Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2023
Volume 68, Number 6
Minneapolis, Minnesota (Apr 15-18)
Virtual (Apr 24-26); Time Zone: Central Time
Session H10: Innovations in Physics Outreach and EducationEducation Outreach
|
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FOEP FED Chair: Gordon Watts, University of Washington; Daniel Claes, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Room: Marquette I - 2nd Floor |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:30PM - 1:42PM |
H10.00001: Particle Physics Masterclasses: Bringing 21st Century Physics to High School Students Shane Wood Each year in International Masterclasses, more than 13000 high school students become "particle physicists" for a day at one of over 200 nearby universities or laboratories around the world. These students work with physicists to learn about 21st century research and to analyze authentic data from one of several particle physics experiments. Ideally, high school teachers are involved as well, and can prepare their students for the masterclass day by using provided classroom activities that connect to topics and standards typically covered in introductory physics classes. This talk will provide more information about these masterclasses, including how to become involved. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:42PM - 1:54PM |
H10.00002: Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation of particle transportation for physics educaiton and outreach Jing Liu Geant4 is one of the standard tools used by particle physicists to simulate particle transportations and interactions with each other and surrounding materials. In addition to its extensive usage in scientific research, Geant4 is perfect for physics education and outreach as well. However, it is still largely the pet of some highly tained professionals due to its lengthy and error prone installation process and the lack of an executable application program. A simple Geant4 based application have been developed to make Geant4 simulation more accessible to physics students, teachers, or enthusiasts who know little about C++ programming. It has been used to demonstrate how cosmic rays are blocked by rocks above deep underground laboratories at the annual Neutrino Day event. The demo attracted a broad range of audience, from kindergartners to grandparents. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:54PM - 2:06PM |
H10.00003: The Quantum Forge: A Partnership-Based Model for QISE Workforce Preparation Michael B Bennett As the second quantum revolution gains momentum, stakeholders in academia and industry alike are investigating the means by which to prepare a highly-skilled and diverse workforce for the ballooning number of QIS jobs at all levels. Foundational research by Fox, Zwickl, and Lewandowski has, for example, articulated sets of core skills valued by employers in quantum industry. Intriguingly, many of these desired aptitudes do not require extensive specialist training, allowing for the potential of appreciable quantum workforce training at the undergraduate level complementary to more typical graduate instruction. Working with local Colorado industry partners, the Q-SEnSE NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute has designed and piloted a new model of capstone experience in the University of Colorado Boulder physics department, the Quantum Forge. In Quantum Forge, students work directly with industry mentors on company projects while gaining facility with quantum concepts and skills. We will here discuss Quantum Forge design philosophy, course content for the 2023-2024 academic year, and the experience of the first QForge cohort, including course assessment efforts and preliminary findings of relevance to the question of workforce preparation, both at CU Boulder and beyond. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
H10.00004: The Science-Policy Boundary: Practical Lessons from Research and Early-Career Practice Jacob Robertson Science and technology can positively define our societies, but exchange of knowledge between experts and policymakers is complicated by differences in culture and incentives. This talk presents practical lessons for scientists engaging with policymakers based on the scholarship of user-inspired scientific research, which is research uniquely characterized by engagement between scientists and the end users of the scientific results. I cite specific examples from a study of two separate efforts to engage universities in research projects to support priorities of state-level governments. This research suggests the importance of leveraging existing institutions, engaging with key stakeholders frequently, and delivering tailored policy solutions on an appropriate timeline. The conclusions are complemented with lessons from professional experience in facilitating engagement between scientists and policymakers. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
H10.00005: Advances in the field of cosmic-ray Muography Alan D Bross, Craig Dukes, Ralf Ehrlich, Patrick La Riviere, Phillip Vargas, Omar Shohoud, Tabitha Welch, Joren Husic Although the study of cosmic-ray muons and the study of the properties of muons have been active fields in physics for many decades, the use of cosmic-ray muons for the study of terrestrial objects has not been widely pursued until recently. First used by E. P. George in 1955 to measure the ice burden over a tunnel, and subsequently used by Luis Alverez in the 1960s to look for hidden chambers in Khafre’s pyramid at Giza, interest in the technique did not increase until the late 1990s. Muon tomography or Muography is now a rapidly growing discipline with applications in archaeology, geology/geophysics, mining, civil engineering, industrial inspection, nuclear weapons verification and monitoring, contraband interdiction, and national security/border protection. Within the past few years concepts to use the technology to monitor cyclones, for use in cosmic time synchronization and metrology and even in global positioning have been developed. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
H10.00006: Educational Tools for Crafting Super-Human Intuition Blake R Warner Using a mathematical framework, it's possible to develop mathematically precise intuition about distance scales and time scales outside of the range of normal human experience. This expands physical intuition into a memory palace that is conveniently the size and shape of the actual physical universe, making it very easy to memorize scientific concepts in a variety of fields and notice their subtle appearances in everyday life, increasing the chances of making accidental discoveries. The mathematical framework we begin with is logarithmic in nature, creating a slide rule out of physical intuition that enables us to make extremely quick calculations and measurements with very little effort. Because this framework containing our scientific ideas is an extension of our daily perception of space, rather than a distinct mental model we must remember on purpose, it is reinforced every day as we actively live inside it. This further reduces the effort required to remember scientific ideas. This mental framework of integrating ideas is not unique to science, but has sister frameworks in other disciplines, pointing to an abstract theory of measurement that may predict the existence of neural nets from first principles. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
H10.00007: The Seattle Snowmass 2022 Community Summer Study Workshop Gordon T Watts, Shih-Chieh Hsu The Seattle Snowmass 2022 Community Summery Study Workshop took place from July 17-26, 2022. Over 700 physicists gathered in person at the University of Washington in Seattle and another 150 online to attend the final meeting of the Snowmass 2021 process. The Snowmass process, organized by the APS Division of Particles and Fields (DPF) is a scientific study that brings the entire US particle physics community together to identify and document a scientific vision for the future of particle physics in the US and with its international partners. This meeting, which took place in the midst of the summer COVID surge, was 10 days long and had over 100 sessions, consisting of up to 14 parallel sessions on most mornings and plenaries in the afternoons, and was bookended by a day or day and a half of plenary sessions. The workshop was fully hybrid and all sessions were recorded. A major effort was made at diversifying attendance and at outreach and to include younger physicists in the meeting. This contribution will describe the workshop, what goals it achieved and what goals it did not. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
H10.00008: A highly acclaimed planetarium show by physicists has been seen by two million people worldwide R Michael Barnett, Kaushik De, Reinhard H Schwienhorst Three physicists made a highly successful planetarium show about Dark Matter called: Phantom of the Universe. It has been seen worldwide by over two million people. It has been in more than 730 planetariums in 74 countries and in 27 languages. Production was done by an international collaboration, which went to planetariums in several countries to view the work in progress. The show covers dark matter from the Big Bang to galaxies to a deep underground experiment to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It was quite interesting to work for a day with Academy Award-winning actor Tilda Swinton while recording the narration. Another two days was working on sound with an Academy Award-winning team at Skywalker Sound. Much of the show is in technical animation, Our target audiences were students and the public. For most planetariums, school visits account for about half their audiences. We found that many planetariums had a great interest in a dark matter show. They present our show for months at a time (unlike feature films). Planetariums have the perfect science-interested audience for us in the general public and K-12 students. We never imagined such success as we developed the show. |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
H10.00009: The International Particle Physics Outreach Group – 25 Years of Global Engagement Steven M Goldfarb The International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG) is a network of scientists, science educators and communication specialists working across the globe in informal science education and public engagement for particle physics. The primary methodology adopted by IPPOG includes the direct participation of scientists active in current research with education and communication specialists, in order to effectively develop and share best practices in outreach. IPPOG member activities include the International Particle Physics Masterclass programme, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Worldwide Data Day, International Muon Week and International Cosmic Day organisation, and participation in activities ranging from public talks, festivals, exhibitions, teacher training, student competitions, and open days at local institutes. These independent activities, often carried out in a variety of languages to public with a variety of backgrounds, all serve to gain the public trust and to improve worldwide understanding and support of science. We present our vision of IPPOG as a strategic pillar of particle physics, fundamental research and evidence-based decision-making around the world. |
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. |
© 2024 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