Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2013
Volume 58, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 13–16, 2013; Denver, Colorado
Session Y7: Invited Session: Educational Outreach by the High Energy Physics Community |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Thomas Jordan, University of Florida Room: Governor's Square 16 |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
Y7.00001: Particle Physics Outreach for Secondary Education Invited Speaker: Spencer Pasero We provide a general overview of activities that particle physicists have developed to reach out to teachers and students. There is a remarkable worldwide interest in particle physics stimulated by the search for the Higgs Boson and a remarkable worldwide interest on the part of physicists to inspire today's students and tomorrow's scientists. While most students will not become physicists, they do need to understand how scientists discover knowledge---their ideas and methodology. We explore three types of activities: informal opportunities for students and resources for teachers, professional development for teachers and research experiences for teachers and students alike. We provide some suggestions for developing and assessing effective programs. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
Y7.00002: Impact of Outreach on Physics Enrollment in Idaho Invited Speaker: Steven Shropshire Idaho State University Physics Outreach has many aspects, from workshops for teachers, demonstration presentations for schools and community groups, Science Olympics, science festivals, and a Haunted Science Lab. An overview of these programs will be presented, followed by a more detailed description of the mechanics and methods that have made physics outreach programs at ISU a success, and the impact they have had on physics enrollment at ISU. Suggestions on how to get started with science outreach, get funding, involve student and community members, and convince your colleagues and administration that these efforts are worth supporting will be provided. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
Y7.00003: Quarknet Invited Speaker: Michell Wayne QuarkNet started as a small pilot project about 15 years ago and has now grown into a national program with more than 50 centers spread across the United States. Each year several hundred high school teachers, along with another hundred high school students, work together with particle physicists to create a community of researchers. With support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, QuarkNet provides professional development for teachers and brings the excitement of modern physics research to interested students. Each QuarkNet centers is in some sense an individual program. A few examples of different successful centers will be contrasted and compared. About half of the centers include student research and a number of those research activities will be discussed in the talk, including contributions of QuarkNet students to major particle physics experiments like CMS at the LHC. One of the original motivations for QuarkNet 15 years ago was the realization that the future graduate students and postdocs working at the LHC were at that time in middle and high school. One of the great successes of QuarkNet within the past few years has been to bring LHC data into the classroom for teachers and students to analyze. The talk will review how this was accomplished and look at our plans for the future. QuarkNet has created a network of teachers and students who study cosmic rays with detectors they assemble and operate. Via the cosmic ray ``e-lab'' students collect data, prepare posters and share their results with other students around the country and overseas. The ``masterclass'' is another important tool that brings current physics research to groups of students. These have primarily focused on high energy physics but new masterclasses in astrophysics are under development. Recently the QuarkNet program was approved for another 5 years of support from NSF and DOE. While continuing to grow key aspects of the program like the e-labs and masterclasses, one goal of the new program is to start to engage the Native American community in physics outreach. Initial plans for this new direction for QuarkNet will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2025 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700