Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 1
Saturday–Tuesday, January 28–31, 2017; Washington, DC
Session J8: Using 21st Century Physics to Educate 21st Century StudentsInvited Undergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Kenneth Cecire, University of Notre Dame Room: Delaware B |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 10:45AM - 11:21AM |
J8.00001: Overview of Nuclear Physics Data: Databases, Web Applications and Teaching Tools Invited Speaker: Elizabeth McCutchan The mission of the United States Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) is to provide current, accurate, and authoritative data for use in pure and applied areas of nuclear science and engineering. This is accomplished by compiling, evaluating, and disseminating extensive datasets. Our main products include the Evaluated Nuclear Structure File (ENSDF) containing information on nuclear structure and decay properties and the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) containing information on neutron-induced reactions. The National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC), through the website \underline {www.nndc.bnl.gov}, provides web-based retrieval systems for these and many other databases. In addition, the NNDC hosts several on-line physics tools, useful for calculating various quantities relating to basic nuclear physics. In this talk, I will first introduce the quantities which are evaluated and recommended in our databases. I will then outline the searching capabilities which allow one to quickly and efficiently retrieve data. Finally, I will demonstrate how the database searches and web applications can provide effective teaching tools concerning the structure of nuclei and how they interact. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 11:21AM - 11:57AM |
J8.00002: Cosmic Rays - A Word-Wide Student Laboratory Invited Speaker: Mark Adams The QuarkNet program has distributed hundreds of cosmic ray detectors for use in high schools and research facilities throughout the world over the last decade. Data collected by those students has been uploaded to a central server where web-based analysis tools enable users to characterize and to analyze everyone's cosmic ray data. Since muons rain down on everyone in the world, all students can participate in this free, high energy particle environment. Through self-directed inquiry students have designed their own experiments: exploring cosmic ray rates and air shower structure; and using muons to measure their speed, time dilation, lifetime, and affects on biological systems. We also plan to expand our annual International Muon Week project to create a large student-led collaboration where similar cosmic ray measurements are performed simultaneously throughout the world. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 11:57AM - 12:33PM |
J8.00003: Using Data from the Large Hadron Collider in the Classroom Invited Speaker: Jeremy Smith Now is an exciting time for physics students, because they have access to technology and experiments all over the world that were unthinkable a generation ago. Therefore, now is also the ideal time to bring these experiments into the classroom, so students can see what cutting edge science looks like, both in terms of the underlying physics and in terms of the technology used to gather data. With the continued running of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and the lab's continued dedication to providing open, worldwide access to their data, there is a unique opportunity for students to use these data in a manner very similar to how it's done in the particle physics community. In this session, we will explore ways for students to analyze real data from the CMS experiment at the LHC, plot these data to discover patterns and signals, and use these plots to determine quantities such as the invariant masses of the W, Z and Higgs bosons.~ Furthermore, we will show how such activities already fit well into standard introductory physics classes, and can in fact enhance already-existing lessons in the topics of momentum, kinematics, energy and electromagnetism. [Preview Abstract] |
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