Experimental High Energy Physics Summer School For High Schools
Saime Gürbüz, Aytül Adıgüzel, Veysi Erkcan Özcan, Selim Mert Kırpıcı, Anastasiya Yılmaz
11 Experimental High Energy PhysicsSummer School For High Schools
S. G ¨urb ¨uz, A. Adıg ¨uzel, V. E. ¨Ozcan, S. M. Kırpıcı, and A. Yılmaz
Abstract : Experimental High Energy Physics Summer School for High Schools, (Liseler ˙Ic¸inDeneysel Y¨uksek Enerji Fizi˘gi Yaz Okulu - lidyef2018) was held between 9-16 September2018 at Bo˘gazic¸i University, Turkey, with financial support from T ¨UB˙ITAK under the 4004grant 118B491. Out of nearly 700 (11th and 12th grade) applicants, 30 had been selectedfrom all around Turkey. Students were introduced to the fundamentals of high energyphysics and performed experiments that demonstrated the techniques of this field, such as asalad-bowl electrostatic accelerator, and a cloud chamber. Here we report on the planning,implementation and the outcomes of the school that can serve as a template for similaractivities in the future.
Key words: experimental high energy physics, physics education.
1. Introduction
While there is a substantial rise in implementing STEM [1] applications into science education onthe high school level [2], there still remains an inadequacy in the percentage of real-life applicationsin the science curriculum, especially in countries like Turkey. From a broader perspective, this leads toa conclusion that students’ perceptions of science are not sufficiently associated with the measurable,testable and reproducible physical processes but rather with the applications of memorized mathemati-cal expressions [3]. The main underlying causes of students’ misconceptions in the science applicationscan be attributed to the inadequacy or even non-existence of laboratory infrastructures, the orientationof the experimental setups towards the demonstration of mostly classical mechanical concepts, and thefailure of such demonstrations in piquing the curiosity and/or enthusiasm of the students. These points,of course, surface if we can leave aside the general issues that affect the high school education on amore general level such as the large student population density and/or the shortage of qualified teach-ers, the inconsistency within the goals and objectives in the implementation of the general curriculuminto the classrooms [4].Furthermore, it has been argued that scientific literacy is best taught by seeing science educa-tion as ‘education through science[5]. However, experiments in high school science courses are oftendetached from scientific frontiers that excite many students, discoveries like the observation of gravi-
S. G¨urb¨uz. Bo˘gazic¸i University, Department of Physics, ˙Istanbul, Turkey
A. Adıg¨uzel. ˙Istanbul University, Department of Physics, ˙Istanbul, Turkey
V. E. ¨Ozcan. Bo˘gazic¸i University, Department of Physics, ˙Istanbul, Turkey
S. M. Kırpıcı.
Bo˘gazic¸i University, Department of Physics, ˙Istanbul, Turkey
A. Yılmaz. ˙Istanbul Technical University, Department of Physics, ˙Istanbul, Turkey Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected]). Also at Feza G¨ursey Center for Physics & Mathematics, Bo˘gazic¸i University, ˙Istanbul, Turkey unknown : 1–9 (2019) DOI: 10.1139/ Zxx-xxx
Published by NRC Research Press a r X i v : . [ phy s i c s . e d - ph ] O c t unknown Vol. 99, 2019 tational waves or the Higgs Boson. Therefore, it is of interest to design hands-on experiments that canbe constructed and run by high school students themselves, suitable for their experience and attentive-ness levels, yet still be connected to frontier fields such as cosmology and particle physics. Towardsthat goal, we have attempted (a) to develop innovative high-school-level experimental setups and doc-uments that are connected to particle physics, (b) to test the developed materials first with interns, andthen (c) to convert these into a week-long summer school program.Our attempt was carried in the form of an experimental particle physics school held in the summerof 2018 with financial support from T ¨UB˙ITAK under the 4004 grant 118B491. For this organization:(1) An experienced team was formed from people who had prepared setups for CERN’s high schoolcontests, and/or supervised high school students, and/or provided training to Turkish high-school teach-ers for years at CERN. Actual researchers from CERN were also included in the team, as an extrameans of improving the enthusiasm of the students. (2) Experimental setups were specifically designedto keep the technical and theoretical information required for comprehending the underlying processesat a minimum level for high school students. Considering the fact that not all of the students have thesame scientific background, necessary accommodation was acheived by introducing lectures focusingon the basics. (3) The context of the experiments and the needed manual skills were selected from awide range of possibilities in order to generate a wider range of opportunities for each of the studentsto enjoy and improve themselves. (4) Certain parts of the setups were chosen to allow participantsto share their experiences with other students afterwards, and even perform entirely new experimentsthemselves.In this proceeding, we report the application process, the student profile, the program and the out-comes of the school. Activities held, experiments performed and lectures given are summarized. Fi-nally, we briefly describe the assessments and the evaluations performed during and after the school.
2. Application Process
Following the announcement of the school over social media, the applications were accepted overa period of about two weeks. The applicants were asked to have one reference letter submitted andwere expected to fill in an online form, in which they provided (i) basic identification data (name,gender, address, name and location of the high school they are attending, grade), (ii) information on anyrelevant technical experience (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D printers, and programming in general), (iii)a brief description of past scientific activities (school projects, attendance at science fairs, participationin summer schools, etc.), and (iv) the average grade points from maths and physics courses of the mostrecent semester. Finally they were asked a couple of open-ended qyestions like ”What does sciencemean to you?” and ”Write down 3 questions you wish to find answers to when you attend lidyef.” .The school had initially been conceived with only 11th grade students in mind, but before the startof the application process a decision was made to accommodate a small quota of 12th graders in orderto facilitate peer education and to evaluate the interest level of students who would soon start preparingintensively for the university entrance exam in Turkey. In total, 681 valid applications were received.Some statistics are provided below: • Gender distribution: • Grade distribution: • Distribution by province is shown in Figure 1. • Type of school: • Last available physics grade: ± mathematics grade: ± Published by NRC Research Press urbuz et al. 3
Fig. 1.
The poster and the geographic distribution of the applications A r d u i n o H ı z l a n d ı r ı c ı A l g ı ç C E R N Higgs B ü y ü k H a d r o n Ç a r p ı ş t ı r ı c ı s ı S t a n d a r t M od e l A y r ı n t ılı b il g i : l i d y e f . c o m B a ş v u r u T a r i h l e r i : - H a z i r a n B o ğ a z i ç i Ü n i v e r s i t e s i F i z i k B ö l ü m ü - E y l ü l L İ SELER İ Ç İ N DENEYSEL YÜKSEK ENERJ İ F İ Z İĞİ
YAZ OKULU
Proje Ekibi:
Doç. Dr. Aytül Adıgüzel
Saime Gürbüz, M.Sc. Prof. Dr. V. Erkcan Özcan *Ba ş vurular 11. ve 12. sınıf ö ğ rencilerine açıktır. **Yaz okulu konaklamalı olup, konaklama, yol ve ia ş e masrafları kar ş ılanacaktır. E ğ itmenler Prof Dr. Metin Arık Arif Bayırlı, M.Sc. Emre Çelebi, M.Sc. Prof Dr. Serkant Çetin Ezgi Ergenlik Berare Göktürk
Rehberler
Sema Bakio ğ lu Ali Osman Erol Selim Mert Kırpıcı Pınar Kütükçü İ rem Nekay Ay ş enur Özdemir Yester Özmerino ğ lu Aydın Özbey, M.Sc. Salim O ğ ur, M.Sc. O ğ uz Koçer Ezgi Sunar Merve Ş ahinsoy, M.Sc. Hüseyin Yıldız, M.Sc. Alperen Yüncü, M.Sc. B Y a z ı c ı İ leti ş im: lidyef.com facebook.com/lidyef2018 [email protected] instagram.com/lidyef2018 twitter.com/lidyef2018 (a) The poster lidyef2018 (b) The geographic distribution of the applications to lidyef2018 A group of 4 academicians from the project team evaluated the applications. 30 students (24 fromthe 11th grade and 6 from the 12th grade) were selected, mostly based on their answers to the open-ended questions. The aim of the open-ended questions was to gauge the level of their motivationsand their perceptions of science. Numerical measures such as the physics and math grades functionedonly to eliminate the few students with insufficient technical background. To promote equality in op-portunity, the students who had not had past opportunities to participate in science events were givenpreference. Although technical experience was not used as a selection criteria, a mix of experiencedand inexperienced-but-highly-motivated students were aimed at the last step of the selection process.Finally, effort was spent to fairly match the fractions of students of a given gender (16 female, 14 male)and geographic location to the those of the national population.
3. Teaching Techniques
The school brought students together from different backgrounds with various abilities and person-alities. In order to meet a broad spectrum of individual needs, we focused on implementing variousstudent-focused teaching techniques.In order to facilitate a better grasp of the real-world applications of the topics covered in the lec-tures, a significant amount of visualization was integrated in the descriptions of the concepts, and thedescriptions were enriched by adding daily-life examples. The experiments used in the program werespecifically designed to increase the inclusion of the students to the inquiry process by introducingsemi-free hands-on activities instead of fully-guided cookbook-type experiments.Throughout the program, the students were encouraged to work together in small groups (5 studentsin each group). By doing so, we aimed to engage the students in a cooperative learning [6] process inwhich they were expected to work as a group with other students of different abilities. Hence, they hadthe chance to experience a peer-oriented environment in which they could freely express their ideasand respond to each other, and could develop and/or improve their self-confidence while attaining thenecessary communication and critical thinking skills.As a part of the program, we also implemented the inquiry-based teaching method [7] by requiringstudents to work on projects of their own choice. Some basic guidelines for safety and originality of thework were established and supplies were obtained and provided to the students as needed. The studentsconceived and implemented their projects entirely by themselves (some individually, others in groupsof 2-4) during their free times (mostly evenings at their dormitory). Towards the end of the program,they were asked to present their work at an evening event, which stimulated lively discussions with thelecturers, project leaders and guide teachers.Throughout the program, we focused on helping the students explore their own ideas and improve
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Vol. 99, 2019 their problem-solving skills. In order to achieve this, in all of lectures and experiments, we prioritized achain of thought-provoking questions as a source of inspiration for them to be able to have the thinkingprocess on their own and become more independent as learners.In order to accommodate the accelerated growth of technological improvements and to demon-strate the ubiquitous use of computers in particle physics, introductory-level lectures were includedon the basics of programming and Arduino prototyping boards, and a Geiger counter application wasimplemented with Arduino.A disciplined yet friendly atmosphere of mutual respect was created for both the teachers andstudents. This was facilitated by having the guide teachers to stay at the same lodging as the students.Finally, after successful presentations of their projects, certificates of attendance and Arduino startersets were handed out to the students, to award their contributions and to give them a chance to keep onexploring after they return to their high schools.
4. Structure of the Program
Lidyef-2018 program spanned a full week. Theory lectures were held in the mornings and exper-iments and applications in the afternoons. The students were expected to develop their own particle-physics-relate projects in the evenings to be presented at the end of the school.
On the first day, the students were picked up from the airports and bus terminals by the guideteachers. Once all had arrived, the program was introduced and the safety issues were explained by theproject leaders and the project nurse. A small game was played to introduce students to one another.
Theory lectures were held in the mornings in two 40-minute sessions with a 10-minute break in be-tween. The aim was to provide the theoretical background and prepare the students for the experimentsand applications. The lectures were taught by experts (recent physics BSc graduates to full professorsof particle physics). A complete list of lectures is provided below: • Modern Physics and Cosmic Particles:
Basic concepts of quantum physics and special relativityand cosmic particle physics with a historical context. • Particle Physics:
Review of the Standard Model and the elementary particles. • Electricity and Magnetism:
Theory of electricity and magnetism for detector and accelerator physics. • About CERN:
Introduction to the laboratory, the Large Hadron Collider and its detectors. • Detector Physics:
Short history, basic working principles and types of particle detectors. • Basic Analysis Methods:
Significant figures, experimental uncertainties, precision and accuracy. • Accelerator Physics:
Short history, basic working principles and types of particle accelerators. • Theoretical Particle Physics:
Overview of theoretical particle physics concepts; historical and con-ceptual construction of modern physics, progress from Newtonian mechanics towards quantum fieldtheories. • Applications of Particle Physics:
Applications in areas like medicine, computing, industry, etc. Anengineering point of view into the world of particle physics.
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A number of computer based lectures and application sessions were also included in the program.While they had initially been planned to span 90-minute periods, upon the feedback received fromthe students, it was concluded that the students would benefit more from longer sessions with longerdiscussion parts. Hence the duration of these lectures should be re-evaluated for future programs. Thestudents were split into groups of three during the application sessions (Figure 2). At the end of eachapplication, they were given report sheets to fill out.
Fig. 2.
Computer based lectures and applications (a) Arduino applications (b) Geiger counter (c) Hypatia screenshot • Introduction to programming:
Introduce how computers work and the main principles and basicmethods of computer programming. At the end of the lecture students were advised to play theonline ”light bot” game (http://lightbot.com/hour-of-code.html). • Arduino lectures and applications:
Programming basic tasks with the Arduino IDE and introduc-tion to taking data from sensors. In the hands-on session, the students were given LEDs, resistors,sensors, etc. and were expected to complete small sections of an already prepared source code thatlights up the LEDs in a given pattern, and to print on the screen digital and analog data read fromthe sensors. • Geiger counter with Arduino:
A Raspberry Pi 3+, an Arduino Uno and a Geiger counter wereprovided to the students, as well as source code that prints the time that a particle passes through thecounter. They were expected to take 6 minutes of data and draw histograms of the counts in 30-secand and 1-min bins and comment on what they have seen. • Hands-on CERN ATLAS experiment data:
CERN has been supporting so-called Masterclassevents for years where high school students analyze data from actual collision events collected by theATLAS or CMS experiments. At lidyef2018, we followed the Z -path of the ATLAS Masterclass [8].The students were introduced to the ATLAS Detector geometry, event reconstruction and software.Then they were expected to analyze Z → (cid:96)(cid:96) events using HYPATIA software [10] and reconstructthe mass of the Z boson. Given the budget constraints six copies of each setup was prepared, and the students were split intogroups of five to run the experiments concurrently. Before the start of the school, all the setups hadbeen tested by two summer interns, who were themselves high school students. For each experiment,a report sheet was prepared to be filled by each group during the experiment and to be submitted at theend. The reports included the following parts: aim of the experiment, materials used, observations/datacollected. The duration of each session was set to 90 minutes, but based on our observations, we wouldrecommend extending this period to 2 hours in the future programs. The five different experiments thatwere carried out can be seen in Figure 3.
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Fig. 3.
Experiments (a) Cloud chamber setup (b) Laser diffraction ex-periment (c) Interns measuring thespeed of light with choco-late on microwave (d) Salad bowl experi-ment (e) Model of the ATLAStoroid magnet • Wilson Cloud Chamber Experiment:
The cloud chamber is not only a detector which lead to theNobel Prize winning discovery of positrons, and of muons and kaons, but is also used for educationalpurposes in particle physics. In the experiment, alcohol cloud is formed in a clear aquarium. In adark room, with the help of a torch, the students could see the tracks of cosmic particles. At theend of the experiment, they discussed the qualitative differences between the observed tracks andwhich particles those tracks belong to. The background information provided to the students coveredcosmic rays and the interactions of particles with matter. • Diffraction Experiment:
To observe the diffraction of light, a common laser pointer, a CD or DVD,ruler and paper was used. Using data about the CDs and observing the interference patterns, firstthe frequency of red and green light from lasers were computed. Next, using the obtained frequencyvalues, diffraction pattern from a single strand of hair was studied and its thickness was measured.The students were provided background information on various modern physics concepts, especiallyabout light. • Measuring the Speed of Light with Chocolate in a Microwave Oven:
Before this experiment,the students were provided background on the physics of waves and light. The turntable in themicrowave owen was removed and two flat bars of chocolate (15.5 × • Salad Bowl Experiment : To demonstrate how electrostatic accelerators work, a salad bowl acceler-ator model was constructed. Eight strips of conductive (copper) bands were placed on a salad bowl,and they were charged with static electricity obtained from a Van de Graff generator. The connec-tions were done in a way that caused neighbouring bands to be oppositely charged. A ping pongball coated with a conductive paint (or painted with graphite from a pencil) was placed in the bowl.At each strip it collected alternating electric charges and moving from one strip to the next it gotaccelerated. The students calculated the speed of the ball in the accelerator and compared the modelwith accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. Students were provided background informationon electricity, magnetism and accelerator physics. • ATLAS Toroid Model:
A fully working prototype of CERN’s ATLAS detector’s toroid magnetmodel can be built using a 3D Printer, copper wire and a low voltage power supply. The parts in thereference [9] were printed and glued. The coils were loaded with 80 turns of copper wire. Then all theparts were put together and connected to the power supply. The students observed the magnetic fieldlines using small compasses. After the experiment, a cathode ray tube was placed in the magnetic
Published by NRC Research Press urbuz et al. 7 field of a pair of Helmholtz coils and the instructors demonstrated how electron trajectories are bentin a magnetic field.
The program included a number of extra curricular visits, selected to complement the scientificprogram and also to provide a breathing space to the students. The destinations were: Sakıp SabancıMuseum; ˙Istanbul University Astronomy Department, Plenaterium, and Physics Department Laborato-ries; Bo˘gazic¸i University South Campus, Physics Department, Kandilli Solar Observatory and KandilliDetector, Accelerator and Instrumentation Lab (KahveLab). In addition to the visits, an hour-long liveteleconference session was held, in which three Turkish scientists (a PhD student and two senior physi-cists) working at CERN introduced themselves and answered questions from the students. The aim wasto inspire the students and give them a chance to meet scientists working at an international lab.
5. Assessment and Evaluation
Throughout the program, we implemented various methods in order to improve the validity andreliability of the assessment process of the school which are discussed in more detail below.
As an assessment tool for the overall success of the program, we prepared an evaluation survey anddistributed to the students at the last day of the school. The survey involved questions related to theevaluation of the school program, instructors, guides and experiments and applications in the Likertscale (out of 5, where 1 means “Very unsatisfied” and 5 means “Very satisfied” ). To briefly summarizethe results, students rated the program with a high overall score of 4.09 ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± A short test of 10 questions was issued to students in order to evaluate the comprehension of thecomputing lecture and its applications. The students scored an average of 6.62 out of 10, indicating thatthe lecture had met its basic objectives. At the end of the computing exercises, most of the students wereobserved to have written their own software using these Ardunio and Raspbery Pi cards in accordancewith the objectives of the lecture.
At the end of the school, a one-hour meeting was held in order to discuss and evaluate the perfor-mance. Below are some inferences and recommendations proposed by instructors, guides and students: • All of the students agreed that schools with similar structure and curriculum should be organizedregularly, and other students should be given this opportunity as well.
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Vol. 99, 2019 • The project team and students agreed that networking among students and instructors was veryimportant, and could be useful in the future. • It was proposed to organize the same program for high school teachers. • The students agreed that all project members were self-sacrificing and helpful during the school. • The students indicated that they had learned fundamentals of the inquiry process and felt highlymotivated towards joining academia.
The student-filled reports from the six experiments were evaluated by two teachers of the program.Students scored an average of 4.2 out of 5. From this score, we have concluded positively about theirability for conducting experiments, writing reports, and preparing experimental setups.
As part of the ATLAS data analysis exercise, the students were expected to search for a track of W particles by using the Minerva Software. Most of them achieved to identify 7 tracks out of 10. Thefact that 3 tracks were missed was taken as a good indication that the time assigned for the task wasnot enough and should be increased for future applications. We also delivered a test at the end of thisexercise. The average score was 10.7 of out of 12. This score supports that the objective of the task,which was to impart information about particles, the ATLAS detector and basic analysis procedures,was achieved. As a part of the program, students were expected to work on projects of their own during theirfree time. All the students participated enthusiastically, with a couple of students contributing to morethan one project. A total of ten projects were presented at the end of the school: they had designedgames, written books for children, and built lively detector demo boards with LEDs and Arduinos, alldemonstrating or teaching the topics covered throughout the week. The presentations were also verycolorful and the students were observed to be excited to showcase their products. The breadth andingenuity of the projects also indicated that the students had been able to obtain the basic knowhow foraccessing the necessary information, and for designing and developing products.
6. Conclusions
The school was successfully held between 9-16 September 2018. The results of the assessmentprocedure discussed above show that both the students and the high school teachers considered theprogram to be immensely positive. A large fraction of the evaluation forms from the students indicatedthat the school had a huge impact on how they view the world and the role science plays in it, withmany students expressing a desire to choose careers in STEM fields. The student projects were alsofound to be highly innovative, even by the high school teachers who are familiar with the educationsystem in Turkey.Assessment procedures carried out throughout the week and feedback gathered during and afterthe lectures and experiments produced reliable results to conclude that the program did meet and sur-pass its objectives. To interested parties who want to organize similar events, we will make availablethe video recordings of the lectures, applications and experiments as well as the collected data fromassessment methods. Furthermore, we prepared guidelines that can allow secondary education institu-tions to implement similar experimental setups for their own students [11]. We also foresee that theproject will make a valueable contribution in increasing the success rate of students from Turkey whenthey participate in international contests organized by CERN or similar bodies.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to express our most sincere gratitude to those institutions and persons without whomlidyef2018 would not happen. We thank Cihan C¸ ic¸ek and Assoc. Prof. Fatih Mercan for their great sup-port while developing and submitting this project; Bo˘gazic¸i University Department of Physics for pro-viding us with the necessary lab spaces and classrooms; ˙Istanbul University, TOBB ETU and KahveLabfor their support; ˙Istanbul Beyo˘glu Anadolu High School for letting us use their 3D printers; KahveLabsummer interns Do˘ga Aksen and Derin Sivrio˘glu for their help in testing the experimental setups; our‘guide’ teachers Selma Erge, Ali Osman Erol, ˙Irem Nekay, Ays¸enur ¨Ozdemir, Yester ¨Ozmerino˘glu,Ahmet Renklio˘glu, Reyhan ¨Oz Yıldız for their support throughout the entire school; our instructorsMetin Arık, Emre C¸ elebi, Serkant C¸ etin, Berare G¨okt¨urk, O˘guz Koc¸er, Salim O˘gur, Aydın ¨Ozbey,Sezen Sekmen, Ezgi Sunar, G¨okhan ¨Unel, H¨useyin Yıldız, Alperen Y¨unc¨u for their valuable lectures;Bo˘gazic¸i University undergraduate students Sevim Ac¸ıks¨oz and Ekin Nur Cangır for their voluntaryhelp whenever necessary, our friends Ezgi Ergenlik, Yılmaz Ergenlik and Mustafa G¨urb¨uz for theirvoluntary local help.
References
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