My CERN Experience
I visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) from the 3rd of July to the 24th of July. I was part of 40 High School Teachers (HST) 2010 from 22 countries. As I arrived to the compound I had a lot of anticipation and to my expectations. My experiences were learning through lectures, field visits, and experiences through interaction with other and networking through social interaction and working group activities. The sessions were given by internal and visiting facilitators they ranged from the introduction to CERN, introduction to particle physics, detectors, accelerators, antimatter, dark energy, cosmology, medical applications, teaching module and our national school systems.
The lectures were presented by specialists in the respective areas. Apart from the specific lectures we also attended other general presentations which were being made to the summer students visiting the laboratory. All the presentations very eye opening and they built my understanding of particle physics the current findings and its application in other areas. The sessions were more productive as they also have a questions and answers session. This allowed us to ask the left ear question (our students' questions) and the right ear question (teachers' questions). This gave me an opportunity also to learn from other teachers questions too. I also had a chance to ask those questions my students ask in my physics classes.
The visits included visiting the facilities in CERN including the globe, computing, control rooms, magnetic testing centre, the source of the particles the hydrogen bottle and going under (104m) to the experiments in Deplhi and Compact muon Solenoid respectively. The globe provided basic information about CERN, the member state and the historical evolution of CERN. It also provided animated demonstration of the LHC and the way communications was passed over to other countries. The globe becomes a central reference point whenever we were in CERN. The visit to the Hydrogen bottle showed the source of the particles and how they were accelerated from the origin. It was very interesting seeing in real what I had been reading and teaching for many years. We looked at the source and how the particles were accelerated in a linear accelerator then visited a circular accelerator.
We also visited the teachers' lab where we had displays of particles we could use in our classes. We had the demos than did a hand on experience where we toyed with the set up and got a feel on how they were working. We were provided with handout which provided a clear guide on how we can use the apparatus to set up a particle physics demonstration. These activities clearly demonstrated particle physics concepts in way that will really reach out to the students and make them understand.
The most breath taking session was visiting the Deplhi experiment which was in a storage area 104 m underground. It gave us an understanding of the aspects which we had been explained during the lectures. We could now see the size of the tube, the detectors, wiring and the magnets in real. More so this was my first time to be at that level below the ground level. Then the real experience was when we visited the Compact Moun Solenoid which was at the same level but on the LHC. We were fortunate as there was a brief shut down hence we were able to go down again. This was a rich experience as it concurred with the presentation we were given on how the detectors were build and brought down. We could see all the aspects in real and it was revealing and enriching.
We had presentation from twenty two different national systems form the group. This was an opportunity for me to share my school system, the teachers' qualifications and the presence of particle physics. We had an opportunity to listen and learn from other countries. Among the groups were some teachers from Greece, Netherlands and Swiss who were teaching the IB syllabus. This was a great opportunity to hear how they were handling the IB syllabus in their countries. We had a continued interaction and learnt
We also had hands-on a presentation from a team from Oxford University, PHYWE and the perimeter institute in Canada
The presentations named accelerate, PHYWE and dark matter laboratory respectively. They were very instrumental. Through the presentation we were exposed to activities we could do in class. We also did some activity to get a feel of the experience. We had an experience on the GPS systems which was an activity with potential in the classes. Form the session we were provided with a lot of material which we could use in our classes as well as share with other teachers in and out of our school. We were also provided with links where we could download more information though this might prove to be a challenge due to lack of internet access of very slow connections.
Further to hand-on we visited the teachers' lab and went through different activities. We also actually built a cloud chamber and observed how it could be used as a detector. It was a an experience which develop ideas on how we could do the same in my country using low cost no cost material. Actually one of the working groups came up with a model which could easily be constructed in the developing world.
We participated in selected working groups on certain topics and for my case I was with the IB group exploring the IB Option J to see an alternative way of facilitation the unit in class. We also visited the IB Geneva office and shared what we were doing with the officials there. This was an activity close liked to what I am teaching hence we were assembling material for use form September. I leant a lot from the colleagues we were working with since we had the opportunity to share other information regarding the IB syllabus. Apart from our group we also learnt from the other groups who were working in other areas such as masterclass, teachers' lab, and medical application of particle physics among other topics. All the groups were resourceful and what they presented will be accessible to all of us through the group web.
We also had social activities like celebration the international day, Geneva Treasure Hunt, The Jura Mount climb, hardronic festival and other areas of personal interests. These were opportunities to get to know each other beyond physics. I was among the team that celebrated the America Independence Day with the Americans. I also got to watch in real my dream sport cycling; I used to cycle and even represented the country in a continental event
Hence watching the tour de France was a dream come true. While in CERN I got opportunities to meet scientists and we had a chat. The Geneva Treasure hunt made us learn about the city as well as visit many places along the treasure hunt route. We also bonded together as we developed a team spirit. The international evening was a visit to the other countries. We presented food, music and other information about our countries and this was a very good opportunity to learn a little about where our colleagues come from. It was exciting to here "Jambo" or "hakuna matata" the next day or even later which were some words in the Kenyan song we danced. The climb to the Jura Mountains gave us a taste of the cold weather as we enjoyed the walk up and the magnificent view below.
The activities were enriching, enjoyable and exciting. For a physicist, visiting a research laboratory provided a lot of opportunity to learn, get exposed to research activities, meet equal minded people and develop networking. Such an enriched environment also provided us we resources we could immediately use in our classes and also share with other teachers in school and in the neighboring schools.
I wish to thank our sponsors for flying us to the magnificent laboratory exposing us to particle physics, researchers and fellow teachers. I was well taken care of in accommodation and travelling around. I also thank my school for granting that permission to attend the teachers program. Much gratitude to all, for the benefit will not only be mine but to all the teachers who attended the program, our students and all the teachers we shall be interacting with in our school and the schools we collaborate with. I am a proud physics teachers ASK A PHYSICIST!
