Friday Flyer - May 3, 2024
Spotlight on the University of South Dakota (USD) QuarkNet Center
In April of 2022, USD physicist Jing Liu attended a pair of talks about QuarkNet at the American Physical Society (APS) meeting in New York City. Soon after, the University of South Dakota became home to a new QuarkNet center, serving the area where South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska meet. Since 2022, Jing (who serves as mentor for the USD center) has hosted a few teacher workshops and, in March of this year, hosted his first masterclass bringing together teachers and students from local high schools. You can check out a few videos of recent center activities on the USD QuarkNet YouTube page.
News from QuarkNet Central
Coding Camps: QuarkNet will again be offering two week-long teacher workshops focused on coding this summer. Coding Camp 1 is virtual and for everyone, novice and expert alike. Coding Camp 2 is in-person and digs deeper into coding and analysis techniques, so a bit of experience is a pre-req. For more information and how to apply, visit the Coding Camps page.
QuarkNet Educational Discussions: Cassidy Eassa from LIGO outreach will join QED for the next meeting on Wednesday May 15 at 7 pm CT. Want to find out more, including how to connect? Head over to the QED webpage.
Center Mentors and Lead Teachers: It is often helpful to have center summer plans in place and shared with teachers before the end of the school year. If you need help planning, be sure to contact your staff member, and keep in mind that QuarkNet offers several workshops that can be led by staff or fellows at your center.
QuarkNetters at KITP: Sixteen QuarkNetters attended the 2024 KITP Teachers' Conference on supermassive black holes last Saturday at UC Santa Barbara. Of course they took a pic...see Just for Fun below for that. You can find links to the talks from this year's conference on the conference webpage. Mark your calendars...Next year's conference will focus on particle physics, and will take place on February 8, 2025.
Physics Experiment Roundup
Symmetry has recently featured several articles on the topic of AI and machine learning, all accessible from this page. Also from the Friday Flyer AI division...Cutting-edge AI technology from CERN is being used to combat marine plastic litter, and using AI to study string theory.
From CERN Courier, a "cool" job at IceCube Neutrino Observatory.
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) recently marked the startup of its 24th data run. You can learn more about the goals of Run 24 from the BNL Newsroom.
Resources
Did you know that Black Hole Week starts on Monday? Click on this Black Hole Week website for resources and more information.
Recent additions to the Fermilab YouTube page include a tour of the Fermilab Quantum Network, and a video from Don Lincoln on virtual particles. Learn more about the strong force in this article from Scientific American (H/T Mike Cartwright). Perimeter Institute offers many courses for teachers. See the list of these courses and sign up on the PI website. Perimeter also has a playlist of digital resources on all sorts of topics.
The May 2024 issue of the The Physics Teacher is now available, and has several free articles, including one on supporting equitable group work, one featuring a fluid dynamics apparatus, another using Sphero Mini sensor boards in physics labs, and a Fermi question entitled, "Refracting UFOs." Use your AAPT membership to access additional articles.
Speaking of AAPT...The AAPT Summer Meeting is an opportunity to recharge, learn, and share new ideas in physics education, and to network with other educators, including many QuarkNet teachers and staff. This year's Summer Meeting will be held in Boston, MA, July 6-10. Early bird registration ends on May 23. Note there is a $99 one-day rate for K-12 "first-timers." Find out more, including how to register, on the 2024 AAPT Summer Meeting page.
Just for Fun
Spring is often viewed as a season for new life and new beginnings. This is very evident at Fermilab around this time of year with the birth of new baby bison.
Of course we have a few xkcd comics for you, including Pendulum Types, Earth Formation Site, and one on the Doppler Effect.
And we'll end today's Flyer with a pic of the QuarkNet teachers who were among the participants at last Saturday's KITP Teachers' Conference in Santa Barbara. A good time was had by all...
QuarkNet Staff
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Spencer Pasero: spasero@fnal.gov
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu