Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Annual Report 2017 July 13, 2017

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Annual Report 2017 

July 13, 2017

Mentor: Tony Spadafora

Workshop Coordinator: Laurie Kerrigan

Co- Organizer: Ken Cecire (QuarkNet)

The LBNL Physics Division hosted its eleventh “Physics in and Through Cosmology” workshop for QuarkNet Leadership teachers and high school students. The five-day workshop from June 26 to June 30, 2017 was held at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.  Twelve science teachers participated. Six of the teachers have been active members of QuarkNet for five or more years. Two new teachers joined the group this year and two from previous years returned.  There were 34 students with approximately equal number of boys and girls. The teachers & students represented public and private high schools in the greaterSan Francisco Bay Area.

The first day focused on getting all participants familiar with concepts & terms in particle physics & cosmology.  This was accomplished through “mini” lectures given by returning QuarkNet teachers. This day also included a discussion by Spencer Klien, an LBNL researcher, entitled “Natural radiation, from cosmic-rays to neutrinos?”  The LBNL 88” cyclotron was also toured.

The other days consisted of hands-on warm-up activities,  morning  & afternoon scientist talks..  Between talks, groups worked on hands-on experiments (e.g. QuarkNet activities lead by Ken Cecire using data from ATLAS).   Groups consisted of four students and a teacher.  Groups also discussed the lectures and  designed & carried out experiments with Cosmic Ray Detectors.  .  There was a virtual tour of the ATLAS Control Room at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.  There were also tours of the ALS (Advanced Light Source) and Molecular Foundry research facilities at LBNL.  

Teachers meet with Ken Cecire over dinner the first night for Master Class training, and over lunch on the second day to discuss QuarkNet.   On the last day we had a Panel Discussion with the following presenters: Darcy Barron, Heather Gray, Spencer Klein & Vetri Velan.

Formal presentations included:                                                        

*Tony Spadafora      Welcome to the Lab

*Spencer Klien   “Natural radiation, from cosmic-rays to neutrinos?”  

* Heather Gray   Introduction to ATLAS & Particle Physics

* Saul Perlmutter    Nobel Prize and scientific discovery

* Ken Cecire      ATLAS Masterclass measurement

* Kyle Boone  Cosmology / Dark Energy  

* Parker Anne Fagrelius    DESI          

*Lucie Tvrznikova      Dark Matter     

*Alex Krolewski   "Growth of Structure and the Cosmic Web"

*Vetri Velan   Dark Matter    

* Darcy Barron   CMB

*Natalie Roe       Lawrence Berkeley Lab 

On the last day students completed a self- evaluation of how much they learned about science concepts during the workshop.

They used a scale of 1 (nothing) to 5 (a lot).

The overall average was 3.68 and standard deviation of .449

Those with over 4.5 include:

        The Cosmic Microwave background is the baby picture of the Universe when matter

                & energy decoupled.  (4.59)

        The Red Shift is the stretching of wavelengths revealing time and distance. (4.56)

        Supernovae are the explosions of dying stars, and certain types can serve as a

               standard candle.   (4.59)

        The Universe’s expansion is accelerating due to Dark Energy. (4.72)

         The Universe is approximately 5% atomic matter, 20% dark matter,

                and 75% dark energy. (4.56)

        There are four fundamental forces, most interact through carrier particles shaping  

                 the Universe. (4.53)      

        Quantum fluctuations during inflation lead to stars & galaxies.  (4.56)

Some comments by the students and teachers include:

“I learned a lot about basic concepts in particle physics and cosmology like dark matter, dark energy, and the different types of particles.  I liked that it taught more advanced topics that aren’t in a high school curriculum.”

“The workshop opened my view for the experimental side of cosmology and particle physics and helped me in rethinking what I want to pursue later in life.”

“I learned a ton about particle physics, cosmology, different types of detectors, their uses. Etc.”

“Masterclass simulation of ATLAS was brilliant.”

“ATLAS presentation was great & insightful.  Loved looking at events & analyzing them.”

“The data analysis of ATLAS was great.”

“The virtual tour at ATLAS was very entertaining and gave me a clear perspective of how much effort is put into running large machines/experiments.”

“The detectors were really cool.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to come to this workshop.  This workshop really broadened my horizons and view on the field of science.  I’m glad I got the opportunity to come to this workshop.  I hope you keep it going for years to come.”

Participating Teachers: