My trip to CERN August 2023
Hi All,
It is great to be blogging again- it has been too long. And what an amazing topic to be sharing...
I feel lucky and so proud to have visited CERN in Geneva (which was established in 1954) with The Ogden Trust and the University of Birmingham during the holidays.
Research, Innovation, Collaboration. Inspiration. All true of this amazing place. It was such a valuable and inspirational experience which really highlighted to me the value of collaboration, curiosity, resilience and positivity- and the amazingness of the global Science community; if only every element of life had the same humanitarian outlook!
I was so lucky to be participating, with a group of 9 other teachers, in an educational visit with/through The Ogden Trust. It was the most amazing experience where, throughout the week, we all really became friends through participating in shared events. We learnt from each other- everyone being welcoming, encouraging and open-minded.
CERN goals are; Discovery through Science, Technical innovation, Diversity and bringing nations together, Inspiration and education.
We took part in such informative and imaginative workshops to help us begin to understand the mind blowing and very important work going on at CERN. A huge thanks to Amanda Poole and Charley Philips who were amazing Visit Leaders and helped with re-booting my GCSE Physics and Chemistry knowledge in a fun and interesting way.
Bringing art, mind, soul and Science knowledge together was Carol Kendrick. She is also someone admired within the primary education community. Carol is a wonderful person and it was great to get to know her and learn from her.
A photograph of the CMS (not to scale, it's absolutely massive really) which captures the intricacy, beauty and technicality of the particle detector.
We were so lucky to have access to such incredible areas of the site, including the Anti-Matter Factory and- 98m below ground- the Compact Muon Solenoid. It is mind-bending to think about the vastness and the minuscule and that is exactly what is happening at CERN- the two go hand in hand, in a constant drive for knowledge and answers.
The Anti-Matter factory
Anti- Matter
Each particle has an 'anti-particle', with the same mass but opposite charge. In particle collisions, both particles are created in equal amounts, but when particle and anti-particle meet, they destroy each other.
Magnetic force at the CMS (Particle detector) is 4 Tesla (100,000 times stronger than the earth). This is evident in the image of my lanyard being attracted to the metal railing right next to the CMS.
CERN is such an amazing site with surprises around every corner and we had access to some incredible areas- we were so lucky having our guide Mick, who has worked at CERN for many years and now volunteers his time to share his experiences and knowledge.
The BIG Questions
What is matter in the Universe made of?
Why are we here?
What will happen in the future?
The Universe is expanding. Scientists are working to understand what will happen over years to come.
Protons go into the LHC starting from a bottle of hydrogen. Electrons are removed by passing an electric charge through the hydrogen. These are accelerated around two tracks in opposite directions-by using the strongest magnets- and then collided into each other at intervals around the LHD. The collisions/particles produced are all gathered- data collected is analysed in the pursuit of answers to Big Questions.
Particles called 'b-quark' and 'anti-b quark' show small differences in decay rates. Both are produced in collisions in the LHC. By comparing these precisely, the LHCb experiment hopes to find clues as to why nature prefers matter than anti-matter.
From larger (so to speak) to smaller- Atoms- nuclei- protons and neutrons- quarks, leptons, bosons, gluons, anti-matter, muons, neutrinos
We met scientists who work at CERN that are happy to zoom into class when we get back to school- addressing misconceptions and encouraging children into physics and chemistry.
IdeaSquare pic
We also attended lectures where world renowned scientists share their insights and knowledge.
We thought more about Dark matter- black holes- and dark energy which we do not fully understand yet.
We felt so lucky to listen to, learn from, and meet, Dr Jon Ellis.
The positive energy and truly international, collaborative ethos at CERN is awesome;
We learned about CERNs project on the International Space Station (ISS) which is looking out to space for clues and information.
The historic importance of CERN is palpable- Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet there in 1989. Computing has evolved in such a massive way over the years- evident at CERN through the amazing technology available and investigations taking place.
It is so interesting to think that Oppenheimer went there after all the atomic bomb work he was part of, to undertake some work good.
One thing to note is that although there are still fewer women than men working at CERN- visible on site- there are many more women in STEM than in the past and we are all working to engage girls into STEM subjects to maximise the potential workforce for these projects.
It was a lot of FUN too!
It was a pleasure to spend some time in Switzerland which is so beautiful- everyone was so welcoming and we were lucky to see some of the culture and landmarks- even having a swim in Lake Geneva. Of course, we had the customary cheese fondue and were also lucky enough to be there on the Swiss National Day so enjoyed a local celebration including fireworks.
Mont Blanc
The Science Education community is so fantastic and I feel honoured to have been part of, what has been, a truly memorable and utterly outstanding life experience.
I plan to carry forward the sense of awe and wonder- as well as convey some of the concepts in a way suitable for our pupils- back in school and beyond.
I would just like to restate my huge, huge thanks to all that made this possible. It was certainly something I will never forget and I am truly grateful for the amazing opportunity.
Final note. Just a reminder that I am an enthusiastic primary/Science teacher- not a CERN physicist- so apologies if any explanations are over generalised in any way!
Thanks for reading.
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