Friday Flyer - January 8, 2016
Spotlight on the University of Minnesota Center: The University of Minnesota center has held summer workshops since 2003. Currently, there are 12 active teachers who work with Dan Cronin-Hennessy, lead teacher Jon Anderson and QN staff teacher Shane Wood. In Spring 2015, the center held a successful masterclass with approximately 20 local students participating. During the summer workshop, teachers worked through some Data Portfolio activities, set up and performed cosmic ray studies using three detectors, and discussed classroom implementation strategies.
News from QuarkNet Central: Happy New Year from all of us at QuarkNet! The arrival of 2016 means that this spring's masterclass season is approaching. Centers new to masterclass will need to have an orientation, and experienced centers need only an orientation update. Masterclass leaders: Please check the orientation schedule; then contact Ken to schedule an orientation or update.
Heading to the AAPT Winter Meeting in New Orleans this upcoming week? If you are, please join Ken, Shane, and other QuarkNet friends for lunch on Monday. We will meet in the lobby of the Hyatt at 12 noon and go from there. Please e-mail Shane if you would like to join us so we can look for you. QuarkNet-related talks at the conference include Preparing Producers and Consumers of Science by Chris Stoughton, and High School Students Discovering the World of Particle Physics by Shane. Both of these talks are part of a 4:00-5:10 p.m. Sunday session moderated by Ken called Discovery Physics in the Classroom. Please stop by if you get a chance!
Physics Experiment Roundup: Learn more about the booming science of dwarf galaxies, mysterious LHC photons, the discoveries that led to the completion of the 7th period of the periodic table, and how Argonne National Lab simulated the evolution of the universe.
Resources: Wonder what makes a solid a solid? Don Lincoln explores the nature of matter in this short video. How do you keep a particle inside an accelerator? Fermilab's Cindy Joe explains how in this Symmetry video. Students and teachers love when the folks from Mythbusters put myths and urban legends to the test. Wired.com compiled a collection of the best Mythbusters physics demos; demos not easily done in the classroom!
Interested in learning more about how to perform physics experiments using your smartphone? Then check out Smartphone Pocket Lab: Experimental Classical Mechanics; note that registration ends on January 25.
Just for Fun: Perhaps you were one of the lucky ones who received the perfect stocking stuffer for a physicist over the holidays? If not . . . there's always next year! Holiday turkey didn't turn out quite right? According to The New Yorker, particle physicists can sometimes relate. Also from The New Yorker . . . a little Heisenberg humor.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: MarkRAdams74@gmail.com
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu