The Data Portfolio is a compendium of particle physics classroom activities organized by Data Strand, Level of student engagement, Curriculum Topics and NGSS Standards. Follow the links provided for information about using the Data Portfolio to plan your students’ experience. Level descriptions explain the data analysis skills that students apply at each level: tasks in Level 0 are simpler than those in Levels 1 and 2...
...While each level can be explored individually, students who start in one level and progress to more complex levels experience increasingly engaging and challenging tasks. These activities are aligned with NGSS Standards, particularly NGSS Practices.
Each Curriculum Topic provides connections between topics routinely covered in physics class and particle physics content and methods. Use the menus to find activities related to the content you are currently covering. Watch this screencast to learn more about sorting these activities.
We are making Spanish Language versions of the activities. To find the activities with Spanish versions, use the Curriculum Topics menu, scroll to the bottom, select Spanish Language then Apply.. Special thanks to Danelix Cordero-Rosario from the Puerto Rico Center for providing these translations.
QuarkNet has entered the world of data science. Use the Curriculum Topic menu to locate the Skill: Coding option then Apply.
We want your feedback on how the activities worked for you. Please complete the feedback form to help us improve our activities.
| Activity Name | Data Strand | Level | Curriculum Topics | NGSS Practices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Plotting a ConcensusThe purpose of this activity is to come to a consensus for the “best” value for the mass of the Z Boson. |
LHC | Level 0 | Conservation Laws, Nature of Matter, Standard Model, Skill: Graphing, Skill: Histograms | 3, 4, 5 |
Calculate the Z MassStudents use conservation laws and vector addition to calculate the Z mass from event displays. |
LHC | Level 1 | Conservation Laws, Nature of Matter, Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Uncertainty, Spanish Language, Special Relativity, Standard Model | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
Calculate the Top Quark MassStudents use conservation laws and vector addition to calculate the top mass from event displays. |
Cosmic Ray, LHC | Level 1 | Conservation Laws, Skill: Uncertainty, Spanish Language, Special Relativity, Standard Model | 1, 4, 5, 7 |
Rolling with RutherfordStudents use statistics to make an indirect measurement they can easily confirm. |
Cosmic Ray, LHC | Level 1 | Nature of Matter, Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty, Spanish Language | 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 |
Making it ‘Round the Bend - QualitativeStudents explore the effects of electric and magnetic fields on particles. |
LHC | Level 1 | Electricity & Magnetism, Kinematics, Spanish Language | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 |
Signal and Noise: Cosmic MuonsIn this introductory tutorial that, students learn about how to distinguish muon signals from background and instrumental noise. |
Cosmic Ray | Level 1 | Instrumentation, Quantum Mechanics, Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty, Waves & Interference | 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
Mean Lifetime Part 1: DiceRolling dice serves as the model for decaying particles. |
Cosmic Ray, LHC | Level 1 | Half-Life/Mean Lifetime, Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Histograms, Spanish Language | 2, 4, 5, 7 |
The Case of the Hidden NeutrinoStudents use momentum conservation to examine the decay of top-antitop pairs to determine what is missing from the event. |
LHC, Neutrino | Level 1 | Conservation Laws, Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Uncertainty, Spanish Language, Special Relativity, Standard Model | 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
What Heisenberg KnewHeisenberg knew that, at the quantum level, we cannot know everything, at least not all at once. Students explore uncertainties in measurements of complimentary variables to find this out for themselves. |
Neutrino | Level 1 | Kinematics, Quantum Mechanics, Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Graphing | 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
Histograms: UncertaintyStudents construct histograms, identify the best value to represent the data, and report the uncertainty in their answers. |
Cosmic Ray, LHC, Neutrino | Level 1 | Skill: Developing Models, Skill: Histograms, Skill: Uncertainty | 4, 5 |