Friday Flyer - November 17, 2017
Spotlight on the University of Minnesota QuarkNet Center
This center held the first part of its annual teacher workshop in June this year, including a two-day LIGO workshop, followed by two days for teachers to create and then share lesson plans inspired by LIGO, gravitational waves, and interferometry. The group met again on a Saturday this fall to learn about neutrinos and work through data from the MINERvA experiment. Mentor Dan Cronin-Hennessy gave talks on neutrino research and the Mu2e experiment, and teachers were able to tour a lab in which University of Minnesota students build components for Mu2e.
News from QuarkNet Central
World Wide Data Day 2017 was a big success this week with 17 videoconferences connecting physicists with students and teachers from at least 32 schools around the world. Check Twitter for the collective results from the student analyses.
Registration for International Masterclasses continues through this coming Monday, November 20. Leaders should sign up for slot(s) for ATLAS Masterclass and CMS Masterclass videoconferences from Fermilab as soon as possible. For CERN videoconferences, new slots have opened in their schedule; details are in the latest circular. After November 20, registration is by e-mail to Ken for Fermilab and Uta Bilow for CERN.
Lastly, don't forget the LIGO 2018 International Teacher Program; the application and more information can be found here.
QuarkNet Nuts and Bolts
Forget your login information for CMS, LIGO, and Cosmic e-Labs? Keep in mind that one username/password will work for all three e-Labs. Common username formats to try include FirstnameLastname (e.g., "AlbertEinstein" with no space), FirstInitialLastname (e.g., "AEinstein"), or CRxxxx with your school name or mascot in place of xxxx. If none of these works, try using the "Forgot Username/Password" option found only on the teacher login page of the CMS, LIGO, or Cosmic e-Lab. Of course you can always contact Mark, Ken or Shane for help with your account information.
Physics Experiment Roundup
Resources
Here's a kid-friendly podcast from Brains On! that explores answering the question, "What's smaller than an electron?" Find out how LIGO became the high-achieving experiment it is today from this symmetry Q&A with Nobel laureate Barry Barish. Learn more about the Lorentz factor (gamma) used in special relativity from Don Lincoln's latest youtube video.
Just for Fun
In this age of online homework and virtual reality, sometimes it can be fun to break out the old-fashioned (no charger or battery required!) equipment for a change. Check out these lessons using simple homemade marble tracks.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu