NGSS 2: Developing and using models

What Heisenberg Knew

Heisenberg knew that, at the quantum level, we cannot know everything, at least not all at once. Students explore uncertainties in measurements of complimentary variables to find this out for themselves.

Mean Lifetime Part 3: MINERvA

Students collect data from muons which decay in the MINERvA detector in the Fermilab NuMi beamline to understand particle decay and determine the muon lifetime.

The Case of the Hidden Neutrino

Students use momentum conservation to examine the decay of top-antitop pairs to determine what is missing from the event.

Mean Lifetime Part 1: Dice

Rolling dice serves as the model for decaying particles.

Mapping the Poles

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

Making it ‘Round the Bend - Quantitative

Students measure the effects of electric and magnetic fields on particles. 

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.

CMS Masterclass J/Psi

Students are physicists for a day at a university or lab where they work with physicists to learn how to analyze real particle physics data in the form of event displays.

ATLAS W-path Masterclass

Students are physicists for a day at a university or lab where they work with physicists to how to analyze real particle physics data in the form of event displays.

Mean Lifetime Part 2: Cosmic Muons

Students learn how physicists measure muon lifetime.