Introduction 2013

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Introduction to Masterclasses 2013

In the U.S. Masterclass students come to one of 25 nearby universities or research centers for one day to visually analyze real data from experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

During a three-hour masterclass preparation, students engage in investigations that address how physicists use indirect evidence to explore phenomena, the Standard Model as the current theoretical framework for our understanding of matter and physics concepts that govern how particles behave. Our research and evaluation show that prior knowledge of these topics enables students to have a more gratifying, interesting, and authentic research experience.

On the day of the masterclass, students attend talks to gain insight on topics and methods of particle physics, the LHC, and detectors and experiments at CERN. In the investigation that day, students analyze LHC data, discuss results among themselves, with the masterclass scientist(s) and their teacher(s), and finally they join a videoconference to discuss results with students at other masterclass sites, including some in other countries. Students also tour research facilities and have lunch with a physicist.

What We Expect Students to Remember Long After the Masterclass:<br>

1. Particle physics research requires the use of indirect evidence to support claims.

2. The Standard Model is the current theoretical framework for our understanding of matter.

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

The following table shows learner objects associated with the enduring understandings and when students should achieve them. The column on the left is for masterclass preparation and the column on the right is for the masterclass itself.

Particle physics research requires the use of indirect evidence to support claims.
Suggested Prep Activity: Rolling for 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.	After the masterclass activity students will be able to: Explain that a general-purpose collider detector is made of a number of subsystems and describe what they are designed to measure. Express an increased appreciation for the nature of scientific investigation.
The Standard Model is the current theoretical framework for our understanding of matter.
Suggested Prep Activity: Quark Workbench Students will be able to: Describe how quarks combine to form mesons and baryons.	After the masterclass activity students will be able to: Describe features of the Standard Model—which particles are which and how they relate to one another. * Identify specific particles and their decays by their signatures. Give examples of how hadrons or force carriers can decay into different types of leptons.
The behavior of particles is governed by conservation laws and mass-energy conversion.
Suggested Prep Activity: Top Quark Mass Reconstruction Students will be able to: Apply conservation rules to measurements to provide evidence for unobserved particles.	After the masterclass activity students will be able to: Describe/show how conservation laws, behavior of particles in a magnetic field and energy-mass conversion apply to particle physics. Give examples of conservation of charge in particle decays.

Post-masterclass discussions with the students create an opportunity to clarify anything they didn’t understand, solidify comprehension, and further explicate understandings.