The National Science Foundation-supported QuarkNet program returned to Rice University last week for the first in-person workshop on campus since the start of the pandemic. The local event organized since 2004 by Rice’s T.W. Bonner Nuclear Lab and the University of Houston and led by Rice Professor Frank Geurts welcomed nearly a dozen high school teachers to campus for five full days of physics talks and activities.
The program received backing from the American Physical Society’s STEP UP program, which seeks to engage young women in physics, Geurts said.
Above, teachers work with a set of “particle cards” (example at right) to learn basic concepts on day 1 before diving into more complex projects, including experimentation with a cosmic ray detector and analysis of data from the Large Hadron Collider. Below, QuarkNet STEP UP fellow Mike Wadness talks with teachers about the program. Photos by Mary Yarbray
