data using the cosmic ray muon e-Lab.
• Specify limitations and assumptions of a propsed experiment.
• Manipulate apparatus using appropriate data acquisition equipment for calibration, characterization, and analysis of measurements.
• Generalize from data possible sources and scale of experimental error.
• Summarize and communicate claims, evidence and results to demonstrate the nature of scientific research.
• Implement plans to use the cosmic ray e-Lab with the classroom community.

Agenda 

Times and specific activities are subject to adjustment.

Location is The Blake School, 511 Kenwood Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN

QuarkNet activity at the University of Minnesota's QuarkNet Center in 2015 included participation in the International Masterclass, and a summer workshop for teachers centered around both LHC/CMS data and cosmic ray muon detector data analyses.  

A total of 18 students and 3 local teachers participated in the Masterclass on March 28th, 2015. The students analyzed data from the CMS detector (WZH), heard talks from Minnesota HEP researcher Dr. Satish Desai and HEP graduate students, and toured the Univesity's Nano Fabrication Center. After analyzing the CMS data, students discussed results locally with Dr. Desai and Dr. Cronin-Hennessy. Throughout the day, several HEP graduate students helped out as well, sharing demos (cloud chambers, etc.) answering student questions, and sharing "life as a grad student" experiences at lunch with the high school students.  

The 3-day summer workshop for teachers was divided into two parts. First was a 1-day workshop in June at the University of Minnesota during which teachers heard two talks (one on consmology (Marco Peloso) and one on dark matter (Mark Pepin)), worked through an activity from the Data Portfolio, and perfromed a data analysis on CMS data (J/Psi).  In August, teachers met again - this time for 2 days at nearby Irondale High School - in order to work through plateuing cosmic ray muon detectors, then uploading and analyzing data from the detectors. Teachers will meet for an additoinal day in December into order to follow up on cosmic ray detector questions and to share ideas regarding implementation.    

As of 2015, there are 12 active Minnesota QuarkNet teachers; eight of whom have cosmic ray muon detectors.  Professor Dan Cronin-Hennessy continues to serve as the group's mentor, planning the workshop days with the assistance of lead teacher Jon Anderson and QN staff Shane Wood.  Minnesota HEP administrator Andrea Stronghart organizes logistics for the group, including rooms, lunches and paperwork.

Images below: (1) Masterclass students on tour (2) QuarkNet teachers discussing the use of cosmic ray muon detectors (3) One teacher group's CRMD set-up varying the angle of the counters.

Tuesday, 16 June, 2015 - Physics & Nanotechnology Building (PAN), Room 120

9:00 Introductions, overview of day and summer

9:30 Classroom Activities (Found in Data Portfolio)

• Review "Calculate the Z Mass" Activity
• J/Psi - Data Preview, Mass Calculation

10:00 Speaker: Marco Peloso (Cosmology)

11:00 Set Criteria for J/Psi 

• How are muons detected in LHC detectors? (Click here for interactive detector animation)
• What are criteria for rating each J/Psi candidate? (Click here for info on CMS J/Psi measurement)

12:00 Lunch Talk: Mark Pepin (Dark Matter)

1:15 Analysis of J/Psi Data (done in pairs; 100 events/group)

• Click Here for iSpy Online (be sure to open correct group of data)
• Click Here for spreadsheet to record results (be sure line corresponds to proper event)

2:00 View/Discuss Results of J/Psi Analysis 

2:30 Share-A-Thon

3:30 Future meetings this summer: CRMD? Elab? Location? Roles/Responsibilities?

4:00 Workshop concludes for day - as long as you can answer "yes" to:
1) Do you know your drupal account info?  Is your account info updated including CRMD #?
2) Do you have your CMS and/or CRMD e-Lab account info?  
3) Before end of workshop - complete "Teacher Implementation Survey" only.

Thursday, 13 August, 2015 - Irondale High School (Room 336), 2425 Long Lake Rd., New Brighton, MN 55112

9:00-4:00 (1 hour lunch) Cosmic Ray Detector Workshop

• Cosmic Ray Workshop Presentation
• Cosmic Ray Detector Resources (From Cosmic Ray E-Lab "Library")

1. Any detector to build?  (See resources for instructions)
2. Plateu Detectors
3. Decide on study...collect data
4. Upload and Data Analysis
5. Collect Data overnight

Friday, 14 August, 2015 - Irondale High School (Room 336), 2425 Long Lake Rd., New Brighton, MN 55112 

1. Upload Data - Analyze in e-Lab
2. Implementation discussion
3. "Must Do" items - Do "Implementation Survey" and "Update QuarkNet Website"

Description:
See if there is difference between day and night cosmic rays, on the same day.

Standards:

Learning Ojectives:

Prior Knowledge:

Background Matrial:

Implementaton:

Assessmt:

Need an e-Lab or QN drupal account? Sign up

Location: Tate Laboratory of Physics, Room 130

Objectives

Participating teachers:

• gain knowledge and skills to successfully complete investigations using LHC data;
• interpret event displays from CMS and explain their meaning;
• conduct LHC investigations with students and successfully prepare them for masterclass; and
• assist mentors in organizing and facilitating a masterclass.

Agenda

Resources

• Preflight checklist for center leaders
• International Masterclasses
• Minnesota QuarkNet Center group pages
• Schedule of Workshops
• Guide to LHC Fellows Workshop

Need an e-Lab or QN drupal account? Sign up!

Resources

• Pre-flight checklist for center leaders
• Minnesota QuarkNet Center group pages
• Schedule of Workshops
• Guide to LHC Fellows Workshops
• Community Summer Study 2013
• ATLAS
• CMS
• CMS animated Higgs plot
• Activities from Sanford Lab
• Contact:
  • Ken Cecire
  • Shane Wood

Implementation ideas

• PGP=Pretty Good Physics
• e-Lab applications math related-use in math or interdisciplinary work
• summer sci/math boot camp for tchrs
• use animation feature to show how accuracy/precision of dataset increases with stats
• independent study for interested students
• insert into cons of energy, momentum; e&m - colliders give us close to p=0
• chem-radioactive decay
• particle physics as bridge between chem and physics
• PET, med physics connection with biology
• Use student groups
• 2 students works
• after AP or IB exam
• cosmic ray e-Lab - make connections
• user group at /group/cms-e-lab-users
• meetings work better than updates
• presentations in class
• students come to University for a "regional particle physics summit"
• videoconferences
• grad students come to evening student meeting - each present research - not formal
• FAQs or suggestins for research projects 

Barriers

• Would have to reserve media center - slow (beeter now with iPads)
• Assessment
• Labels not intuitive on plots

Welcome to the Minnesota QuarkNet Center group. We will be building this over the next few weeks. Here are three things you can do right now:

Edit your site profile 

1. In the top menu, roll over "My stuff"
2. Choose "My profile"
3. Under your group name, choose the "About" button
4. Find and choose "Edit my profile"
5. In the "Account" page, you can change your password and upload an avatar image (mine is the silly-looking bird) 
6. In the "Personal information" page, you can add whether you are a QN teacher, your contact info, etc.

Add a post like this one

1. In the top menu, roll over "My stuff"
2. Choose "My groups"
3. Choose "University of Minnesota QuarkNet Center"
4. At the top of the right sidebar, choose "Document" from the drop-down list and choose "Create"
5. Start typing
6. Edit
7. Choose the "Save" button at the bottom left when it is time.

Comment on this post

1. Choose the "Comment" button at the bottom of this post
2. Type away.