In this issue...
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MP and VIP visits to CERN
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Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on TV
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Using the LHC in teaching science
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lhc.ac.uk updates
MP and VIP visits to CERN
Following a successful Breakfast Briefing on the LHC for MPs in March STFC is organising visits for MPs to CERN. Invitations have gone to Members of the Trade and Industry Select Committee and Science and Technology Select Committee as well as to all MPs whose constituencies include HEPP groups. If HEPP groups would like to encourage their local MPs to take up the invitation we are happy to provide a draft letter, which you can send to your MP recommending that they take up the invitation. Please contact Nigel Calvin|.
With the recent publicity and growing interest this is a very busy time for the Visits Service at CERN. We are pleased to help in the organisation of visits for MPs and other dignitaries. To make it easier for us to co-ordinate this and to ease the workload for CERN it would help if the initial inquiries are made through Nigel Calvin at STFC and not directly with CERN.
LHC on TV
Alom Shaha, ex-teacher of physics turned film producer, has been filming 3 x 15 minute films on the LHC for Brook Lapping Productions (in co-production with Teachers' TV). The films will trace the history of particle physics to the present day (including reconstructions of ground-breaking experiments), and describe the LHC, its potential findings and the modern day legacy of particle physics research. The films will be broadcast by Teachers' TV on Freeview and satellite. They will also be available for download on demand from the Teachers' TV website, along with accompanying teaching materials. Copies of all useful tape stock will be made available to STFC and, along with the completed films, will be available for STFC to use in part or entirety, for non-commercial purposes, in education packs, on websites and for demonstration and other activities at public engagement events.
Using the LHC in teaching science
STFC has commissioned Edcoms Ltd to produce an educational package that will use the LHC to teach both physics and 'how science works' to 14-16 and 16+ students. This web-based resource will use a particle collider/detector simulation to engage students and teachers in exploring the science, and a range of supporting materials, including images, worksheets, a newscast and podcasts of scientists, to build their understanding of both the physics and the project as a whole. The materials will be trialled and tested with teachers and students before completion and launch in July 2007.
lhc.ac.uk updates
Several updates have recently been made to the 'for physicists' and 'resources' areas of the LHC website (lhc.ac.uk) (link opens in a new window)| website. More illustrations, demonstrations and links to websites that help make particle physics accessible to non-specialist audiences would be welcome.
