From the University of Chicago, May 12, 2020: A round of AI + Science grants awarded by the University of Chicago’s Office of Research and National Laboratories Joint Task Force Initiative supports new AI applications to boost scientific discovery and education. Awardees include Fermilab scientists Brian Nord, Charles Thangaraj and Nhan Tran.
STEM
From Live Science, May 1, 2020: A group of researchers at Fermilab has worked with high-school teachers to develop a program to train their students in the emerging field of quantum computing.
Browse Fermilab’s many online resources to dive into the wonderful world of particle physics.
Amanda Early is one of 79 physics educators selected to be a STEP UP Program ambassador. STEP UP ambassadors are high school physics teachers that train others on how to effectively reduce barriers for women in physics. The program mobilizes thousands of teachers to help engage young women in physics and inspire them to pursue physics in college.
From Yahoo! Finance, Feb. 11, 2020: A new monumental exhibit of the most women statues ever assembled in one location, at one time, is a first-of-its-kind, life-sized 3-D printed statue exhibit of more than 120 AAAS IF/THEN® ambassadors. Fermilab scientist Jessica Esquivel is one of the IF/THEN® ambassadors. The exhibit will be free to the public and will debut at Dallas’s NorthPark Center on Friday, May 1.
In an educational turning of the tables, first- through fifth-graders evaluated Fermilab scientists’ abilities to illuminate and educate at their school’s first reverse science fair. Three competing groups of scientists demoed neutrino detection, muon precession and particle acceleration in fun, accessible ways, and the elementary school students got to decide who received the blue ribbon.
This year’s events will feature the Great Neutrino Hunt, the Mr. Freeze Cryogenics Show, live physics demonstrations, a physics carnival developed and presented by local high school students, tours of the Linear Accelerator Gallery and the Muon g-2 experiment, and a driving tour of the site.
Science Storytellers brings together two groups of innately curious individuals: scientists and children. In the Science Storytellers program, kids act as science journalists interviewing real-life scientists. Afterward, they share what they learned. Research shows that transmitting scientific knowledge to the public is important, but actually shifting someone’s opinions requires engaging with them in a two-way dialogue and treating them as a whole, complicated person with knowledge, experiences and influences of their own.
Particle physics might seem too complex for young children, but educators are finding enthusiasm and understanding even among the “Sesame Street” set.
From Daily North Shore, Nov. 12, 2019: New Trier Township High School juniors Paul Graham and Ellie Winkler have spent the past year working with a team of 15 other Chicago-area high school students and teachers to propose, design, build and analyze a unique high-energy physics experiment for Fermilab.